Though trials for a potentially breakthrough treatment have been encouraging, widespread uptake remains some way off. It’s for women like me, who suffer negative side effects (mine is migraines) when href="https://www.nzherald.
co.nz/lifestyle/the-conversation-what-to-expect-when-coming-off-the-pill-and-5-things-to-do-before-you-do/B2OURZPJDMVWB7SCMZXDWRQ6BU/" target="_blank">taking the contraceptive pill , that Dr Diana Blithe, a clinical researcher in Maryland, United States, has spent the past decade developing a male contraceptive. “It’s a female matter,” she explains.
“Many have had bad experiences with whatever hormonal contraception products they’ve been using and they don’t want to take it. A male product makes the whole conversation surrounding contraception more balanced.” Her potentially breakthrough invention is not a pill but a pump that delivers two teaspoon-sized doses of gel, which the man applies to his shoulders – literally shouldering the responsibility of birth control.
Trials show that the product can be effective in eight weeks, although Blithe, who is project lead on the National Institutes of Health’s Contraceptive Development Programme, suspects that sperm are suppressed more quickly. “I’m not usually a glass half-full person but I’m really excited; we didn’t expect the results to be as good as they are,” she says. For women, it’s a big moment.
Nearly half of all women who start taking the pill discontinue in the first y.
