2021-09-12 20:46:42
Today’s topic is a perfect example of how biomedical research, although it sometimes seems to be about to reach the goal it pursues, has not completely achieved it and must continue to pursue, while promising, to achieve the proposed goal. decade after decade. These types of topics belong to the class that I call horizontal research topics, because, like the horizon, they stay stubbornly in the same place no matter how much we try to move towards them.
I’m not talking about nuclear fusion, which is, in effect, one of those issues about which every year it is stated that within thirty years it will have been achieved. I’m talking about nothing less than the male contraceptive pill, which, Viagra users or not, men continue to look forward to.
Almost 20 years ago I was already talking about this topic, harboring, as you will see, hopes that have not become a reality for the moment. Let’s see what was going on back then and then discuss how close or how far a male birth control pill is.
What he said in October 2001 you can read here.
I don’t think it escapes anyone that today we are still waiting for an effective male contraceptive pill. This does not yet exist and according to estimates, it will not be achieved for a few years. Of course, that was already stated a few years ago, as you have just heard.
Currently, men are still limited to the two contraceptive methods that I mentioned twenty years ago: the condom and vasectomy, that is, cutting the vas deferens that conduct sperm from the testicles to the urethra.
Research currently focuses on two strategies: hormonal and non-hormonal. The hormone continues to try to modify the action of testosterone, lowering its levels so that spermatozoa stop being produced without causing too many side effects caused by the lack of this hormone in other parts of the body. This strategy has not yet been as reliable as desired in the entire male population.
Non-hormonal research, which includes the one I mentioned earlier in relation to the calcium channel and sperm motility, has not borne the desired results either. There certainly hasn’t been a commercialized birth control pill based on the calcium channel inhibitor drug that I was talking about. It is probably not possible to find such an exquisite drug that only acts on that sperm calcium channel protein and does not affect other calcium channels present, for example, in neurons. But probably the biggest hurdle is that spermatozoa do not have just one calcium channel protein, but four of them have been discovered. It would be necessary to block, if not all of them, more than one, to reduce the mobility of the spermatozoa until we are sure that none of the millions ejaculated can reach the egg.
Two promising non-hormonal male contraceptive techniques are being investigated. One of them is called reversible guided sperm inhibition. This technique consists of injecting a chemical substance into the vas deferens that remains at the injection site and prevents the passage of sperm, killing those who come into contact with it. The technique is reversible and if, later on, the man wants to have children, a second flushing injection removes the substance injected with the first injection and allows the sperm to pass through freely.
A variation of this technique is the physical, no longer pharmacological, plugging of the vas deferens. This is achieved by implanting a device that plugs those vessels. Again, the device can be removed if the man wishes to have children. Research on these two techniques seems promising, but has not yet yielded the desired results.
Research continues to find new target molecules that can be pharmacologically blocked and that either prevent the generation of spermatozoa or prevent their motility. Being optimistic, as it is customary to say, we will still have to wait several years to be able to buy a male contraceptive pill in pharmacies.
Jorge Laborda (09/12/2021)
Works by Jorge Laborda.
Your defenses against coronavirus
Your defenses against coronavirus
Deflamed immunology: An introduction to the immune system and its pathologies
Deflamed immunology: An introduction to the immune system and its pathologies
Deflamed immunology: An introduction to the immune system and its pathologies
Kilo of Science Volume XII eBook
Kilo of Science Volume XII Paper
Kilo of Science Volume I. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume II. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume III. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume IV. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume V. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume VI. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume VII. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume VIII. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume IX. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume X. Jorge Laborda
Kilo of Science Volume XI. Jorge Laborda
Matrix of homeopathy
Chained circumstances. Ed.Lulu
Chained circumstances. Amazon
One moon, one civilization. Why the Moon tells us that we are alone in the Universe
One moon, one civilization. Why the Moon tells us that we are alone in the Universe
One Moon one civilization why the Moon tells us we are alone in the universe
The thousand and one bases of ADN and other science stories
Adenius Fidelius
The intelligence funnel and other essays
The gods have been cloned
#Cienciaes.com #door #male #contraception