NIH looking for couples to participate in new study on male birth control

175 views · Published 30 November 2018 · 1:46 · Indexed 29 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A new study could bring us one step closer to a new way to prevent pregnancy with the help of male contraception.

The National Institutes of Health are looking for couples to help them evaluate the effectiveness of a male contraceptive skin gel.

Researchers say they plan to enroll 420 couples in this clinical trial. They want to find out how well this gel prevents pregnancy.

It is a gel formulated as "a safe, highly effective and reversible method of male contraception" that "would fill an important health need."

The gel formulation is called NES/T. It includes a progestin compound in combination with testosterone. It is applied to the back and shoulders and absorbed through the skin.

The progestin blocks natural testosterone production in the body, which reduces sperm production to low or non-existent levels. The replacement testosterone then is said to maintain normal sex drive and other functions dependent on adequate blood levels of this hormone.

Men build up what's needed in the body and then couples will use it as an exclusive form of birth control in the trial.

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