Heather Little-White, Ph.D.Contributor
Women should be happy to know that the men in their lives can take a more responsible role in contraception, simply by using what is called the birth control 'pill'. For years, the majority of birth control methods were primarily focused on the female body. The birth control pill, diaphragm, Depo-Provera, and Norplant are just a few of the many contraceptives designed to be used by women. While women want tohave the power to control their reproductive capabilities, they would also like some equality in the role of preventing unplanned pregnancies.
Traditionally, men have had access to condoms and vasectomies, but contraceptive research is now focusing on developing new forms of male birth control. Researchers around the world are working towards male contraceptives that are potentially safer, more effective and more convenient than other contraceptives on the market today. According to the Male Contraceptive Coalition in the United States, new leads are being discovered all the time. One of these compounds - AF-2364 or Adjudin - is now moving towards trials in humans.
New drug
Adjudin is a new drug and an analogue of an old drug known as lonidamine. Lonidamine is an anti-cancer medication whose contraceptive effect was discovered in the 1980s. Since then, a group of scientists at New York's Population Council have sought compounds less toxic than, but functionally similar to lonidamine.
Times have changed and despite persistent myths, sociological surveys show that men are ready to face a future of new contraceptive options. Reliable, reversible male contraception would allow both men and women to participate fully in family planning. Future contraceptives for men even promise reversibility and more precision in timing conception. Corey Binns, writing for FoxNews.com, suggests that reversibility is an important factor for marketing new male birth control methods. Men believe that reversible methods will allow them more flexibility to properly time when they want children.
The pill
New technologies for male contraceptive indicate that contraceptives are designed to block sperm production, kill sperm or prevent sperm from leaving the body. Holding the most promise for the future of male contraception is a birth control 'pill'. In the same way the female birth control pills suppress ovulation, the male 'pill' prevents men from making sperm. The male birth control 'pills' are actually implants that release the hormone progestin, also found in the female birth control pills. Sperm are produced in the testis and is controlled by the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain.
A 'pill' dose of progestin shuts down the hormones that produce sperm. While the 'pill' works to temporarily lower a man's sperm count to zero, it comes with side effects similar to those experienced by women taking hormonal contraceptives. Progestin also stops the production of testosterone, the hormone that produces many features, such as muscle mass and libido in men. To increase their manliness, shots of testosterone are given to men with the implants. The work of researchers at Kings College in London could lead to a true 'male pill' with no effect on libido or secondary sex characteristics.
Fertility recovery
Studies at UCLA and the University of Sidney have shown that men who take the hormones to prevent sperm production could experience full fertility recovery about four months after stopping the hormones. Clinical trials have already been done in various countries showing that oral contraceptives for men are effective.
The oral contraceptive regime is that every year the implants have to be replaced and testosterone shots are taken every three months. However, the 'pill' is not the only hormonal method being tested on men. Hormonal patches, gels, and injections are all being investigated for their ability to make men temporarily infertile. A more convenient contraceptive gel is being developed. It requires men to rub the gel on their upper arms and abdomen daily to prevent the production of sperm.
Out-patient procedure
New male contraceptives could be better than any existing methods. Heat-based methods could offer low tech, easily implemented, user-controlled contraception. RISUG, an injectable compound that partially blocks the tubes that carry sperm and providing effective contraception for up to 10 years per dose. It is effective immediately after an out-patient injection procedure, has few side effects, and has proven to be reversible in primate studies.
There is a common misconception that male reproductive biology is much more difficult to garner than females. The general feeling is that women produce only one egg a month, but men make millions of sperm in a day. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in the United States contraceptive research suggests that the lack of progress in developing affordable, safe, effective, and reversible male contraceptives is due not to the biological complexity involved in suppressing spermatogenesis [the production of sperm], but rather to social and economic/commercial constraints.
NICHD believes that making these new contraceptives widely available on the market will require collaborative efforts that bring together the full spectrum of biological, epidemiological, and bio-behavioral research and their political interfaces with the public. Researchers are also impeded by our relatively incomplete understanding of the male reproductive system. The basic scientific study of the male reproductive system is at least 50 years behind the study of women's reproductive systems. Again, this does not mean male contraceptives will be more difficult to develop.
Sceptical
Some people are sceptical that effective male contraceptives are possible. The reason their development is not publicised more is because many of these methods offer little profit potential and are not being pursued or publicised by pharmaceutical companies. Some experimental male contraceptives promise to be safer, more effective, more convenient, and easier to reverse than any existing female methods.
