Researchers tested the efficacy of the injectable birth control, intended to keep sperm counts low, in 320 healthy men with normal sperm counts ages 18 to 45 in monogamous relationships with women ages 18 to 38. Study participants received injections of 200 milligrams of a long-acting progestogen called norethisterone enanthate and 1,000 milligrams of a long-acting androgen called testosterone undecanoate every eight weeks for 56 weeks..
The contraceptive treatment was effective in nearly 96 percent of participants. Only four pregnancies occurred among the men’s partners during the efficacy phase of the study. The most common side effects were acne, injection site pain, increased libido and mood disorders. Following the recommendation of an external safety review, hormone injections were terminated early. The rate of mild to moderate mood disorders was relatively high.
“More research is needed to advance this concept to the point that it can be made widely available to men as a method of contraception,” said one of the study’s authors, Mario Philip Reyes Festin, MD, of the World Health Organization. “Although the injections were effective in reducing the rate of pregnancy, the combination of hormones needs to be studied more to consider a good balance between efficacy and safety.”
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