Science News: Male Birth Control Test Temporarily Terminated Despite Promised Benefits

By FG Dullin | Nov 06, 2016 09:32 PM EST

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The World Health Organization has appointed the world's top medical scientists to perform a promising birth control medication for adult males.

Although the first phase of the trials yielded positive results, the second phase is promptly forced to annul the project due to an unacceptable number of debilitating side effects. The latest results were published in the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism". Initial tests have yielded over 96 percent viability in terms of preventing pregnancy among female partners of volunteer participants.

In a report discussed by the National Public Radio, the experiment covers a worldwide exposure. The medical scientists inject 320 adult males with their prototype bi-hormonal treatment every eight weeks.

The two committees involved in the project noticed the increasing number of participants withdrawing in the middle of the extensive test due to complaints. Side effects ranged from mild acne to severe suicidal tendencies brought about drug-induced depression.

However, it is important to take note that the clinical results yielded a positive breakthrough. According to Japan Today, a German-led cluster researching the prototype drugs has discovered a much lower failure rate than most conventional contraceptives.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that male condoms have a 12 percent failure rate. The aforementioned experimental form of male birth control generated only 7.5 percent failure rate.

The experiment essentially proved itself to be a step in the right direction. For now, medical investigators are being impeded by a number of ethical concerns. Nonetheless, this temporary obstacle will not completely abort the ambitious research project.

It may take decades for systemic male birth control procedures to completely work. Contemporary means for preventing pregnancy have always worked better via the female vector, given the fact that the adult female body has always been the more 'predictable' biological model. Females do have menstrual cycles as a comparative advantage when it comes to standard clinical analysis.

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