Scientists have created a male contraceptive that requires injection of a gel to your abdomen.
Although no male contraceptive has really taken off because of side effects, researchers believe that they have created one that is both long-lasting (and non-permanent).
A recent report showed a growing number of men are ditching condoms and relying on women using contraception.
Contraline, a biotech company based in Virginia, is developing ADAM — the world’s first injectable male contraceptive gel which it describes as ‘like the IUD, for men’.
Contraceptives are not hormones that stop sperm formation. Instead, a gel is injected into tubes that carry sperm through small incisions in the abdomen.
The gel, which isn’t yet available to the public will stop sperm from traveling to the testicles.
After The gel will dissolve in two years. Men can choose to have it done again.
As Kevin Eisenfrats (Co-Founder and CEO at Contraline), watches, Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk performs the first permanent, long-lasting, non-permanent male contraceptive. Contraceptives are injected into the man’s testicles with a gel.
The contraceptive has been administered to four men so far. They are now being monitored for side effects.
The procedure’s recovery is very similar to a vasectomy.
You will need to get at least twenty-four hours sleep. Men should avoid sports, sex and heavy lifting for one week. Otherwise, they could be in pain or bleeding in the scrotum.
It is currently being trialed at Epworth Freemasons hospital, East Melbourne.
Four men were given the contraceptive. They are being closely monitored for side effects.
If the trial succeeds, the procedure will become available in the United States by 2025 or 2026.
Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk, a urologist from Epworth Freemasons and the study’s principal investigator, said the contraceptive could be a ‘game-changer’.
He The hydrogel’s success as a long-lasting and non-permanent contraceptive for males will be examined over a three-year period.
“If it succeeds, it could be a game changer, making contraception a shared responsibility between partners.
In March, experts claimed to have developed a tablet that’s 99 per cent effective at blocking pregnancies, putting it on par with the actual female version.
The non-hormonal drug YCT529 did not cause any side effects in mice tests.
According to the team, the rodents were capable of conceiving again within four to six weeks after stopping taking the contraceptive.
University of Minnesota researchers planned human trials of the drug — which inhibits a protein to stop the formation of sperm — later this year.
There are other candidates, some of which have been tested on British men over the last few years.
Professor Gunda George, the lead of the study, claimed that YCT529 is a ‘farthest ahead’ of all contraceptive agents.
Since the 1950s, scientists have tried to create a male contraceptive that works, using pills, injections, and gels.
None have been approved. Even the most promising options remain years away.
The main problem is that the contraceptive for females works by stopping ovulation (which happens once per month).
Men would have to stop producing millions of sperm each day if they were to use male contraceptives.
Clinical trials are underway for most of the drugs that target testosterone. This blocks the male sex hormone’s ability to produce healthy sperm cells.
Doctors say, however, that the testosterone-blocking action can trigger weight gain, depression and increase cholesterol.
For comparison, the female combined contraceptive pill — which contains synthetic versions of female hormones estrogen and progesterin — has been linked with similar mental health side effects.
