Contraception: the poverty of researen
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ONCE AGAIN, New Scientist provides most of your science news this week, with an article, "Contraceptives: back to the barriers, by Renee Serlin.
From the 1960s, the contraceptive pill swept the board in the Western coun tries. It gave women an unprecedented control over their fertility with an unprecedented convenience.
But with the rise of the women's movement has come an awareness of the long-term dangers of taking a drug which affects every cell in the body, as well as an increasing unwillingness to put up with its short-term side-effects.
Women are also unwilling to put up with the discomforts and hazards of the IUD, so there has been a renewal of interest in the oldest forms of birth control - barrier methods.
In these the sperm is either physically stopped from reaching the egg, Of killed, or both.
Barrier methods go back to ancient Egypt, and they include diaphragms, cervical caps, vaginal sponges and condoms.
They do have several drawbacks - they all inter-ere with the spontaneity of sex. and to be most effective te: must used with spermicidal creams or jellies which can be messy to apply: If used properly, a diaphragm is as reliable as the pill. Unfortunately, it is easy to misplace.
Side-effect
One unexpected side-effect of the pill seems to have been the holding back of research into making barrier contraceptives easier and more effective. This is now being remedied to some extent, though not as much as necessary, probably because they are of quite low profitability.
Modern research has now come up with such things as a vaginal sponge (first recorded 2000 years ago) impregnated with spermicide, which can be left in for up to 48 hours.
If used properly, can be up to 98% safe.
Cervical cap
the cervical cap, popular in the 1920s, looks like making a comeback. This is like a diaphragm, but fits snugly round the cervix, needs less or even no spermicide, and can be left in place longer than the diaphragm.
The most exciting development is a cap individually moulded to fit exactly onto the cervix with a one way valve to allow • menstrual blood and secretions out but to stop sperm getting in.
In trials in the US, such caps have been left in for 22 months with no detected problems.
Compared with this latest development, the diaphragm seems a poor substitute, particularly since it is designed