The Pill
While contraceptive medication is taken exclusively by women , there have been stuttering advances in the development of male contraception
Condoms are another form of contraception
very infrequent periods ,” he said .
Oral contraceptive pills can also be used for other conditions such as endometriosis , when tissue similar to that which lines the inside of the uterus grows elsewhere and is often quite painful . The goal here is to have a continuous regime that stops menstruation for a set amount of time . In addition , some women may choose to delay their periods for two or three months as a lifestyle choice .
“ There ’ s nothing wrong with having these threemonthly periods , if that ’ s what they want , as long as the prolonged suppression doesn ’ t put them at risk of something else , and that would depend on what their risk profile is , � Dr Haris added .
While contraceptive medication is taken exclusively by women , there have been stuttering advances in the development of male contraception , although there have yet to be any true oral contraceptives for men .
One interesting line of research that has been taking place over the last two decades is the advancement of reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance ( RISUG ).
RISUG is a co-polymer of styrene maleic anhydride dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide to form a gel that is then introduced into the vas deferens , the duct that conveys sperm from the testicle to the urethra , to form a partial blockage . It also causes disruption to the membrane of sperm and releases enzymes that make the sperm infertile .
“ This mixture of chemical agents dissolves and expands and acts both as an obstructive and an antispermatic active agent . It could last in situ for about a year plus .
“ It was very successful in early stages of research , and they ’ ve gone to stage 3 trials in India , where it was shown to be working quite well . The only issue they had was from pharmaceutical support . As you can imagine , pharmaceutical companies are not going to be very keen on a very cheap method of contraception , as that would knock out profits from the women ’ s side of the deal ,” said Dr Haris .
A recent development has emerged as a potential new form of male birth control that takes its inspiration from cocktails that bartenders make by adding layers of colourful liquids on top of each other . If the beverage is stirred or heated , the layers combine into a uniform liquid .
Dr Wang Xiaolei and colleagues at Nanchang University in China wondered if they could use a similar approach to inject layers of materials to block the vas deferens . Applying heat would cause the layers to mix , breaking them down and “ unplugging the pipeline ”.
They sequentially injected four layers of materials into the vas deferens of male rats : a hydrogel to form a physical barrier to sperm ; gold nanoparticles that heat up when irradiated with near-infrared light ; ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid , a chemical that breaks down the hydrogel and also kills sperm ; and finally , another layer of gold nanoparticles .
The injected materials kept the rats from impregnating females for more than two months . However , when the researchers shone a near-infrared lamp on the rats for a few minutes , the layers mixed and dissolved , allowing the animals to resume producing offspring .
This form of contraception could bridge the gap between short-term condoms and long-term vasectomy options . While this pilot experiment , conducted in 2019 , was promising , more research is needed to verify the safety of the materials .
What all this means is that contraceptives will remain the domain of woman for the foreseeable future , despite the elevated risk of blood clots that came under the spotlight this year . Generations of women have been taking it with minimal fears over its safety and are likely to continue to do so .
And while blood clots in the legs , the most common complication of the combined pill , can be serious , they ’ re easily treatable when identified early enough , and the risks are still very low .
“ It all boils down to context ,” said Dr Haris . “ Though there ’ s risk , it ’ s minimal for most of the population . It ’ s all relative in terms of how you value the medication , and what you want to use it for . And of course , it ’ s all guided by doctors on a patient to patient basis .” n
48 AUGUST 2021 GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com