Male Contraceptives

What kind of male contraceptive techniques are available?

Indeed many male contraceptives, as condom and vas occlusion methods, are used by men to avoid diseases and to reach birth control. Nowadays, scientists are searching for a new contraceptive: the male pill. This new solution will actually be our main focus. We first are going to describe the most current methods that men use and then present the future male pill.

Most men choose the condom as a contraceptive because they often find that vasectomy is a too radical solution. Some others prefer vasectomy for several reasons.

• Condom

Condom is the contraceptive the most used by men. It is a thin device usually made of latex or plastic worn on penis during sexual relations. Condoms are also used by women.

For more informations:Condoms

• Vas occlusion methods

Vas occlusion, also called vasectomy, is a simple surgical procedure in which the tubes (vas deferens) that deliver the sperm from the testes are cut and close off (see Annex 1). This short surgery usually causes few complications and doesn't change anything in sexual functions.

For more informations : Sterilization

These can be considered as contraceptive even if these are rarely used for this.

• Pharmaceutical methods

A lot of potential male contraceptive drugs are available. Some of them are accepted by the government for treatment of other diseases whereas others still developing. (ex: the nifedipine, a drug for hypertension and migraine. Immunocontraceptive, a contraceptive vaccine which still developing.)

So which are the other methods that can be used by men? One direction to follow is the Male Pill

Why are we always searching for new male contraceptive methods?

Nowadays both men and women want that men participate as much as women in family planning. That's why we are searching new male contraceptives. One of the main reason is that abortion rates still high. Indeed a contraceptive 100% efficient doesn’t exist so accidents are always occurring (more than 20% of pregnancies end in abortion each year in USA). Moreover, ideal contraceptive doesn’t exist either. But the problem is that as the world is developing, people’s needs become more and more important. However, these kind of reasearches are long and difficult to reach and many of them are revealed unsuccessful.

The male pill: a future hormonal method

What is the male pill?

The female pill appeared in the 60's and had been a huge step forward for bith control. Indeed it had been very successful because of its efficiency. Nowadays scientists are working out for a male pill. To do so, researchers are taking different directions: they are looking for it as injections, patches or hormone treatments. However it is very difficult to find a way for it to be efficient enough.

How does it work?

Sperms are being made in spermatogenesis process. During this period of time they go next to Sertoli cells (see Annex 2). Those cells nurse and help sperms grow. If we succeed to broke the connection between these two cell types, infertility can result in men. That’s why we are searching for new solutions in different ways, as hormone treatments.

As a hormone pill

The pill contains a hormone called desogestrel that is the main component in the female pill, and the male hormone testosterone. The combination of these two hormones blocks the production of sperm but maintains sex drive and male characteristics. Indeed, the testosterone ensures men health and libido. Furthermore, without it men shouldn’t have facial hair and could have breasts.The male pill has to be taken daily as with female's.

As injections and patches

It is in fact injections of testosterone and daily progestogen pills (also a female hormone), instead of desogestrel as the previous pill. In low doses, progestogen suppresses the reproductive hormone for men and women. Men have to make an injection every three or four months under the skin of the abdomens and it switches off sperm production for a full year. Scientists are searching a way to inject testosterone with a skin patch instead of an injection: they put together patches of testosterone with desogestrel.Once the treatment is stopped, normal fertility levels returned few months later.

Another sort of injection is being tested and could be effective to stop the sperm production. Researchers recently developed a molecule called Adjudin to move the developing sperm from the Sertoli cells. However Adjudin is toxic at high doses. That's why scientists are always working on this solution.

What does the male pill inhibit?

If the male pill works correctly, it may rise the birth control and let more choice of contraceptive for men. Morevover, men that don’t want to use vasectomy as a contraception because they don’t want to do a surgical sterilisation could use this new method of contraceptive.

Is the male pill efficient enough?

Unfortunately, this contraceptive method is until now only 60% successful, that's why scientist are always searching for improving the male pill. Indeed, it is not good enough to reduce sperm counts because there are millions of sperms and only one sperm is needed to create a new life. Furthermore, another problem is that it would take several months to be fully effiencent.

Are there side effects?

Indeed, as every drug the male pill has unfortunately side effects. No major of them have been detected aside from a small percentage of weight gain, nausea, headaches, jaundice etc. caused by the amount of testosterone. It is hoped that by the combining with hormones testosterone's side effects may be reduced. Nevertheless, we must wait for the results of the study to be certain that there are no other side effects. This male contraceptive can provide a good alternative for couples: women, by taking the pill, are exposed to more serious complications, such as blood clots, heart disease and stroke. In short, it would be more useful for men to take the pill to prevent women's side effects.

What is taking so long?

The male pill is much more difficult to develop because of the difference between male and female anatomy:women release one egg a month during the regular process of ovulation, so only one egg needs to be blocked. To do the same for men, more than one sperm has to be killed. Roughly 100 millions sperms are released during each ejaculation. That's why it is harder to find a successful contraceptive method for men.

Is it a good idea to ask men to use this type of contraceptive method?

Yes, it is. Indeed, this male pill will add a new contraceptive possibility for men and let more choice to them if they are not satisfy by another contraceptive method. Furthermore, with 4,000 men and women asked 66% of men say they would use the pill if it were available and 75% of women said that they would trust their partner. As well as this, it brings more responsibility for men in their couple, which can be positive but in an other hand may be negative. Indeed, if a man forgets to take his pill, it will be the woman who will become pregnant and it's not her choice.

Does the pill protect against STD's?

Despite the effort made by researchers the male pill does not provide any protection against AIDS and other STDs. Many health professionnals worry about that: by reducing the use of condoms, it could increase the spread of these diseases.

References

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1057129,00.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4237.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3167090.stm http://www.askmen.com/love/dzimmer_60/72_love_answers.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/mens_health/body_sexpill.shtml

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