Menstuff® has compiled the following information on Male
Contraception .
Implantable Birth Control for Men Looks
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In research at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., the combination that worked best to suppress sperm production was the Norplant II patch combined with injections of testosterone enanthate. Norplant II typically is used as a female contraceptive, and testosterone enanthate (TE) is a male hormone. Neither Norplant plus testosterone patches, nor testosterone patches alone worked.
The researchers say they've found a good hormone combination for male contraception, but not the ideal delivery system. Most men probably wouldn't like weekly injections. The researchers predict a combination Norplant-TE implant would be effective.
And in another study, Scottish researchers did try it -- using implantable forms of etonogestrel (a progestin similar to that in Norplant) and testosterone. It worked.
Testosterone alone suppresses sperm production, but it can cause bad side effects including reducing HDL ("good" cholesterol). Combining it with etonogestrel resulted in "profound suppression of sperm concentration," the University of Edinburgh researchers say, enough to be a viable male contraceptive. And they say the combination works in relatively low doses.
Both studies appear in the August issue of The Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Source: Lisa Habib, my.webmd.com/content/article/1689.53837
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