Birth Control Pill For Men Shows Promise In UW Study

SEATTLE, WA - After decades of women bearing the burden of birth control pills, men might soon get a turn.

University of Washington researchers have completed a study of birth control for men, and the results are promising. Eighty-three men in Washington and California recently tested the drug, called DMAU, or dimethandrolone undecanoate, which suppresses hormones that help the body produce sperm.

DMAU works in part by suppressing testosterone, but researchers said none of the men experienced ill side effects.

"Despite having low levels of circulating testosterone, very few subjects reported symptoms consistent with testosterone deficiency or excess," Dr. Stephanie Page, a professor of medicine at UW, told Science Daily.

The test subjects took different levels of DMAU, from 100 to 400 milligrams. The men who took the highest doses had the most suppressed sperm levels. UW researchers will conduct a second test of 50 men from California and Washington that will assess daily use of the pill over the course of three months.

The pill would be taken daily, just like birth control for women. The pill would be an alternative to topical male birth control options already in development.

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