Scientists of the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia they are developing what could be the first birth control pill for men, and it could be ready in ten years.
The pill should be taken daily and is able to block the transport of sperm, so that even if it is ejaculated, the sperm does not contain sperm that can fertilize the ovum.
For many years there has been an attempt to develop a male contraceptive pill, but so far all attempts had many side effects and could even affect the fertility of the "patient."
According Dr. Sab Ventura, chief investigator of this project, the pill has virtually no side effects and could be compared to a temporary vasectomy without surgical intervention. Like this one, the pill prevents sperm from being transported at the time of ejaculating but it does not prevent its production that was the problem they faced in previous trials, therefore long-term fertility would not have to be affected.
If we wanted to have fertile sperm again, we would simply have to stop taking the pill, says Dr. Sab.
The study
The study has been based on the inhibition of two proteins present in the sperm responsible for their displacement through the male sexual organs.
They discovered that mice that had been genetically modified and lacked these proteins had no sperm in their ejaculation, keeping the rest of sexual functions intact, (it could be verified by in vitro fertilization, that their spermatozoa continued to maintain intact fertilization capacity producing healthy embryos).
Specific protein inhibitors were developed for these two proteins and fertile mice were treated with them resulting in 100% of mice that did not have sperm in their sperm.
So far the experiment has been a success and promises great results in humans, but for this there is still a long way, ten years, They are not few.
Advantages of this pill over other previous trials
The male contraceptive pill is not something new, there have been previous trials, but unlike those, this new contraceptive is not hormonal so there is no problem that it creates side effects when regulating the dose to be ingested. It does not affect the fertile sperm capacity, remember that the sperm of the test mice were still fertile and could fertilize ovules giving healthy embryos, something also to be taken into account.
Being a male contraceptive would prevent the mother from having to take hormonal contraceptives during periods when they are not advised.
As ingested daily, we understand that in the morning, reduces the problem of reducing its effectiveness due to external causes as alcohol, nerves or heaters that usually affect more conventional methods such as condoms.
Of course we can always forget to take it, because you have to take one a day.
Remember that every year there are about 63 million unwanted pregnancies in the world due to the lack of contraceptive methods and 19 million of women turn to abortions in conditions Little or nothing safe. More of 80,000 women die a year because of unwanted pregnancies.
All this could be avoided with a good sex education (Yes, I know your children are still very young), and improving access to safe and universal contraceptive methods.
Could this contraceptive pill for men be the definitive contraceptive in 10 years?
And most importantly, would you use it or trust its effectiveness?
