A new hormone-based contraceptive treatment which stops men from producing sperm has prevented pregnancy among 55 couples during a 12-month test, researchers said yesterday.
The study, a US government-funded program sponsored by Virginia-based family planning organization CONRAD, was able to successfully and reversibly turn off sperm production in the men who took part, said Rob McLachlan, director of clinical research at Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia.
Australian researchers pitched the study and won financial backing from CONRAD, which often funds medical studies outside of the US and works closely with the WHO.
"This is the first time the combination of long-acting testosterone and a progestin have been used in an effectiveness study. This is the first to be reported in the world," McLachlan said. "We're very pleased and excited the results are so positive."
It was an 18-month commitment by the 55 couples involved, McLachlan explained.
The trial was conducted in two phases. The first, over three to six months, involved taking testosterone and progestin to turn off sperm production. Then when the sperm count was zero or close to zero, the 12-month trial period began.
"What was unusual was the fact that this was an effectiveness study," McLachlan said. "Once the sperm was suppressed the couples used this as their [contraceptive] method. Other studies only monitor how far the sperm count falls."
Over the 12 months of the trial, the men continually took implants of testosterone and injections of progestin, a reproductive hormone. The implants require minor surgery to put them under the skin, McLachlan said.
"Normally there are signals from the brain to the testes that promote production of sperm and to make testosterone, which is important for general health in men -- it gives them strength, energy, sex drive. When you give the testosterone and the progestin together, you turn off the brain signals which normally go to the testicle. As a result the testicle stops making sperm and stops making testosterone," McLachlan said.
At the end of the trial, the sperm levels of the all the male participants recovered to the levels they were at before undergoing the program, McLachlan said, although it took six to 12 months for this to happen.
McLachlan said the risk of cancer in men taking the contraceptive would be similar to that of women on female contraception.
"There's no evidence for this problem at this point. Cardiovascular and prostate health are long-term safety issues that we'll need to keep a close eye on, but so far so good," he said.
Tony Morrow, an endocrinologist from Sydney's Mona Vale hospital, who was not linked to the research, concurred. "There's been no evidence reported that higher levels of testosterone could be related to prostate cancer. If men are on such treatments they would be monitored," he said.
He said more research with larger groups was necessary to evaluate other possible side effects such as sleep disorders and breathing difficulties.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
DEMONSTRATIONS: A protester said although she would normally sit back and wait for the next election, she cannot do it this time, adding that ‘we’ve lost too much already’ Thousands of protesters rallied on Saturday in New York, Washington and other cities across the US for a second major round of demonstrations against US President Donald Trump and his hard-line policies. In New York, people gathered outside the city’s main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans such as: “No Kings in America” and “Resist Tyranny.” Many took aim at Trump’s deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting: “No ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], no fear, immigrants are welcome here.” In Washington, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process. The
RSS