Capsules

A NOSY CONTRACEPTIVE

"Honey, did you take a sniff today?"

That could some day become a standard question among men and women. Writing in the British journal Lancet last week, Researchers Christer Bergquist, Sven Johan Nillius and Leif Wide of the University Hospital of Uppsala, Sweden, reported progress toward an unusual goal: the development of a nasal spray contraceptive. In their work, they used a derivative of a hormone known as LRH (for luteinizing hormone- releasing hormone). In high daily doses the experimental chemical inhibits ovulation by curtailing the secretion of still other hormones called gonadotropins, essential for the maturing and release of the eggs.

For periods ranging up to six months, they administered the synthetic version of LRH to 27 women, aged 21 to 37, only one of whom also relied on an I.U.D. The drug was remarkably effective. Only two women showed any signs of ovulation -- probably because of faulty dosages, the doctors suspect. Though the hormone's long-term effects are still unknown, immediate side effects were limited to coldlike sniffles and temporary headaches. There is speculation that LRH derivatives may also prove useful as a male contraceptive since gonadotropins regulate the production of sperm, but the actual marketing of a nasal contraceptive for either men or women is years away.

IS MALE MENOPAUSE A MYTH? Though it has long been known that male sexual ability declines with age, doctors have never been sure of the reason. The most widely accepted explanation among scientists is that levels of the sex hormone testosterone drop after reaching a peak between ages 20 and 30, producing in effect a "male menopause." Now that theory has been challenged. In a study of 73 men, from 25 to 89 years old, Dr. S. Mitchell Harman and fellow researchers at the National Institute on Aging confirmed that there was decreasing sexual activity with advancing years but that levels of testosterone remained remarkably stable after age 30. These results conflict directly with other studies undertaken in the past five years. Harman thinks he knows the reason: the earlier work included men in hospitals and nursing homes whose hormone levels might have been affected by chronic illness, obesity or alcoholism.

In contrast, the NIA subjects were all healthy, vigorous men. Yet if there is no such thing as male menopause, what causes the sexual decline? Harman suspects that it may be owing at least in part to changes in the central nervous system's ability to send messages along its numerous pathways.

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