Prostate pill could be a male contraceptive

A DRUG widely used to treat symptoms of an enlarged prostate may also be effective as a male contraceptive pill.

taken three hours before intercourse, silodosin was found to be 100 per cent effective in preventing sperm appearing in semen, according to research published in the World Journal of Urology, based on 63 men who took the drug over several weeks.

none of the men’s partners became pregnant during that time.

Precisely how it works is not known, but lack of sperm is one of the drug’s main side-effects when it is used for prostate problems, report researchers at the institute of Medical Sciences in Sirsi, india.