Men taking emergency contraceptive pills should be aware of these side effects!

Nowadays, birth control pills are no longer exclusive to women. Experts abroad have developed birth control pills suitable for men, and the results in the trial phase are said to be quite good. However, some experts have expressed doubts, believing that men's birth control pills also have some adverse side effects that can harm the body.

Adverse reactions

The male contraceptive pill will be 99 percent effective and have fewer adverse side effects for the user. Anderson, a human reproduction researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said that in a series of tests, the results found that the male contraceptive pill would not have many side effects like the female contraceptive pill, which includes mood swings, blood clots, dizziness, nausea and headaches. The side effects of the male contraceptive pill should be very few and will only cause the user to gain a little weight.

Some experts point out that another advantage of male contraceptives is that they are not as difficult to reverse as vasectomy, because men can restore their reproductive ability by simply stopping taking the pill for 16 weeks.

Male contraceptive pills work in different ways:

(1) Long-term and excessive use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) can lead to a decrease in the secretion of pituitary gonadotropins (follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone) and inhibit spermatogenesis.

(2) Use corresponding antibodies to follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone to block the effects of these hormones. However, since these two hormones contain the same α subunit, which is the same as the α subunit of thyroid-stimulating hormone, when the antibody cannot specifically counteract the hormone, it may cause unnecessary side effects.

(3) Use of autologous hormones, such as testosterone alone or in combination with progesterone, can inhibit the secretion of gonadotropin by the pituitary gland through negative feedback, thereby inhibiting spermatogenesis. Regular injection of testosterone enanthate can achieve an anti-fertility effect, which can be restored after discontinuation of the drug. It is a promising male contraceptive.

The above drugs all interfere with the spermatogenesis process by inhibiting the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis. The drugs are expensive, inconvenient to use, and inhibit the function of testicular interstitial cells at the same time, resulting in a decrease in testosterone levels, decreased libido or sexual dysfunction, so further research and solutions are still needed. Among them, although testosterone also inhibits the function of interstitial cells, it has a good prospect for use because it has a substitution effect and does not affect sexual function.

(4) Cottonpol, a drug that selectively inhibits spermatogenic epithelium, was first discovered by Chinese scholars for its anti-fertility effect, and has been extensively studied and clinically tested in China. This research has attracted international attention. It is a male oral contraceptive that is cheap and easy to use, but it also has certain side effects.