Male Birth Control Pill Coming Soon? - East Idaho News

Male Birth Control Pill Coming Soon?

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GETTY H 042111 BirthControlPack?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1331135948971Michael Matisse/Thinkstock(KANSAS CITY, Kan.) — Thanks to a team of doctors at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, a birth control pill for men will soon attempt to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The male version of birth control would contain a drug called H2-gamendazole, which stops sperm cells from developing in the testes.  Doctors say the drug wouldn’t affect men’s libido and if they decide to stop taking the pill, men would regain fertility within weeks.

The drug so far has been tested on monkeys, mice, rabbits and rats.  Doctors found that in rats the results were “100 percent effective and 100 percent reversible,” according to the Detroit Free Press.

The male birth control pill comes at a time when condom use is on the rise.  In 1982, only 52 percent of women reported having sex with a partner who used a condom — that number rose to 96 percent in 2006.

Still, men shouldn’t get too excited.  The pill, after receiving approval, wouldn’t be on shelves for another 10 years.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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