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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research shows a new male contraceptive injection has a 99 percent success rate. The testosterone-based injection, if proven safe, may create a new balance between men and women on reproductive responsibility.
The study, conducted at the National Research for Family Planning in Beijing, injected 1,000 healthy, fertile men between 20 and 45 years old who had fathered at least one child within the previous two years. All the men were involved with women 18 to 28 years old with no reproductive issues.
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In the close of the two-year period, only 1 percent of the men had fathered a child. This rate is similar to the 1 to 2 percent effectiveness rate of women's birth control pills or injections. Similar to the pill, the injection uses hormones to control the production of key elements of the reproduction process.
Men were injected with 500mg of testosterone undecanoate in tea seed oil. This caused a reduction of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone, (LH) both regulatory brain chemicals that disrupt sperm production. The process can be reversed; sperm count returns to healthy levels after the male has discontinued his injections for six months.
Researchers have found no unusual side effects and say further testing is needed to check the injection's safety.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism , May 5, 2009
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