Why is it difficult to make birth control pills for men? -Life Health

Birth control pills for women have been around for a long time, but until now, science has not found a male contraceptive pill. There are several reasons behind this problem.

Since the tablet birth control pills The drug for women was born and licensed for use in the 1960s, researchers have always been interested in a similar drug for men. Recently, a male birth control pill was tested to be safe and 99% effective, but the launch date is far away.

Specifically, scientists in the US revealed that they are developing a birth control pill for men. The drug, which is non-hormonal, was 99% effective at preventing pregnancy in mice. Human trials could begin later this year. However, it is likely to take up to 5 years for the drug to be on the market.

In fact, since thousands of years ago, people have always been looking for ways to prevent pregnancy. They use everything from honey to crocodile dung to do it.

But throughout history, much of the responsibility rests with women. Today, they are at the heart of 3 of the most common forms of birth control including: Sterilization (surgery); Taking pills (containing hormones that prevent conception); Long-term reversible contraception (IUD, implant).

Men also play a role in preventing pregnancy. However, they now have only 2 options: Using a condom or surgical sterilization (vasectomy). Condoms can only be used once. A vasectomy is a form of surgical sterilization that is expensive to reverse and not always successful. Vasectomy is also prone to infections, short-term and chronic pain.

Many male birth control pills have been tested but have not met the requirements. Illustration.

Although scientists have high hopes for research on the male contraceptive pill, so far the works have been mostly confined to the laboratory scale.

According to Yahoo, part of the reason for the difficulty in making birth control pills for men has to do with surgery. Women usually ovulate once a month while men ejaculate continuously. According to New York University’s Science Line, a healthy adult man can release between 40 million and 1.2 billion sperm cells in one ejaculation.

“Contraceptive methods in men are very easily blocked because you have to stop an ongoing process. For women, simply stopping ovulation is enough,” said Dr. Brian Nguyen, assistant professor at University of Southern California (USA) explains.

In fact, research shows that many men welcome the choice of hormone-based birth control pills. According to the results of a survey, up to 83% said that they would use this drug. However, finding such a drug has been slow. Standards and pressures are much higher than in the past.

This drug must satisfy the following criteria: safety, reliability, effectiveness, low cost, ease of use, no serious side effects… And for the drug to be effective, it has to do at least. one of the following:

Slowing down or stopping spermatogenesis and formation

– Prevent sperm from leaving the body

– Slow down sperm to prevent them from reaching their destination

– Keeps sperm from fertilizing an egg

Many drugs have been tested but still do not meet the requirements. Some are injections, not pills. That’s not ideal. Some have the potential to cause liver problems or have to be taken more than once a day. Side effects such as acne, weight gain, and changes in sex drive and mood may also occur.

For example, in the 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) studied testosterone as a potential form of male contraception, finding it highly effective in reducing sperm count. However, the side effects of the drug are weight gain, acne, irritability, mood swings.

In 2012, researchers halted a trial of the hormones progestogen and testosterone because men developed severe acne, depression and pain after injection.

The 2016 injectable male contraceptive study was also halted because it failed to meet safety standards, although it was found to be 96% effective at blocking sperm. The Oversight Committee found that side effects such as mood swings, depression, pain at the injection site, and increased libido outweighed the effects of the drug.

Currently, the US National Institutes of Health is sponsoring a clinical trial of a hormonal contraceptive gel called NES/T. The gel contains the progestin compound segesterone acetate (brand name Nestorone), which, in combination with testosterone, is easily absorbed through the skin.

Progestin suppresses the natural production of testosterone in the testicles, reducing sperm production to a minimum. Testosterone replacement maintains normal libido and other functions. Men will apply the gel to their shoulders and arms once daily.

The NES/T is in phase two testing. Dr. Wang, also the principal investigator of the work, said the gel could be available in five years.

Meanwhile, researchers in also India are testing a non-surgical vasectomy procedure, called RISUG (reverse inhibition of spermatozoa). Accordingly, the doctor will inject a gel into the cavernous bodies in the penis to store sperm.

However, these studies are still limited to the laboratory scale. A form of contraception for men as easy as the pill, patch, injection or ring similar to women seems to be still quite far away.