Wednesday, March 12, 2008 Literatus: Uncertain gift By Zosimo T. Literatus, R.M.T. Breakthroughs
“IF men could get pregnant,” said American author Rose F. Kennedy, “abortion would be a sacrament.” (Ms. Kennedy is the mother of late US president John F. Kennedy.)
The rise of male oral contraception in the family planning scene could be a positive development in a certain sense.
Men don’t have to get pregnant to give some thought on the prospects of raising a child. Neither would abortion be given a chance to become a sacrament (take note that men instituted the sacrament, not women).
Last week, you were introduced into the new trend of family planning: male oral contraception. In the Philippines, most men knew only the barrier type of contraception, now getting display space in pharmacies and supermarkets, notwithstanding Catholic opposition. Thanks to creative lobbying among its manufacturers and distributors! But in the United States, it is gaining adherents.
In the Peter Y. Liu study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism this month, we got familiar with oral contraceptive combinations commonly used in the re-analyzed research reports on the matter.
These are androgens and the androgen-progestin combinations. We learned that the androgen-progestin combinations are more potent clinically than androgen therapy alone.
Liu and colleagues also noted faster rates of sperm production suppression in Caucasian men than in Asian men during the first two to three months of treatment (afterwards, suppression in Caucasians became slower). High suppression speed was also observed among those taking the combinations.
Slower suppressive effect occurred with older age, higher blood testosterone level, or higher sperm concentration. In addition, obesity (increasing body mass index) and exposure to a higher effective dose of testosterone increased the chance of non-suppression.
Thus, two factors appeared more likely to be clinically important for the large size of population it involved. These factors were the concurrent use of progestin and ethnic differences.
In short, androgen-progestin oral contraception is scientifically proven effective in suppressing, if not stopping, sperm production without being irreversible.
However, like any hormonal contraception, potential long-term danger cannot be fully ruled out.
Yet somehow, uncertainty in this area could be less a curse than a gift. Francis Bacon reminds: “If we begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and are patient in them, we shall end in certainties.” Patience, my friends! Patience!
