LivingThree New Birth Control Methods You Should Know About
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Three New Birth Control Methods You Should Know About

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During the last 30 years there has been remarkable progress in thedevelopment of new contraceptive technologies, including transitions from high-dose to low-dose combined oral contraceptives, or from inert IUDs to copper devices and levonorgestrel-releasing IUDs. In addition, combined injectable contraceptives, patches have been introduced … And everything indicates that the era of durable and reversible contraceptives is approaching. These are some of the newest:

1. Under the skin.Recently, a female subcutaneous contraceptive has been marketed, consisting of a soft and flexible rod that is implanted under the skin in the arm and lasts for three years. Releases in a controlled wayetonogestrel, which inhibits ovulation and thus guarantees safe contraception.

2. Contraceptive gold.Biologists from Anhui University in China have developedPure gold nano-pieces that could become long-lasting as well as reversible male contraceptives. To test its effectiveness, the scientists injected nanoparticles of pure gold into the testes of male mice and fired an infrared laser on them to heat them to the exact temperature where they can kill sperm without affecting other tissues. In this way, by periodically applying the laser, it is possible to control the sperm reserve with sufficient precision so that the subjects can become parents at any time, since the effects are reversible.

3. Immobilize the sperm.Researchers at the Autonomous University of Mexico have developed a reversible, non-hormonal male contraceptive that promises not to generate side effects. The strategy consists of suppressing the CatSper and Slo3 ion channels, which regulate the mobility of sperm to the female ovum. So far, experimental tests in mice have shown that individuals without both ion channels are infertile.

Genetic grief: when we cannot be mothers with our own eggs

Grief is the reaction to a significant loss in our lives, whatever its type. When we speak, more specifically, of genetic grief, we speak of the emotional reaction of loss when we cannot have children with our own eggs (or sperm in the case of men).

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Fatherless mice are born using only unfertilized eggs

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The first two weeks are key to the success of pregnancy

The first two weeks are critical for the success of the pregnancy, since, during those 14 days after ovulation, the embryo has to implant in the uterus, and any irregularity can cause implantation failure or the death of the embryo, even before the woman is aware of her early pregnancy. This is how the experts from the MARGen clinic in Granada explain it in an article published in the magazine Frontiers.

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