New condom may increase use, examine finds

A condom designed to extend sexual pleasure has the potential to extend protected intercourse and reduce sexually transmitted infections, a brand new examine suggests.

The brand new condom, known as CSD500 and never at the moment obtainable in the US, features a gel designed to reinforce erection firmness, measurement and period.

The randomized, managed examine led by researchers at The Ohio State College in contrast CSD500 to straightforward condoms, and each women and men within the take a look at condom group reported better enjoyment. The boys within the CSD500 group additionally indicated a lot better acceptability, reporting better ease in placing on the condom and a extra pure really feel. Virtually 16% even stated that intercourse felt so much higher than intercourse and not using a condom. The examine seems within the Journal of Intercourse Analysis.

The outcomes counsel the condom might be a strong device in stopping each the unfold of infections and undesirable pregnancies, stated the examine’s lead writer, Maria Gallo of Ohio State’s School of Public Well being.

The examine, supported by the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, included 500 {couples} in heterosexual monogamous relationships in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam, the place condom use is particularly necessary given heightened notion of dangers associated to hormonal contraception, such because the tablet, and excessive abortion charges. Over the course of six months, {couples} repeatedly reported their sexual satisfaction and pleasure by a seven-item questionnaire.

CSD500, made by Futura Medical, has been authorised for over-the-counter use in additional than two dozen European nations and is being bought within the Netherlands and Belgium. Extra just lately, it was authorised to be used in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Futura Medical offered the condoms for the examine however was not concerned within the analysis.

Overcoming obstacles to condom use has widespread advantages, significantly amongst sure populations at highest danger for infections and undesirable pregnancies, Gallo stated.

“Married girls account for about one-third of HIV circumstances in Vietnam, and most have been uncovered to the virus by sexual exercise with their husbands. Worldwide, greater than 80% of HIV circumstances in girls consequence from sexual publicity to husbands or major companions,” Gallo stated.  

Gallo and her colleagues are enthusiastic about discovering methods to extend the facility girls have in terms of negotiating condom use, and defending their well being, in quite a lot of relationships.

“In a wedding or a long-term relationship, asking for condom use would possibly really feel like you might be suggesting that the particular person is having intercourse with different companions or that the particular person has HIV or one other sexually transmitted an infection,” Gallo stated.

“A condom reminiscent of CSD500 might be useful for girls in established relationships as a result of they could face much less issue in asking a companion to put on a condom for his pleasure than for being pregnant or illness prevention.”

Gallo stated she may see CSD500 being helpful for males who’ve intercourse with males as effectively, as a result of the group is at larger danger of HIV and different sexually transmitted infections, and due to the attraction of utilizing a condom for pleasure.

If males discover intercourse with the CSD500 condom pleasurable, as proven with many on this examine, the condom or one prefer it may go a good distance in overcoming obstacles to safety, she stated, including that an estimated 9-37% of condoms customers have had erection issues throughout condom software or use.

“This expertise—particularly throughout preliminary, formative sexual encounters—has been proven to make some males much less assured about their means to take care of an erection throughout condom use. This could then trigger a detrimental suggestions loop of erectile dysfunction and dissuade males from trying to make use of a condom once more,” Gallo stated.

“By growing blood circulation inside the penis and inflicting a firmer erection, CSD500 use may enable males to turn into snug and skilled with condoms, enabling them to beat perceived or precise efficiency points.”

One limitation of the examine is that the {couples} have been conscious of which condom they have been utilizing—a call the researchers made within the curiosity of making an expertise as true to abnormal life as potential, Gallo stated.