Science may have a new way for men to ejaculate responsibly
Humans have succeeded in putting men on the moon, cloning mammals and developing nuclear bombs powerful enough to end civilization in a matter of minutes. One advance that has remained elusive, however? Male birth control.
That might change. Last Sunday, researchers at the Endocrine Society’s conference in Boston presented encouraging early-stage clinical trial results of a male birth control method that takes the form of a hormonal gel. The trial found that after 15 weeks of applying a teaspoonful of gel once a day to their shoulder blades, 86% of trial participants had sperm counts low enough to prevent pregnancy.
Don’t get too excited: this gel isn’t going to hit the market in the immediate future. But it is still a big problem. The female birth control pill was approved in 1960 and for decades a male equivalent did not materialize. Male birth control options are in fact limited to condoms and vasectomies, neither of which are perfect: some men refuse to wear condoms and, according to a survey published by the Department of Health and Human Servicesuse a male condom refused from 75% in 2011 to 42% in 2021. Vasectomies, meanwhile, require surgery to reverse and are not always reversible. The trial results of this hormonal gel represent a major milestone in the search for a safe and reversible male birth control option.
Why did it take so long to get this far? Partly because male birth control is difficult from a biological point of view. Females produce one egg per month. Men, meanwhile, are constantly producing sperm at a rate of millions per day. There have been several attempts to make a male birth control option, but they have all hit roadblocks. In 2016, for example, a stage II trial of a hormonal birth control injection for men was stopped because of the side effects – which included acne, mood swings and depression. One man attempted suicide, which led to the study be cut short.
Of course, female birth control is hardly side effect free. For some women, the extra hormones can increase the risk of blood clots and serious cardiovascular problems. A 2023 study also found that women who used oral contraceptives had a 79% increased risk of depression during their first two years of use compared to peers who had never used oral contraceptives. For the most part, only women are expected to endure these terrible side effects – largely because these risks are balanced against the risk of not take the pills and get pregnant.
Still, while making male birth control can be challenging, people have done many challenging things. Ultimately, the fact that the responsibility for contraception still falls heavily on women is due to a lack of appetite to change the status quo.
“No pharmaceutical company is willing to put up money to develop a drug if there aren’t people who are going to take it,” Jesse N Mills, director of the men’s clinic at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Washington Post. “It is very troubling and, frankly, a testament to the sexism that exists in drug development that it has taken so long to still not have an FDA-approved male birth control.”
Of course, the question of whether men will be willing (or remember) to use the gel every day if it is finally approved is key. A remedy is of course only effective if it is actually used. Most women, one would think, would not rely on a man using this gel as their only method of birth control. But that’s not really the point. The point is that we are one small but important step closer to a world in which the burden of birth control can be shared more equally. Amidst a landscape where women’s reproductive rights are under attack, this is news worth celebrating.
Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have protected access to contraception
Donald Trump has wondered if he would be willing to limit access to birth control as president. In a (hardly) smart move, the Democrats forced Republicans to show their hand about access to contraception. And, what do you know? It seems Republicans aren’t too fond of making sure this is recognized as a legal right.
Women make fewer mistakes and have better mental agility while menstruating
A study from University College London’s Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health found that reaction times, accuracy and attention to detail were better during menstruation. Participants were a whopping 25% more likely to pass a test of them anticipation skills, for example. “As a neuroscientist, I am amazed that we do not already know more about this, and hope that our study will help motivate increased interest in this important aspect of sports medicine,” said one of the authors of the study.
It’s hot rodent boyfriend summer
Mousey men are in, apparently.
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Should blood pressure guidelines be different for women and men?
Emerging research suggests that high blood pressure affects men and women differently. “There is not enough evidence to say, ‘Yes, women should be treated for hypertension at a lower blood pressure level than men,'” one expert told Scientific American. “But there’s certainly enough information out there to suggest that we might really need to look at this further.”
Israel kills more than 40 people in a strike on a Gaza school
Survivors described how they found children’s bodies torn apart by the explosion. These unbearable incidents seem to have is normalized. It feels like this horror will never end.
Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as its first female president
Sheinbaum, a left-wing climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won with a great victory. While the new president has said she saw herself as a feminist, she alienated parts of Mexico’s feminist movement during her time as mayor with police repression of protests.
Did the Pope look too much at Andrew Tate?
In the past few weeks, the leader of the Catholic church made headlines for sexist and homophobic comments.
The week in pawtriarchy
If you’ve been itching to hear a fun fact about lemurs, today is your lucky day. New research has found that dominant male lemurs grow larger testicles when other males are around. Despite males’ ability to grow their gonads, females actually have the most social power in lemur society. Indeed, many primate societies are not male dominated. A study from earlier this year found that in 40% of the monkeys from the Americas, females are in charge or share leadership with males. Looks like humans could learn a thing or two from monkeys.
