Social media is abuzz with the arrival of a game-changing drug. According to various new reports circling the internet, scientists have created a new male birth-control drug, which has zero side effects. If true, this could be a huge development in the realm of reproductive health. Conventionally, the onus for birth control would often fall upon women, as penile condoms are not known to be 100% reliable, and according to netizens, they (condoms) ‘take half of the pleasure away’ for men. However, in this era of misinformation, one often struggles to separate fact from fiction, so, we decided to take the responsibility to fact-check the claim for you!
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Have Scientists Created the First Male Birth Control Pill With Zero Side Effects?
Yes, but not quite there yet! Although it is true that scientists in the UK are in the process of developing the first male birth-control pill, which the scientists claim has shown no side effects as of yet, one must understand that there are a lot of hurdles to cross before one can think of using the pills. The drug passed with flying colours when tested on lab rats and continued to be rather successful without any untoward ramifications in the first human trial as well. However, this was just the beginning of the process, the drug must pass through larger and long-term trials as well and then needs to be approved by the relevant drug authorities before coming into the market for you to use. If all goes well, the drug ‘might’ be good to use in the year 2030 (and that is the best case scenario).
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How YCT-529 Is Different From Conventional Male Contraceptive Pills
As of now, there are only two feasible options for birth control for men: vasectomy and condoms. While vasectomy permanently renders you unable to reproduce, condoms have never been a cent-per-cent reliable and according to research, men do not prefer condoms as it takes some of the pleasure away. In the first human trial conducted in the UK, 16 healthy men were administered with single or multiple doses of YCT-529, and the results showed that the drug effectively froze sperm production and showed no side effects except for one anomaly, which the scientists concluded was not related to the drug. The study backed by the University Of Minnesota and YourChoice Therapeutics claimed that the pill was well-tolerated, with no noticeable effects on participants’ heart rates, blood parameters, or testosterone levels and didn’t affect the desire or mood for sex in men either. While the previous ‘hormonal’ drugs for men had side effects like mood swings, nausea, loss of appetite, YCT-529 has shown no such inhibitions as of now.
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Bottomline: What’s Next?
The trial is in line with earlier studies on YCT-529's effects, which demonstrated that the medication had no adverse effects in mice or primates and was fully reversible after six weeks. Data on the contraceptive's ability to prevent pregnancy is presently being gathered by YourChoice Therapeutics, the manufacturers of the drug. However, YCT-529 is unable to prevent STDs, just like other oral contraceptives. Even though the male contraceptive is remarkably tolerable, YCT-529's effectiveness hinges on whether or not men are genuinely willing to take the pill. The CEO of YourChoice Therapeutics, Akash Bakshi, says the indications seem to be in favour.
“It is high time for contraceptive equality,” Akash noted in the pressnote.