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NEW YORK (CBS)
For couples facing family planning, the burden of taking hormonal contraception has, until now, fallen solely on the woman. But now a large clinical trial of contraception injections for men has shown great promise.
A male contraceptive injection may one day be as effective at preventing pregnancies as the female pill or condoms. The monthly testosterone shot works by temporarily blocking sperm production.
"It can shut down sperm production, somewhat reliably, so it can be a form of male contraception, however, it is not consistently able to shut down male sperm production, therefore it doesn't quite have the same safety profile as birth control pills do for women," said Dr. Franklin Charles Lowe of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital.
In research done in China, only one man out of 100 fathered a child while on the injections.
Six months after stopping treatment, the man's sperm counts returned to normal. But, Lowe said more trials are needed to confirm the injections are safe.
"The side effects of testosterone supplementation to be used for male contraception include things such as, increased anger and irritability, as well as potentially shrinkage and diminution in the size of one's testicles, as well as potential increased skin acne," Lowe said.
Several attempts have been made in the past to develop a male contraceptive, but they have run into problems with reliability and side effects such as mood swings and a lowered sex drive.
Family planning experts hope the injection could give couples more choice and enable men to take a greater share of the responsibility for contraception.
"I think men will accept taking control of their fertility if the methodology is safe and effective with minimal side effects," Lowe said.
For couples facing family planning, the burden of taking hormonal contraception has, until now, fallen solely on the woman. But now a large clinical trial of contraception injections for men has shown great promise.
A male contraceptive injection may one day be as effective at preventing pregnancies as the female pill or condoms. The monthly testosterone shot works by temporarily blocking sperm production.
"It can shut down sperm production, somewhat reliably, so it can be a form of male contraception, however, it is not consistently able to shut down male sperm production, therefore it doesn't quite have the same safety profile as birth control pills do for women," said Dr. Franklin Charles Lowe of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital.
In research done in China, only one man out of 100 fathered a child while on the injections.
Six months after stopping treatment, the man's sperm counts returned to normal. But, Lowe said more trials are needed to confirm the injections are safe.
"The side effects of testosterone supplementation to be used for male contraception include things such as, increased anger and irritability, as well as potentially shrinkage and diminution in the size of one's testicles, as well as potential increased skin acne," Lowe said.
Several attempts have been made in the past to develop a male contraceptive, but they have run into problems with reliability and side effects such as mood swings and a lowered sex drive.
Family planning experts hope the injection could give couples more choice and enable men to take a greater share of the responsibility for contraception.
"I think men will accept taking control of their fertility if the methodology is safe and effective with minimal side effects," Lowe said.
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