一詞日曆：男性避孕藥出來了
2019.04.23
週二 Tuesday
placebo /plə'siːboʊ/
n. 安慰劑
圖片來源：視覺中國
For years, scientists have been trying to develop a safe and effective version of the pill for men, and a new drug candidate could be the contraceptive we've been looking for.
多年來，科學家們一直在努力開發出一種安全有效的男性避孕藥，一種新的候選藥物可能就是我們一直在尋找的避孕藥。
Now, scientists in the US announced that an experimental oral drug called 11-beta-MNTDC looks to be safe and tolerable, based on results from a phase 1 clinical trial involving 40 men.
現在，美國科學家宣佈，一種名爲11-β- mntdc的實驗性口服藥物看起來是安全且可耐受的，這是基於40名男性參與的一期臨牀試驗的結果。
"Our results suggest that this pill, which combines two hormonal activities in one, will decrease sperm production while preserving libido," says male reproduction biologist Christina Wang from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed).
洛杉磯生物醫學研究所(LA BioMed)的男性生殖生物學家Christina Wang說:“我們的研究結果表明，這種將兩種激素活動結合在一起的藥物，將在保持性慾的同時降低精子產量。”
In the clinical trial, Wang and her team recruited 40 healthy men.
在臨牀試驗中，王和她的團隊招募了40名健康男性。
For 28 days, 30 of these participants took a low or higher daily dose of the 11-beta-MNTDC, while the remaining 10 men took a placebo.
在28天的時間裏，其中30名參與者每天服用低劑量或高劑量的11-β- mntdc，而其餘10名男性則服用安慰劑。
11-beta-MNTDC is a modified form of testosterone with both progestational (in effect, sperm-blocking) and androgenic (hormone-balancing) characteristics.
mntdc是一種改良的睾丸激素，具有孕激素(實際上是精子阻斷)和雄激素(激素平衡)的特徵。
"Since testosterone production is shut down in the testes, the androgen action in the rest of the body maintains 'maleness' elsewhere, supporting things like male pattern hair, deep voice, sex drive and function, and lean body mass," explained one of the team, endocrinologist Stephanie Page from the University of Washington.
研究小組成員之一、華盛頓大學內分泌學家斯蒂芬妮·佩奇解釋說:“由於睾丸激素的分泌在睾丸中停止，身體其他部位的雄激素活動還維持着‘男性化’，比如維持男性化髮型、低沉的嗓音、性慾和性功能，以及瘦體重。”
In the first clinical trial results on the drug, that balancing act looks like it might deliver a safe oral drug while hypothetically stopping sperm production – although it has to be emphasised this is only preliminary data.
在該藥物的首次臨牀試驗結果中，當這種平衡行爲能按照假設那般停止產生精子，似乎提供了一種安全的口服藥物——儘管必須強調的是，這只是初步數據。
今日詞彙
placebo /plə'siːboʊ/
n. 安慰劑
在醫學界中存在這樣一種現象：給病人吃並沒有療效的藥，卻告訴病人是有效藥物。
結果通常是，儘管吃的是“朱古力”，病情卻可能有所改善呢。（#論心理暗示的強大作用#）
安慰劑效應placebo - effects
