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Male Hormonal Contraceptive Looks Promising, Scientists Say

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A hormone contraception made specifically for men is promising to be a safe and effective birth-control method.

Researchers in the US say that the injection was almost 96% effective when tested on 270 men who were using it. Only four pregnancies occurred among their partners, the BBC reports.

But there were a number of side effects from the contraception, such as acne, muscle pain, depression and mood disorders, so more work is needed to make sure it is a completely safe process, researchers say.

Scientists have been looking for potential male hormonal contraceptives for the past 20 years – a way to effectively suppress sperm production without causing any unpleasant or long-term side effects.

Men constantly produce sperm, so high hormone levels are needed to reduce the normal sperm count of over 15 million per milliliter to under one million.

The study examined men ages 18-45 who had reported being in monogamous relationships for at least one year, and whose partners consented to the trials. The men’s sperm counts were checked when the study started to make sure they were normal.

The participants then received two hormone injections of progesterone and a form of testosterone every eight weeks. They were monitored for up to six months until their sperm count fell to below one million per milliliter.

The men were asked to rely on the injection, using it for the same intervals as their only form of birth control for one year. Once they stopped injections, the men were monitored to see how quickly their sperm count returned to normal.

Of the group, eight men had not gotten their normal sperm counts back a year after the study had ended.

Dr. Mario Festin of the World Health Organization, who headed the study, says, “The study found it is possible to have a hormonal contraceptive for men that reduces the risk of unplanned pregnancies in the partners of men who use it.”

The researchers stopped recruiting new participants in 2011 due to increasing concerns about the side effects of the hormone contraceptive, which had caused some 20 men to drop out of the study. However, around 75% of the participants said they would rely on the injection as their preferred form of contraception.

Festin says other scientists are now looking at combining different levels of the same hormones, and at other methods of applying them, like in gel form. He says, “This has been one step in a long journey of finding the right combination for male hormonal contraception.”

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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