99+% effective

2% complete detachment rate (3% partial); tested in very active health club users

How to use:  Apply one patch each week for 3 weeks; leave off for 1 week, then repeat.  “Period” occurs during the week with no patch.

Company studies indicate no increase in spotting or break-through bleeding

99+% effective

Ortho company will be using powerful marketing strategies to encourage Orthotricyclen users to change to Orthotricyclen Lo (and there seems to be little reason not to do so)

What...?
“An international survey of 2,000 men in Edinburgh, Cape Town, Hong Kong and Shanghai has shown that two thirds of all men would like to be able to take contraceptive pills themselves. Of an additional 2,000 women interviewed by the researchers, almost all would welcome this approach to contraception, and would trust their partners to be responsible about it.” (http://www.pillformen.com)

Healthy men are always producing sperm. The continuous fertility of men does not offer the opportunities for reversible intervention that are offered by women's cycles of fertility. Developing effective contraceptive methods for men without permanently impairing their fertility has proved to be very elusive, but progress is being made.

How it Works
The pill uses external testosterone to shut down the brain's signals to the testicle, which stops making sperm and internal testosterone. It leaves the guys with a healthy amount of testosterone so that they feel fine but their sperm count is down to zero. This does not hinder the ability to have an erection. At this point the success rate is about 97%. However there is currently research being done in hopes to increase the 97%, the hope is to find the physiological mechanism of sperm production and to stop that with out interfering with the testosterone levels.

Potential Side Effects
· -mood swings
· -aggressiveness
· -lack of libido
· -acne
· -weight gain
· -lowered high density lipoprotein (HDL, the good cholesterol) levels
· -impotence
· -long-term infertility

Potential Contraceptive Injections, Implants, and Vaccines for Men (in the works)
World Health Organization studies have shown greatly reduced sperm counts in men injected once a week with testosterone enanthate (TE), a synthetic hormone. Research continues with a combination of TE and depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), the progestin used in Depo-Provera. The combination injection may be needed only once a month.

A potential three-month injection using testosterone buciclate is in preliminary development.

Types
>Subdermal Implants—Two rods are inserted under the skin. One of the rods contains a synthetic version of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). The other contains an androgen. The androgen, 7-alpha methyl-19-nortestosterone (MENT), is 10 times stronger than natural testosterone.

>Battery-powered capsules—Capsules implanted into each vas deferens emit low-level electrical currents that immobilizes sperm as they flow by.