Contraceptive News and Research

RSS

Men can take contraceptives to prevent pregnancy in female partners, study shows

Men can take birth control shots to prevent pregnancy in their female partners, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

27 Oct 2016

Clinical trial finds women with heavy periods can be greatly helped by GP-prescribed treatments

The largest and longest running clinical trial of medical therapies for heavy periods has found that women can be greatly helped by having treatments just from their GP, with most avoiding hospital operations.

12 Oct 2016

Special issue of American Journal of Public Health explores impacts of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program

A new supplement of the American Journal of Public Health out today explores the impacts of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Adolescent Health's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. This Journal issue contains expert commentary, research and recommendations based on outcomes from the program's implementation.

30 Sep 2016

Study data does not support benefits of testosterone supplementation in men with ‘low T’

The prescription of testosterone supplementation for cardiovascular health, sexual function, physical function, mood, or cognitive function in men with "low T" is not supported by clinical trials data, conclude researchers who describe a review of more than 200 clinical trials published Sept. 21 in PLOS One.

22 Sep 2016

LARC benefits wider population of potential users than previously thought

New research provides strong scientific evidence that long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) benefits a wider population of potential users than previously thought.

21 Sep 2016

Oral contraceptive use may be reason for decline in mortality from ovarian cancer worldwide

Deaths from ovarian cancer fell worldwide between 2002 and 2012 and are predicted to continue to decline in the USA, European Union and, though to a smaller degree, in Japan by 2020, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology today (Tuesday).

5 Sep 2016

Women using contraception containing estrogen may have high vitamin D levels, study shows

Women risk having their vitamin D levels fall when they stop using birth control pills or other contraceptives containing estrogen, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

4 Aug 2016

Pew survey shows Americans worry about using emerging technologies for human enhancement

Many in the general public think scientific and technological innovations bring helpful change to society, but they are more concerned than excited when it comes to the potential use of emerging technologies to make people's minds sharper, their bodies stronger and healthier than ever before, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

26 Jul 2016

Gates Institute launches new global urban reproductive health program

The Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is launching The Challenge Initiative, a global urban reproductive health program supported by a three-year, $42 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

20 Jul 2016

Lancet study highlights long-term effect of 1999 nationwide strategy to reduce teenage pregnancy

Rates of teenage pregnancy in England have halved since the implementation of the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) in 1999, and the greatest effect is seen in areas of high deprivation and areas that received the most TPS funding, according to research published in The Lancet.

24 May 2016

Sexual abstinence, marital fidelity programs not effective in reducing HIV risk

The U.S. government has invested $1.4 billion in HIV prevention programs that promote sexual abstinence and marital fidelity, but there is no evidence that these programs have been effective at changing sexual behavior and reducing HIV risk, according to a new Stanford University School of Medicine study.

13 May 2016

Abortion rates at all-time low in developed countries, but unchanged in the developing world

Abortion rates have dropped to an all-time low in developed countries, but remain the same in developing countries, where it is often unsafe to have an abortion, report researchers.

12 May 2016

Women often excluded from type 2 diabetes drug trials

While women who are pregnant, or breastfeeding or who may become pregnant are often excluded from clinical trials for type 2 diabetes drugs, the exclusion is frequently not based on the risk of fetal harm, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers and may be contributing to the underrepresentation of women in clinical trials and an incomplete understanding of the effects of drugs on women who become pregnant unexpectedly.

6 May 2016

Mozambique women who use modern contraceptives more likely to undergo HIV testing

Women in sub-Saharan Africa who use modern contraceptives are more likely to be tested for HIV than those who do not, according to a study published April 25, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Katherine Center from the University of Arizona and colleagues.

27 Apr 2016

Hormonal contraception may increase susceptibility of women to genital infection

Women account for approximately half of all individuals living with HIV worldwide, and researchers wanted to identify the risk factors that increase susceptibility of women to genital infection.

20 Apr 2016

Researchers reach milestone in developing non-hormonal approach to male contraception

Researchers studying strategies to develop a non-hormonal approach to male contraception have reached an important milestone in their work, discovering a way to produce a key enzyme found only in sperm in sufficient quantities that they can begin designing drugs to stop the sperm from swimming to the egg.

13 Apr 2016

Scientists identify RingoA protein as key regulator of meiosis

Published today in Nature Communications, a study by scientists at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine headed by ICREA researcher Angel R. Nebreda has reported that the protein RingoA is a key regulator of meiosis--the cell division process that gives rise to ovules and sperm for sexual reproduction in mammals.

31 Mar 2016

Certain types of hormonal contraceptives may increase risk of seizures in women with epilepsy

Could certain types of hormonal contraceptives cause an increase in seizures in women with epilepsy? A recent Texas A&M Health Science Center study suggests that ethinyl estradiol, the primary component of oral contraceptives, could be detrimental to the epileptic brain.

30 Mar 2016

Oregon's new birth control law could improve access to all forms of contraception

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University, University of Minnesota School of Public Health and George Mason University applaud Oregon's new birth control law which allows women age 18 or older to obtain some methods of hormonal contraception directly from pharmacies, without having to visit a prescribing clinician, yet note how the law could go even further to improve access to all forms of contraception, according to a viewpoint article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association today.

29 Mar 2016

UC Berkeley biologists discover potential target for unisex contraceptives

UC Berkeley biologists have discovered the switch that triggers the power kick sperm use to penetrate and fertilize a human egg, uncovering a possible source of male infertility but also a potential target for contraceptives that work in both men and women.

26 Mar 2016