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from the if-you-build-it-they-will-come dept.
Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd
After more than a decade of work, government researchers in the U.S. are ready to test an unusual birth control method for men—a topical gel that could prevent the production of sperm.
And no, gentlemen, you don't rub it on your genitals.
The clinical trial, which begins in April and will run for about four years, will be the largest effort in the U.S. to test a hormonal form of birth control for men.
[...] The new gel contains two synthetic hormones, progestin and testosterone. Progestin blocks the testes from making enough testosterone to produce normal levels of sperm. The replacement testosterone is needed to counteract the hormone imbalances the progestin causes but won't make the body produce sperm.
[...] The gel can suppress sperm levels for about 72 hours, so if men forget a dose, "there is a bit of forgiveness," says Régine Sitruk-Ware, distinguished scientist at the Population Council, a nonprofit for reproductive health that is sponsoring the trial alongside the NIH.
[...] Even if the trial is successful, Blithe says it will likely be several years before the gel would be available to the public.
Source: A Contraceptive Gel for Men Is About to Go on Trial (archive)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday December 21 2017, @12:08PM
Read your subject as "bullshit" for a brief moment. Hormones must be killing my mood. Like the ones in this
pillgel.I think the reversible injectable polymer gel [bloomberg.com] is a saner approach, assuming it is *repeatably* proven to be safe and effective.
TFA describes this topical gel as more effective than hormone shots [sciencealert.com], and it includes testosterone to counter the effect of the blocked testosterone. So you are still monkeying around with hormone levels, which I think we know is a bad idea by now (cue "just give me the testosterone in a gel, doc!").
A single, reversible injection that is as effective as condoms (with effectiveness rising as you add in other forms of birth control) and allows you to swing your dick around willy-nilly, or a patented gel you'll have to pay Big Pharma for and apply daily. Let's give India a chance.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]