Diva
03-26-02, 12:05AM
News (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/24/1016843091380.html) -- Australian researchers are expected to soon publish a study that shows a male hormonal contraceptive to be effective.
A group of fertile men led normal sex lives for two years without getting their partners pregnant after a three-monthly shot of progestin and testosterone in the arm.
The research means a male pill may be available within the next few years as the progestin-testosterone combination can easily be achieved in pill form.
The study, by scientists from Sydney's ANZAC Research Institute and Melbourne's Prince Henry Institute, is believed to be the most successful in the world.
Previous studies had shown male hormonal contraceptives could suppress sperm output, said ANZAC Institute head and research leader David Handelsman.
"But we're not just counting sperm, we're counting success at preventing pregnancy," he said. "We know the outcome has been very successful." Professor Handelsman has been involved in the research for about 10 years. All that's left is to get the balance right between the two hormones.
While the female pill had been around for 40 years, the development of the male pill had been hampered by lack of money, he said.
Drug companies with the big research dollars have not shown much interest in developing a male pill, leaving it to a few, publicly funded research institutes.
A male oral contraceptive has generally been seen as unprofitable for drug companies. Oral contraceptives are aimed at couples in stable relationships for whom disease is not a worry.
If the male partner starts taking a male pill, the woman stops taking the female pill. Since most drug companies make a female pill, they would lose a customer for every one they gain. There are only seven or eight groups in the world making progress on male hormonal pills.
Deakin University sociologist Helen Keleher, who also runs the Australian Women's Health Network, said feminists had long argued that male scientists had controlled women's bodies through contraception.
"Another way of looking at it is that there has simply been this incredible fascination with women's reproductive systems," she said. "They're not as straightforward as men's; they are much more cyclic and less easily controlled."
Adam Lawson, whose first son was born two weeks ago at the Monash Medical Centre, said he had noticed among his male friends an ingrained assumption that contraception was a woman's responsibility.
"Women go on the pill, you know? It's so easy and that's the way it's done," he said.
I'm all for it... What about you guys? Would you use it?
A group of fertile men led normal sex lives for two years without getting their partners pregnant after a three-monthly shot of progestin and testosterone in the arm.
The research means a male pill may be available within the next few years as the progestin-testosterone combination can easily be achieved in pill form.
The study, by scientists from Sydney's ANZAC Research Institute and Melbourne's Prince Henry Institute, is believed to be the most successful in the world.
Previous studies had shown male hormonal contraceptives could suppress sperm output, said ANZAC Institute head and research leader David Handelsman.
"But we're not just counting sperm, we're counting success at preventing pregnancy," he said. "We know the outcome has been very successful." Professor Handelsman has been involved in the research for about 10 years. All that's left is to get the balance right between the two hormones.
While the female pill had been around for 40 years, the development of the male pill had been hampered by lack of money, he said.
Drug companies with the big research dollars have not shown much interest in developing a male pill, leaving it to a few, publicly funded research institutes.
A male oral contraceptive has generally been seen as unprofitable for drug companies. Oral contraceptives are aimed at couples in stable relationships for whom disease is not a worry.
If the male partner starts taking a male pill, the woman stops taking the female pill. Since most drug companies make a female pill, they would lose a customer for every one they gain. There are only seven or eight groups in the world making progress on male hormonal pills.
Deakin University sociologist Helen Keleher, who also runs the Australian Women's Health Network, said feminists had long argued that male scientists had controlled women's bodies through contraception.
"Another way of looking at it is that there has simply been this incredible fascination with women's reproductive systems," she said. "They're not as straightforward as men's; they are much more cyclic and less easily controlled."
Adam Lawson, whose first son was born two weeks ago at the Monash Medical Centre, said he had noticed among his male friends an ingrained assumption that contraception was a woman's responsibility.
"Women go on the pill, you know? It's so easy and that's the way it's done," he said.
I'm all for it... What about you guys? Would you use it?