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Study explores reversible birth control for men

Experts say new findings move the notion of hormonal contraception for men one step closer but warn that it is still years away.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, amednews staff. June 12, 2006.

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David Bell, MD, MPH, medical director of the Young Men's Clinic at Columbia University in New York, is frustrated with the limited contraceptive choices available to his male patients. Some express a desire to share in the family planning responsibilities. Others don't trust their partners to use their own contraception reliably. He'd like to be able to offer them more than condoms or a vasectomy.

"Something that has few side effects will be a good thing for a lot of guys," he said.

According to a study published in the April 29 Lancet, at least one potential option -- hormonal contraception for men -- is one step closer to reality.

The paper re-analyzed the data from 30 studies involving various doses of androgens or androgens combined with progestagens. It found that the fertility of most men was restored within three to four months of ending treatment. Nearly all recovered within a year.

"We do not want to make the men forever infertile," said Christina Wang, MD, one of the authors and a professor of medicine at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Experts praised the research for proving reversibility -- a characteristic considered crucial to making a hormonal form of birth control available for men.

"This is a step closer to having a drug or product that men or couples could use," said Peter Schlegel, MD, chair of urology at Weill Cornell-New York Presbyterian Hospital. "Men are half of a couple, but we don't have great contraception for men."