Bigmurph6
Banned
SARMS
Selective androgen receptor modulators
SARMs are a novel class of androgen receptor ligands. They are intended to have the same kind of effects as androgenic drugs but be much more selective in their action, them to be used for more uses than the uses of anabolic steroids. SARMs signify a new era of tissue-selective androgens with an unknown potential to treat and possibly cure several diseases.
Compared to Testosterone
Currently used androgens for male hormone replacement therapy are typically injectable or skin delivery formulations of testosterone or testosterone esters. Injectable forms of testosterone esters such as testosterone enanthate, propionate, or cypionate produce undesirable fluctuations in testosterone blood levels, with overly high levels shortly after injection and overly low afterward. Skin patches do provide a better blood level profile of testosterone, but skin irritation and daily application still limit their usefulness.
SARMs provide the ability to design molecules that can be delivered orally, but that selectively target the androgen receptors in different tissues differently. The goal of research in this area is to allow a customized response Tissues that are the target of the therapy will respond as they would to testosterone; other tissues where undesirable side-effects are produced will not.
None of the SARMs yet developed are truly selective for anabolic effects in muscle or bone tissues without producing any androgenic effects in tissues such as the prostate gland; however, several nonsteroidal androgens show a ratio of anabolic to androgenic effects of greater than 3:1 and up to as much as 90:1 (RAD-140), compared to testosterone, which has a ratio of 1:1
Research is continuing into more potent and selective SARMs, as well as optimising characteristics such as oral bioavailability and increased half-life in vivo , and seeing as the first tissue-selective SARMs were only demonstrated in 2003, the compounds tested so far represent only the first generation of SARMs and future development may produce more selective agents compared to those available at present.
Anabolic Agents(non steriodal)
The central role of testosterone in the development of male characteristics, as well as its beneficial effects on physical performance and muscle growth, has led to the search for synthetic alternatives with improved pharmacological profiles. Hundreds of steroidal analogs have been prepared with a superior oral bioavailability, which should also possess reduced undesirable effects. However, only a few entered the pharmaceutical market due to severe toxicological incidences that were mainly attributed to the lack of tissue selectivity. Prominent representatives of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are for instance methyltestosterone, metandienone and stanozolol, which are discussed as model compounds with regard to general pharmacological aspects of synthetic AAS. Recently, nonsteroidal alternatives to AAS have been developed that selectively activate the androgen receptor in either muscle tissue or bones. These so-called selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are currently undergoing late clinical trials (IIb) and will be prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency from January 2008. Their entirely synthetic structures are barely related to steroids, but particular functional groups allow for the tissue-selective activation or inhibition of androgen receptors and, thus, the stimulation of muscle growth without the risk of severe undesirable effects commonly observed in steroid replacement therapies. Hence, these compounds possess a high potential for misuse in sports and will be the subject of future doping control assays.
Examples
ANABOLIC AGENTS (NON-STEROID)
Arachidonic Acid
Cardarine (GW-501516)
Epitalon
Kynoselen
Lutalyse® (dinoprost)
(RAD-140)
AAS
anabolic–androgenic steroids
Anabolic steroids , also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids or AAS are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related and have similar effects to testosterone. They increase protein within cells, especially in skeletal muscles, and also have varying degrees virilizing effects, including induction of the development and maintenance of masculine secondary sexual characteristics such as the growth of facial and body hair. The word anabolic , referring to anabolism, comes from the Greek anabole , “that which is thrown up, mound”. Androgens or AAS are one of three types of sex hormone agonists, the others being estrogens like estradiol and progestogens like progesterone.
AAS were synthesized in the 1930s, and are now used therapeutically in medicine to stimulate muscle growth and appetite, induce male puberty and treat chronic wasting conditions, such as cancer and AIDS. The American College of Sports Medicine acknowledges that AAS, in the presence of adequate diet, can contribute to increases in body weight, often as lean mass increases and that the gains in muscular strength achieved through high-intensity exercise and proper diet can be additionally increased by the use of AAS in some individuals.
Health risks can be produced by long-term use or excessive doses of AAS. These effects include harmful changes in cholesterol levels increased [low-density lipoprotein and decreased high-density lipoprotein, acne, high blood pressure, liver damage mainly with most oral AAS, and dangerous changes in the structure of the left ventricle of the heart. These risks are further increased when, as they often do, athletes take steroids alongside other drugs, causing significantly more damage to their bodies. The effect of anabolic steroids on the heart can cause myocardial infarction and strokes. Conditions pertaining to hormonal imbalances such as gynecomastia and testicular size reduction may also be caused by AAS. In women and children, AAS can cause irreversible masculinization.
Ergogenic uses for AAS in sports, racing, and bodybuilding as performance-enhancing drugs are controversial because of their adverse effects and the potential to gain unfair advantage in physical competitions. Their use is referred to as doping and banned by most major sporting bodies. Athletes have been looking for drugs to enhance their athletic abilities since the Olympics started in Ancient Greece. For many years, AAS have been by far the most detected doping substances in IOC accredited laboratories. In countries where AAS are controlled substances, there is often a black market in which smuggled, clandestinely manufactured or even counterfeit drugs are sold to users.
Direct and Indirect Steroids?
In looking over the proposed indirect effects of
testosterone, and pondering the effectiveness of the synthetic anabolic/androgenic steroids, we must resist the temptation to believe we can categorize steroids as those which directly, and those which indirectly, promote muscle growth. The belief that there are two dichotomous
groups or classes of steroids ignores the fact that all commercial steroids promote not only muscle growth but also androgenic effects. There is no complete separation of these traits at this time, making clear that all activate the cellular androgen receptor.I believe the theory behind direct and indirect steroid classifications originated when some noted the low receptor binding affinity of seemingly strong anabolic steroids like oxymetholone and methandrostenolone. If they bind poorly, yet work well, something else must be at work. This type of thinking fails to recognize other factors in the potency of these compounds, such as their long half-lives, estrogenic activity, and weak interaction with restrictive binding proteins (see: Free vs. Bound Testosterone). While there may possibly be differences in the way various compounds could foster growth indirectly, such that advantages might even be found with certain synergistic drug combinations, the primary mode of action with all of these compounds is the androgen receptor. The notion
that steroid X and Y must never be stacked together because they both compete for the same receptor when.stimulating growth, while X and Z should be combined because they work via different mechanisms, should likewise not be taken too seriously. Such classifications are based on speculation only, and upon reasonable investigation are clearly invalid.
Medical Uses
Since the discovery and synthesis of testosterone in the 1930s, AAS have been used by physicians for many purposes, with varying degrees of success. These can broadly be grouped into anabolic, androgenic, and other uses.
Anabolic
Bone marrow stimulation: For decades, AAS were the mainstay of therapy for hypoplastic anemias due to leukemia, kidney failure or aplastic anemia.
Growth stimulation: AAS can be used by pediatric endocrinologists to treat children with growth failure. However, the availability of synthetic growth hormone, which has fewer side effects, makes this a secondary treatment.
Stimulation of appetite and preservation and increase of muscle mass: AAS have been given to people with chronic wasting conditions] such as cancer and AIDS.
Stimulation of lean body mass and prevention of bone loss in elderly men, as some studies indicate. However, a 2006 placebo-controlled trial of low-dose testosterone supplementation in elderly men with low levels of testosterone found no benefit on body composition, physical performance, insulin sensitivity, or quality of life.
Prevention or treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Nandrolone decanoate is approved for this use. Although they have been indicated for this indication, AAS saw very little use for this purpose due to their virilizing side effects.
Aiding weight gain following surgery or physical trauma, during [chronic infection, or in the context of unexplained weight loss.
Counteracting the catabolic effect of long-term corticosteroid therapy.
Oxandrolone improves both short-term and long-term outcomes in people recovering from severe burns and is well-established as a safe treatment for this indication.
Treatment of idiopathic short stature, hereditary angioedema, alcoholic hepatitis, and hypogonadism.
Methyltestosterone is used in the treatment of delayed puberty, hypogonadism, cryptorchidism, and erectile dysfunction in males, and in low doses to treat menopausal symptoms specifically for osteoporosis, hot flashes, and to increase libido and energy, postpartum breast pain and engorgement, and breast cancer in women.
Androgenic
Androgen replacement therapy for men with low levels of testosterone; also effective in improving libido for elderly males.
Induction of male puberty: Androgens are given to many boys distressed about extreme delay of puberty. Testosterone is now nearly the only androgen used for this purpose and has been shown to increase height, weight, and fat-free mass in boys with delayed puberty.
Masculinizing hormone therapy for transgender men, other transmasculine people, and intersex people, by producing masculine secondary sexual characteristics such as a voice deepening, increased bone and muscle mass, masculine fat distribution, facial and body hair, and clitoral enlargement, as well as mental changes such as alleviation of gender dysphoria and increased sex drive.
Other
Treatment of breast cancer in women, although they are now very rarely used for this purpose due to their marked virilizing side effects.
In low doses as a component of [hormone therapy for postmenopausal and transgender women, for instance to increase energy, well-being, libido, and quality of life, as well as to reduce hot flashes. Testosterone is usually used for this purpose, although methyltestosterone is also used.
Male hormonal contraception; currently experimental, but potential for use as effective, safe, reliable, and reversible male contraceptives.
Enhancing performance
Most steroid users are not athletes. In the United States, between 1 million and 3 million people 1% of the population are thought to have used AAS. Studies in the United States have shown that AAS users tend to be mostly middle-class heterosexual men with a median age of about 25 who are noncompetitive bodybuilders and non-athletes and use the drugs for cosmetic purposes. "Among 12- to 17-year-old boys, use of steroids and similar drugs jumped 25 percent from 1999 to 2000, with 20 percent saying they use them for looks rather than sports, a study by insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield found. “Eisenhauer” Another study found that non-medical use of AAS among college students was at or less than 1%. According to a recent survey, 78.4% of steroid users were noncompetitive bodybuilders and non-athletes, while about 13% reported unsafe injection practices such as reusing needles, sharing needles, and sharing multidose vials, though a 2007 study found that sharing of needles was extremely uncommon among individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes, less than 1%. Another 2007 study found that 74% of non-medical AAS users had post-secondary degrees and more had completed college and fewer had failed to complete high school than is expected from the general populace. The same study found that individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes had a higher employment rate and a higher household income than the general population. AAS users tend to research the drugs they are taking more than other controlled-substance users; however, the major sources consulted by steroid users include friends, non-medical handbooks, internet-based forums, blogs, and fitness magazines, which can provide questionable or inaccurate information.
AAS users tend to be unhappy with the portrayal of AAS as deadly in the media and in politics. According to one study, AAS users also distrust their physicians and in the sample 56% had not disclosed their AAS use to their physicians. Another 2007 study had similar findings, showing that, while 66% of individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes were willing to seek medical supervision for their steroid use, 58% lacked trust in their physicians, 92% felt that the medical community’s knowledge of non-medical AAS use was lacking, and 99% felt that the public has an exaggerated view of the side-effects of AAS use. A recent study has also shown that long term AAS users were more likely to have symptoms of muscle dysmorphia and also showed stronger endorsement of more conventional male roles. A recent study in the Journal of Health Psychology showed that many users believed that steroids used in moderation were safe.
AAS have been used by men and women in many different kinds of professional sports to attain a competitive edge or to assist in recovery from injury. These sports include bodybuilding, weightlifting, shot put and other track and field, cycling, baseball, wrestling, mixed martial arts, boxing, football, and cricket. Such use is prohibited by the rules of the governing bodies of most sports. AAS use occurs among adolescents, especially by those participating in competitive sports. It has been suggested that the prevalence of use among high-school students in the U.S. may be as high as 2.7%.
General dosage ranges of anabolic Steroids/Medication/Route/Dosage range
Danazol Oral 100–800 mg/day
Drostanolone propionate Injection 100 mg 3 times/week
Ethylestrenol Oral 2–8 mg/day
Fluoxymesterone Oral 2–40 mg/day
Mesterolone Oral 25–150 mg/day
Metandienone Oral 2.5–15 mg/day
Metenolone acetate Oral 10–150 mg/day
Metenolone enanthate Injection 25–100 mg/week
Methyltestosterone Oral 1.5–200 mg/day
Nandrolone decanoate Injection 12.5–200 mg/week
Nandrolone phenylpropionate Injection 6.25–200 mg/week
Norethandrolone Oral 20–30 mg/day
Oxandrolone Oral 2.5–20 mg/day
Oxymetholone Oral 1–5 mg/kg/day or 50–150 mg/day
Stanozolol Oral 2–6 mg/day Injection 50 mg up to every two weeks
Testosterone Oral 400–800 mg/day Injection 25–100 mg up to three times weekly
Testosterone cypionate Injection 50–400 mg up to every four weeks
Testosterone enanthate Injection 50–400 mg up to every four weeks
Testosterone propionate Injection 25–50 mg up to three times weekly
Testosterone undecanoate Oral 80–240 mg/day
Injection 750–1000 mg up to every 10 weeks
Trenbolone HBC Injection 75 mg every 10 days
Physiological
Depending on the length of drug use, there is a chance that the immune system can be damaged. Most of these side-effects are dose-dependent, the most common being elevated blood pressure, especially in those with pre-existing hypertension. In addition to morphological changes of the heart which may have a permanent adverse effect on cardiovascular efficiency.
AAS have been shown to alter fasting blood sugar and glucose tolerance tests. AAS such as testosterone also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary artery disease. Acne is fairly common among AAS users, mostly due to stimulation of the sebaceous glands by increased testosterone levels. Conversion of testosterone to DHT can accelerate the rate of premature baldness for males genetically predisposed, but testosterone itself can produce baldness in females.
A number of severe side effects can occur if adolescents use AAS. For example, AAS may prematurely stop the lengthening of bones premature epiphyseal fusion through increased levels of estrogen metabolites, resulting in [stunted growth. Other effects include, but are not limited to, accelerated bone maturation, increased frequency and duration of erections, and premature sexual development. AAS use in adolescence is also correlated with poorer attitudes related to health.
Cancer
WHO organization International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC list AAS under Group 2A: Probably carcinogenic to humans.
Cardiovascular
Other side-effects can include alterations in the structure of the heart, such as [enlargement and thickening of the left ventricle, which impairs its contraction and relaxation, and therefore reducing ejected blood volume. Possible effects of these alterations in the heart are hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death. These changes are also seen in non-drug-using athletes, but steroid use may accelerate this process. However, both the connection between changes in the structure of the left ventricle and decreased cardiac function, as well as the connection to steroid use have been disputed.
AAS use can cause harmful changes in cholesterol levels: Some steroids cause an increase in LDL “bad” cholesterol and a decrease in HDL “good” cholesterol
Growth defects
AAS use in adolescents quickens bone maturation and may reduce adult height in high doses. Low doses of AAS such as oxandrolone are used in the treatment of idiopathic short stature, but this may only quicken maturation rather than increasing adult height.
Kidney problems
Kidney tests revealed that nine of the ten steroid users developed a condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a type of scarring within the kidneys. The kidney damage in the bodybuilders has similarities to that seen in morbidly obese patients, but appears to be even more severe.
Liver problems
High doses of oral AAS compounds can cause liver damage. Peliosis hepatis has been increasingly recognised with the use of AAS.
A 2005 review in CNS Drugs determined that “significant psychiatric symptoms including aggression and violence, mania, and less frequently psychosis and suicide have been associated with steroid abuse. Long-term steroid abusers may develop symptoms of dependence and withdrawal on discontinuation of AAS”. High concentrations of AAS, comparable to those likely sustained by many recreational AAS users, produce apoptotic effects on neurons citation needed raising the specter of possibly irreversible neurotoxicity. Recreational AAS use appears to be associated with a range of potentially prolonged psychiatric effects, including dependence syndromes, mood disorders, and progression to other forms of substance abuse, but the prevalence and severity of these various effects remains poorly understood. There is no evidence that steroid dependence develops from therapeutic use of AAS to treat medical disorders, but instances of AAS dependence have been reported among weightlifters and bodybuilders who chronically administered supraphysiologic doses. Mood disturbances (e.g. depression, hypo-mania, psychotic features) are likely to be dose- and drug-dependent, but AAS dependence or withdrawal effects seem to occur only in a small number of AAS users.
Large-scale long-term studies of psychiatric effects on AAS users are not currently available. In 2003, the first naturalistic long-term study on ten users, seven of which having completed the study, found a high incidence of mood disorders and substance abuse, but few clinically relevant changes in physiological parameters or laboratory measures were noted throughout the study, and these changes were not clearly related to periods of reported AAS use. A 13-month study, which was published in 2006 and which involved 320 body builders and athletes suggests that the wide range of psychiatric side-effects induced by the use of AAS is correlated to the severity of abuse.
Diagnostic Statistical Manual assertion
DSM-IV lists General diagnostic criteria for a personality disorder guideline that “The pattern must not be better accounted for as a manifestation of another mental disorder, or to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g. drug or medication) or a general medical condition (e.g. head trauma).”. As a result, AAS users may get misdiagnosed by a psychiatrist not told about their habit.
Personality profiles
Cooper, Noakes, Dunne, Lambert, and Rochford identified that AAS-using individuals are more likely to score higher on borderline (4.7 times), antisocial (3.8 times), paranoid (3.4 times), schizotypal (3.1 times), histrionic (2.9 times), passive-aggressive (2.4 times), and narcissistic (1.6 times) personality profiles than non-users. Other studies have suggested that antisocial personality disorder is slightly more likely among AAS users than among non-users (Pope & Katz, 1994). Bipolar dysfunction, substance dependency, and conduct disorder have also been associated with AAS use.
Mood and anxiety
Affective disorders have long been recognised as a complication of AAS use. Case reports describe both hypomania and mania, along with irritability, elation, recklessness, racing thoughts and feelings of power and invincibility that did not meet the criteria for mania/hypomania. Of 53 bodybuilders who used AAS, 27 (51%) reported unspecified mood disturbance.
Aggression and hypomania
From the mid-1980s onward, the media reported “roid rage” as a side effect of AAS.
A 2005 review determined that some, but not all, randomized controlled studies have found that AAS use correlates with hypomania and increased aggressiveness, but pointed out that attempts to determine whether AAS use triggers violent behavior have failed, primarily because of high rates of non-participation. A 2008 study on a nationally representative sample of young adult males in the United States found an association between lifetime and past-year self-reported AAS use and involvement in violent acts. Compared with individuals that did not use steroids, young adult males that used AAS reported greater involvement in violent behaviors even after controlling for the effects of key demographic variables, previous violent behavior, and polydrug use. A 1996 review examining the blind studies available at that time also found that these had demonstrated a link between aggression and steroid use, but pointed out that with estimates of over one million past or current steroid users in the United States at that time, an extremely small percentage of those using steroids appear to have experienced mental disturbance severe enough to result in clinical treatments or medical case reports.
A 1996 randomized controlled trial, which involved 43 men, did not find an increase in the occurrence of angry behavior during 10 weeks of administration of testosterone enanthate at 600 mg/week, but this study screened out subjects that had previously abused steroids or had any psychiatric antecedents. A trial conducted in 2000 using testosterone cypionate at 600 mg/week found that treatment significantly increased manic scores on the YMRS, and aggressive responses on several scales. The drug response was highly variable. However: 84% of subjects exhibited minimal psychiatric effects, 12% became mildly hypomanic, and 4% (2 subjects) became markedly hypomanic. The mechanism of these variable reactions could not be explained by demographic, psychological, laboratory, or physiological measures.
A 2006 study of two pairs of identical twins, in which one twin used AAS and the other did not, found that in both cases the steroid-using twin exhibited high levels of aggressiveness, hostility, anxiety, and paranoid ideation not found in the “control” twin. A small-scale study of 10 AAS users found that personality disorders were confounding factors for aggression.
The relationship between AAS use and depression is inconclusive. There have been anecdotal reports of depression and suicide in teenage steroid users, but little systematic evidence. A 1992 review found that AAS may both relieve and cause depression, and that cessation or diminished use of AAS may also result in depression, but called for additional studies due to disparate data. In the case of suicide, 3.9% of a sample of 77 those classified as AAS users reported attempting suicide during withdrawal.
Discovery of androgens
The use of gonadal steroids pre-dates their identification and isolation. Extraction of hormones from urines began in China c. 100 BCE. Medical use of testicle extract began in the late 19th century while its effects on strength were still being studied. The isolation of gonadal steroids can be traced back to 1931, when Adolf Butenandt, a chemist in Marburg, purified 15 milligrams of the male hormone androstenone from tens of thousands of litres of urine. This steroid was subsequently synthesized in 1934 by Leopold Ružička, a chemist in Zurich.
In the 1930s, it was already known that the testes contain a more powerful androgen than androstenone, and three groups of scientists, funded by competing pharmaceutical companies in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, raced to isolate it. This hormone was first identified by Karoly Gyula David, E. Dingemanse, J. Freud and Ernst Laqueur in a May 1935 paper, On Crystalline Male Hormone from Testicles (Testosterone). They named the hormone testosterone, from the stems of testicle and sterol, and the suffix of ketone. The chemical synthesis of testosterone was achieved in August that year, when Butenandt and G. Hanisch published a paper describing "A Method for Preparing Testosterone from Cholesterol. Only a week later, the third group, Ruzicka and A. Wettstein, announced a patent application in a paper, On the Artificial Preparation of the Testicular Hormone Testosterone (Androsten-3-one-17-ol). Ruzicka and Butenandt were offered the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work, but the Nazi government forced Butenandt to decline the honor, although he accepted the prize after the end of World War II.
Clinical trials on humans, involving either PO doses of methyltestosterone or injections of testosterone propionate, began as early as 1937. Testosterone propionate is mentioned in a letter to the editor of Strength and Health magazine in 1938; this is the earliest known reference to an AAS in a U.S. weightlifting or bodybuilding magazine. There are often reported rumors that German soldiers were administered AAS during the Second World War, the aim being to increase their aggression and stamina, but these are, as yet, unproven. Adolf Hitler himself, according to his physician, was injected with testosterone derivatives to treat various ailments. AAS were used in experiments conducted by the Nazis on concentration camp inmates,and later by the allies attempting to treat the malnourished victims that survived Nazi camps. President John F. Kennedy was administered steroids both before and during his presidency.
Development of synthetic AAS
The development of muscle-building properties of testosterone was pursued in the 1940s, in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Bloc countries such as East Germany, where steroid programs were used to enhance the performance of Olympic and other amateur weight lifters. In response to the success of Russian weightlifters, the U.S. Olympic Team physician John Ziegler worked with synthetic chemists to develop an AAS with reduced androgenic effects. Ziegler’s work resulted in the production of methandrostenolone, which Ciba Pharmaceuticals marketed as Dianabol. The new steroid was approved for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1958. It was most commonly administered to burn victims and the elderly. The drug’s off-label users were mostly bodybuilders and weight lifters. Although Ziegler prescribed only small doses to athletes, he soon discovered that those having abused Dianabol suffered from enlarged prostates and atrophied testes. AAS were placed on the list of banned substances of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1976, and a decade later the committee introduced ‘out-of-competition’ doping tests because many athletes used AAS in their training period rather than during competition.
Three major ideas governed modifications of testosterone into a multitude of AAS: Alkylation at C17α position with methyl or ethyl group created POly active compounds because it slows the degradation of the drug by the liver; esterification of testosterone and nortestosterone at the C17β position allows the substance to be administered parenterally and increases the duration of effectiveness because agents soluble in oily liquids may be present in the body for several months; and alterations of the ring structure were applied for both PO and parenteral agents to seeking to obtain different anabolic-to-androgenic effect ratios.
Growth Hormone (Somatropin)
Growth hormone or HGH which is actually somatotropin, in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in human development. GH also stimulates production of IGF-1 and increases the concentration of glucose and free fatty acids. It is a type of mitogen which is specific only to the receptors on certain types of cells. GH is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored and secreted by somatotropic cells within the lateral wings of the anterior pituitary gland.
A recombinant form of hGH called somatropin is used as a prescription drug to treat children’s growth disorders and adult growth hormone deficiency. In the United States, it is only available legally from pharmacies by prescription from a licensed health care provider. In recent years in the United States, some health care providers are prescribing growth hormone in the elderly to increase vitality. While legal, the efficacy and safety of this use for HGH has not been tested in a clinical trial. Many of the functions of hGH remain unknown.
In its role as an anabolic agent, HGH has been used by competitors in sports since at least 1982, and has been banned by the IOC and NCAA. Traditional urine analysis does not detect doping with HGH, so the ban was not enforced until the early 2000s, when blood tests that could distinguish between natural and artificial HGH were starting to be developed. Blood tests conducted by WADA at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece targeted primarily HGH. Use of the drug for performance enhancement is not currently approved by the FDA.
GH has been studied for use in raising livestock more efficiently in industrial agriculture and several efforts have been made to obtain governmental approval to use GH in livestock production. These uses have been controversial. In the United States, the only FDA-approved use of GH for livestock is the use of a cow-specific form of GH called bovine somatotropin for increasing milk production in dairy cows. Retailers are permitted to label containers of milk as produced with or without bovine somatotropin.
I had more I was going to include but this took 4 hrs to put together I hope that you enjoy the read and the information.
Selective androgen receptor modulators
SARMs are a novel class of androgen receptor ligands. They are intended to have the same kind of effects as androgenic drugs but be much more selective in their action, them to be used for more uses than the uses of anabolic steroids. SARMs signify a new era of tissue-selective androgens with an unknown potential to treat and possibly cure several diseases.
Compared to Testosterone
Currently used androgens for male hormone replacement therapy are typically injectable or skin delivery formulations of testosterone or testosterone esters. Injectable forms of testosterone esters such as testosterone enanthate, propionate, or cypionate produce undesirable fluctuations in testosterone blood levels, with overly high levels shortly after injection and overly low afterward. Skin patches do provide a better blood level profile of testosterone, but skin irritation and daily application still limit their usefulness.
SARMs provide the ability to design molecules that can be delivered orally, but that selectively target the androgen receptors in different tissues differently. The goal of research in this area is to allow a customized response Tissues that are the target of the therapy will respond as they would to testosterone; other tissues where undesirable side-effects are produced will not.
None of the SARMs yet developed are truly selective for anabolic effects in muscle or bone tissues without producing any androgenic effects in tissues such as the prostate gland; however, several nonsteroidal androgens show a ratio of anabolic to androgenic effects of greater than 3:1 and up to as much as 90:1 (RAD-140), compared to testosterone, which has a ratio of 1:1
Research is continuing into more potent and selective SARMs, as well as optimising characteristics such as oral bioavailability and increased half-life in vivo , and seeing as the first tissue-selective SARMs were only demonstrated in 2003, the compounds tested so far represent only the first generation of SARMs and future development may produce more selective agents compared to those available at present.
Anabolic Agents(non steriodal)
The central role of testosterone in the development of male characteristics, as well as its beneficial effects on physical performance and muscle growth, has led to the search for synthetic alternatives with improved pharmacological profiles. Hundreds of steroidal analogs have been prepared with a superior oral bioavailability, which should also possess reduced undesirable effects. However, only a few entered the pharmaceutical market due to severe toxicological incidences that were mainly attributed to the lack of tissue selectivity. Prominent representatives of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are for instance methyltestosterone, metandienone and stanozolol, which are discussed as model compounds with regard to general pharmacological aspects of synthetic AAS. Recently, nonsteroidal alternatives to AAS have been developed that selectively activate the androgen receptor in either muscle tissue or bones. These so-called selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are currently undergoing late clinical trials (IIb) and will be prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency from January 2008. Their entirely synthetic structures are barely related to steroids, but particular functional groups allow for the tissue-selective activation or inhibition of androgen receptors and, thus, the stimulation of muscle growth without the risk of severe undesirable effects commonly observed in steroid replacement therapies. Hence, these compounds possess a high potential for misuse in sports and will be the subject of future doping control assays.
Examples
ANABOLIC AGENTS (NON-STEROID)
Arachidonic Acid
Cardarine (GW-501516)
Epitalon
Kynoselen
Lutalyse® (dinoprost)
(RAD-140)
AAS
anabolic–androgenic steroids
Anabolic steroids , also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids or AAS are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related and have similar effects to testosterone. They increase protein within cells, especially in skeletal muscles, and also have varying degrees virilizing effects, including induction of the development and maintenance of masculine secondary sexual characteristics such as the growth of facial and body hair. The word anabolic , referring to anabolism, comes from the Greek anabole , “that which is thrown up, mound”. Androgens or AAS are one of three types of sex hormone agonists, the others being estrogens like estradiol and progestogens like progesterone.
AAS were synthesized in the 1930s, and are now used therapeutically in medicine to stimulate muscle growth and appetite, induce male puberty and treat chronic wasting conditions, such as cancer and AIDS. The American College of Sports Medicine acknowledges that AAS, in the presence of adequate diet, can contribute to increases in body weight, often as lean mass increases and that the gains in muscular strength achieved through high-intensity exercise and proper diet can be additionally increased by the use of AAS in some individuals.
Health risks can be produced by long-term use or excessive doses of AAS. These effects include harmful changes in cholesterol levels increased [low-density lipoprotein and decreased high-density lipoprotein, acne, high blood pressure, liver damage mainly with most oral AAS, and dangerous changes in the structure of the left ventricle of the heart. These risks are further increased when, as they often do, athletes take steroids alongside other drugs, causing significantly more damage to their bodies. The effect of anabolic steroids on the heart can cause myocardial infarction and strokes. Conditions pertaining to hormonal imbalances such as gynecomastia and testicular size reduction may also be caused by AAS. In women and children, AAS can cause irreversible masculinization.
Ergogenic uses for AAS in sports, racing, and bodybuilding as performance-enhancing drugs are controversial because of their adverse effects and the potential to gain unfair advantage in physical competitions. Their use is referred to as doping and banned by most major sporting bodies. Athletes have been looking for drugs to enhance their athletic abilities since the Olympics started in Ancient Greece. For many years, AAS have been by far the most detected doping substances in IOC accredited laboratories. In countries where AAS are controlled substances, there is often a black market in which smuggled, clandestinely manufactured or even counterfeit drugs are sold to users.
Direct and Indirect Steroids?
In looking over the proposed indirect effects of
testosterone, and pondering the effectiveness of the synthetic anabolic/androgenic steroids, we must resist the temptation to believe we can categorize steroids as those which directly, and those which indirectly, promote muscle growth. The belief that there are two dichotomous
groups or classes of steroids ignores the fact that all commercial steroids promote not only muscle growth but also androgenic effects. There is no complete separation of these traits at this time, making clear that all activate the cellular androgen receptor.I believe the theory behind direct and indirect steroid classifications originated when some noted the low receptor binding affinity of seemingly strong anabolic steroids like oxymetholone and methandrostenolone. If they bind poorly, yet work well, something else must be at work. This type of thinking fails to recognize other factors in the potency of these compounds, such as their long half-lives, estrogenic activity, and weak interaction with restrictive binding proteins (see: Free vs. Bound Testosterone). While there may possibly be differences in the way various compounds could foster growth indirectly, such that advantages might even be found with certain synergistic drug combinations, the primary mode of action with all of these compounds is the androgen receptor. The notion
that steroid X and Y must never be stacked together because they both compete for the same receptor when.stimulating growth, while X and Z should be combined because they work via different mechanisms, should likewise not be taken too seriously. Such classifications are based on speculation only, and upon reasonable investigation are clearly invalid.
Medical Uses
Since the discovery and synthesis of testosterone in the 1930s, AAS have been used by physicians for many purposes, with varying degrees of success. These can broadly be grouped into anabolic, androgenic, and other uses.
Anabolic
Bone marrow stimulation: For decades, AAS were the mainstay of therapy for hypoplastic anemias due to leukemia, kidney failure or aplastic anemia.
Growth stimulation: AAS can be used by pediatric endocrinologists to treat children with growth failure. However, the availability of synthetic growth hormone, which has fewer side effects, makes this a secondary treatment.
Stimulation of appetite and preservation and increase of muscle mass: AAS have been given to people with chronic wasting conditions] such as cancer and AIDS.
Stimulation of lean body mass and prevention of bone loss in elderly men, as some studies indicate. However, a 2006 placebo-controlled trial of low-dose testosterone supplementation in elderly men with low levels of testosterone found no benefit on body composition, physical performance, insulin sensitivity, or quality of life.
Prevention or treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Nandrolone decanoate is approved for this use. Although they have been indicated for this indication, AAS saw very little use for this purpose due to their virilizing side effects.
Aiding weight gain following surgery or physical trauma, during [chronic infection, or in the context of unexplained weight loss.
Counteracting the catabolic effect of long-term corticosteroid therapy.
Oxandrolone improves both short-term and long-term outcomes in people recovering from severe burns and is well-established as a safe treatment for this indication.
Treatment of idiopathic short stature, hereditary angioedema, alcoholic hepatitis, and hypogonadism.
Methyltestosterone is used in the treatment of delayed puberty, hypogonadism, cryptorchidism, and erectile dysfunction in males, and in low doses to treat menopausal symptoms specifically for osteoporosis, hot flashes, and to increase libido and energy, postpartum breast pain and engorgement, and breast cancer in women.
Androgenic
Androgen replacement therapy for men with low levels of testosterone; also effective in improving libido for elderly males.
Induction of male puberty: Androgens are given to many boys distressed about extreme delay of puberty. Testosterone is now nearly the only androgen used for this purpose and has been shown to increase height, weight, and fat-free mass in boys with delayed puberty.
Masculinizing hormone therapy for transgender men, other transmasculine people, and intersex people, by producing masculine secondary sexual characteristics such as a voice deepening, increased bone and muscle mass, masculine fat distribution, facial and body hair, and clitoral enlargement, as well as mental changes such as alleviation of gender dysphoria and increased sex drive.
Other
Treatment of breast cancer in women, although they are now very rarely used for this purpose due to their marked virilizing side effects.
In low doses as a component of [hormone therapy for postmenopausal and transgender women, for instance to increase energy, well-being, libido, and quality of life, as well as to reduce hot flashes. Testosterone is usually used for this purpose, although methyltestosterone is also used.
Male hormonal contraception; currently experimental, but potential for use as effective, safe, reliable, and reversible male contraceptives.
Enhancing performance
Most steroid users are not athletes. In the United States, between 1 million and 3 million people 1% of the population are thought to have used AAS. Studies in the United States have shown that AAS users tend to be mostly middle-class heterosexual men with a median age of about 25 who are noncompetitive bodybuilders and non-athletes and use the drugs for cosmetic purposes. "Among 12- to 17-year-old boys, use of steroids and similar drugs jumped 25 percent from 1999 to 2000, with 20 percent saying they use them for looks rather than sports, a study by insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield found. “Eisenhauer” Another study found that non-medical use of AAS among college students was at or less than 1%. According to a recent survey, 78.4% of steroid users were noncompetitive bodybuilders and non-athletes, while about 13% reported unsafe injection practices such as reusing needles, sharing needles, and sharing multidose vials, though a 2007 study found that sharing of needles was extremely uncommon among individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes, less than 1%. Another 2007 study found that 74% of non-medical AAS users had post-secondary degrees and more had completed college and fewer had failed to complete high school than is expected from the general populace. The same study found that individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes had a higher employment rate and a higher household income than the general population. AAS users tend to research the drugs they are taking more than other controlled-substance users; however, the major sources consulted by steroid users include friends, non-medical handbooks, internet-based forums, blogs, and fitness magazines, which can provide questionable or inaccurate information.
AAS users tend to be unhappy with the portrayal of AAS as deadly in the media and in politics. According to one study, AAS users also distrust their physicians and in the sample 56% had not disclosed their AAS use to their physicians. Another 2007 study had similar findings, showing that, while 66% of individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes were willing to seek medical supervision for their steroid use, 58% lacked trust in their physicians, 92% felt that the medical community’s knowledge of non-medical AAS use was lacking, and 99% felt that the public has an exaggerated view of the side-effects of AAS use. A recent study has also shown that long term AAS users were more likely to have symptoms of muscle dysmorphia and also showed stronger endorsement of more conventional male roles. A recent study in the Journal of Health Psychology showed that many users believed that steroids used in moderation were safe.
AAS have been used by men and women in many different kinds of professional sports to attain a competitive edge or to assist in recovery from injury. These sports include bodybuilding, weightlifting, shot put and other track and field, cycling, baseball, wrestling, mixed martial arts, boxing, football, and cricket. Such use is prohibited by the rules of the governing bodies of most sports. AAS use occurs among adolescents, especially by those participating in competitive sports. It has been suggested that the prevalence of use among high-school students in the U.S. may be as high as 2.7%.
General dosage ranges of anabolic Steroids/Medication/Route/Dosage range
Danazol Oral 100–800 mg/day
Drostanolone propionate Injection 100 mg 3 times/week
Ethylestrenol Oral 2–8 mg/day
Fluoxymesterone Oral 2–40 mg/day
Mesterolone Oral 25–150 mg/day
Metandienone Oral 2.5–15 mg/day
Metenolone acetate Oral 10–150 mg/day
Metenolone enanthate Injection 25–100 mg/week
Methyltestosterone Oral 1.5–200 mg/day
Nandrolone decanoate Injection 12.5–200 mg/week
Nandrolone phenylpropionate Injection 6.25–200 mg/week
Norethandrolone Oral 20–30 mg/day
Oxandrolone Oral 2.5–20 mg/day
Oxymetholone Oral 1–5 mg/kg/day or 50–150 mg/day
Stanozolol Oral 2–6 mg/day Injection 50 mg up to every two weeks
Testosterone Oral 400–800 mg/day Injection 25–100 mg up to three times weekly
Testosterone cypionate Injection 50–400 mg up to every four weeks
Testosterone enanthate Injection 50–400 mg up to every four weeks
Testosterone propionate Injection 25–50 mg up to three times weekly
Testosterone undecanoate Oral 80–240 mg/day
Injection 750–1000 mg up to every 10 weeks
Trenbolone HBC Injection 75 mg every 10 days
Physiological
Depending on the length of drug use, there is a chance that the immune system can be damaged. Most of these side-effects are dose-dependent, the most common being elevated blood pressure, especially in those with pre-existing hypertension. In addition to morphological changes of the heart which may have a permanent adverse effect on cardiovascular efficiency.
AAS have been shown to alter fasting blood sugar and glucose tolerance tests. AAS such as testosterone also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary artery disease. Acne is fairly common among AAS users, mostly due to stimulation of the sebaceous glands by increased testosterone levels. Conversion of testosterone to DHT can accelerate the rate of premature baldness for males genetically predisposed, but testosterone itself can produce baldness in females.
A number of severe side effects can occur if adolescents use AAS. For example, AAS may prematurely stop the lengthening of bones premature epiphyseal fusion through increased levels of estrogen metabolites, resulting in [stunted growth. Other effects include, but are not limited to, accelerated bone maturation, increased frequency and duration of erections, and premature sexual development. AAS use in adolescence is also correlated with poorer attitudes related to health.
Cancer
WHO organization International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC list AAS under Group 2A: Probably carcinogenic to humans.
Cardiovascular
Other side-effects can include alterations in the structure of the heart, such as [enlargement and thickening of the left ventricle, which impairs its contraction and relaxation, and therefore reducing ejected blood volume. Possible effects of these alterations in the heart are hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death. These changes are also seen in non-drug-using athletes, but steroid use may accelerate this process. However, both the connection between changes in the structure of the left ventricle and decreased cardiac function, as well as the connection to steroid use have been disputed.
AAS use can cause harmful changes in cholesterol levels: Some steroids cause an increase in LDL “bad” cholesterol and a decrease in HDL “good” cholesterol
Growth defects
AAS use in adolescents quickens bone maturation and may reduce adult height in high doses. Low doses of AAS such as oxandrolone are used in the treatment of idiopathic short stature, but this may only quicken maturation rather than increasing adult height.
Kidney problems
Kidney tests revealed that nine of the ten steroid users developed a condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a type of scarring within the kidneys. The kidney damage in the bodybuilders has similarities to that seen in morbidly obese patients, but appears to be even more severe.
Liver problems
High doses of oral AAS compounds can cause liver damage. Peliosis hepatis has been increasingly recognised with the use of AAS.
A 2005 review in CNS Drugs determined that “significant psychiatric symptoms including aggression and violence, mania, and less frequently psychosis and suicide have been associated with steroid abuse. Long-term steroid abusers may develop symptoms of dependence and withdrawal on discontinuation of AAS”. High concentrations of AAS, comparable to those likely sustained by many recreational AAS users, produce apoptotic effects on neurons citation needed raising the specter of possibly irreversible neurotoxicity. Recreational AAS use appears to be associated with a range of potentially prolonged psychiatric effects, including dependence syndromes, mood disorders, and progression to other forms of substance abuse, but the prevalence and severity of these various effects remains poorly understood. There is no evidence that steroid dependence develops from therapeutic use of AAS to treat medical disorders, but instances of AAS dependence have been reported among weightlifters and bodybuilders who chronically administered supraphysiologic doses. Mood disturbances (e.g. depression, hypo-mania, psychotic features) are likely to be dose- and drug-dependent, but AAS dependence or withdrawal effects seem to occur only in a small number of AAS users.
Large-scale long-term studies of psychiatric effects on AAS users are not currently available. In 2003, the first naturalistic long-term study on ten users, seven of which having completed the study, found a high incidence of mood disorders and substance abuse, but few clinically relevant changes in physiological parameters or laboratory measures were noted throughout the study, and these changes were not clearly related to periods of reported AAS use. A 13-month study, which was published in 2006 and which involved 320 body builders and athletes suggests that the wide range of psychiatric side-effects induced by the use of AAS is correlated to the severity of abuse.
Diagnostic Statistical Manual assertion
DSM-IV lists General diagnostic criteria for a personality disorder guideline that “The pattern must not be better accounted for as a manifestation of another mental disorder, or to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g. drug or medication) or a general medical condition (e.g. head trauma).”. As a result, AAS users may get misdiagnosed by a psychiatrist not told about their habit.
Personality profiles
Cooper, Noakes, Dunne, Lambert, and Rochford identified that AAS-using individuals are more likely to score higher on borderline (4.7 times), antisocial (3.8 times), paranoid (3.4 times), schizotypal (3.1 times), histrionic (2.9 times), passive-aggressive (2.4 times), and narcissistic (1.6 times) personality profiles than non-users. Other studies have suggested that antisocial personality disorder is slightly more likely among AAS users than among non-users (Pope & Katz, 1994). Bipolar dysfunction, substance dependency, and conduct disorder have also been associated with AAS use.
Mood and anxiety
Affective disorders have long been recognised as a complication of AAS use. Case reports describe both hypomania and mania, along with irritability, elation, recklessness, racing thoughts and feelings of power and invincibility that did not meet the criteria for mania/hypomania. Of 53 bodybuilders who used AAS, 27 (51%) reported unspecified mood disturbance.
Aggression and hypomania
From the mid-1980s onward, the media reported “roid rage” as a side effect of AAS.
A 2005 review determined that some, but not all, randomized controlled studies have found that AAS use correlates with hypomania and increased aggressiveness, but pointed out that attempts to determine whether AAS use triggers violent behavior have failed, primarily because of high rates of non-participation. A 2008 study on a nationally representative sample of young adult males in the United States found an association between lifetime and past-year self-reported AAS use and involvement in violent acts. Compared with individuals that did not use steroids, young adult males that used AAS reported greater involvement in violent behaviors even after controlling for the effects of key demographic variables, previous violent behavior, and polydrug use. A 1996 review examining the blind studies available at that time also found that these had demonstrated a link between aggression and steroid use, but pointed out that with estimates of over one million past or current steroid users in the United States at that time, an extremely small percentage of those using steroids appear to have experienced mental disturbance severe enough to result in clinical treatments or medical case reports.
A 1996 randomized controlled trial, which involved 43 men, did not find an increase in the occurrence of angry behavior during 10 weeks of administration of testosterone enanthate at 600 mg/week, but this study screened out subjects that had previously abused steroids or had any psychiatric antecedents. A trial conducted in 2000 using testosterone cypionate at 600 mg/week found that treatment significantly increased manic scores on the YMRS, and aggressive responses on several scales. The drug response was highly variable. However: 84% of subjects exhibited minimal psychiatric effects, 12% became mildly hypomanic, and 4% (2 subjects) became markedly hypomanic. The mechanism of these variable reactions could not be explained by demographic, psychological, laboratory, or physiological measures.
A 2006 study of two pairs of identical twins, in which one twin used AAS and the other did not, found that in both cases the steroid-using twin exhibited high levels of aggressiveness, hostility, anxiety, and paranoid ideation not found in the “control” twin. A small-scale study of 10 AAS users found that personality disorders were confounding factors for aggression.
The relationship between AAS use and depression is inconclusive. There have been anecdotal reports of depression and suicide in teenage steroid users, but little systematic evidence. A 1992 review found that AAS may both relieve and cause depression, and that cessation or diminished use of AAS may also result in depression, but called for additional studies due to disparate data. In the case of suicide, 3.9% of a sample of 77 those classified as AAS users reported attempting suicide during withdrawal.
Discovery of androgens
The use of gonadal steroids pre-dates their identification and isolation. Extraction of hormones from urines began in China c. 100 BCE. Medical use of testicle extract began in the late 19th century while its effects on strength were still being studied. The isolation of gonadal steroids can be traced back to 1931, when Adolf Butenandt, a chemist in Marburg, purified 15 milligrams of the male hormone androstenone from tens of thousands of litres of urine. This steroid was subsequently synthesized in 1934 by Leopold Ružička, a chemist in Zurich.
In the 1930s, it was already known that the testes contain a more powerful androgen than androstenone, and three groups of scientists, funded by competing pharmaceutical companies in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, raced to isolate it. This hormone was first identified by Karoly Gyula David, E. Dingemanse, J. Freud and Ernst Laqueur in a May 1935 paper, On Crystalline Male Hormone from Testicles (Testosterone). They named the hormone testosterone, from the stems of testicle and sterol, and the suffix of ketone. The chemical synthesis of testosterone was achieved in August that year, when Butenandt and G. Hanisch published a paper describing "A Method for Preparing Testosterone from Cholesterol. Only a week later, the third group, Ruzicka and A. Wettstein, announced a patent application in a paper, On the Artificial Preparation of the Testicular Hormone Testosterone (Androsten-3-one-17-ol). Ruzicka and Butenandt were offered the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work, but the Nazi government forced Butenandt to decline the honor, although he accepted the prize after the end of World War II.
Clinical trials on humans, involving either PO doses of methyltestosterone or injections of testosterone propionate, began as early as 1937. Testosterone propionate is mentioned in a letter to the editor of Strength and Health magazine in 1938; this is the earliest known reference to an AAS in a U.S. weightlifting or bodybuilding magazine. There are often reported rumors that German soldiers were administered AAS during the Second World War, the aim being to increase their aggression and stamina, but these are, as yet, unproven. Adolf Hitler himself, according to his physician, was injected with testosterone derivatives to treat various ailments. AAS were used in experiments conducted by the Nazis on concentration camp inmates,and later by the allies attempting to treat the malnourished victims that survived Nazi camps. President John F. Kennedy was administered steroids both before and during his presidency.
Development of synthetic AAS
The development of muscle-building properties of testosterone was pursued in the 1940s, in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Bloc countries such as East Germany, where steroid programs were used to enhance the performance of Olympic and other amateur weight lifters. In response to the success of Russian weightlifters, the U.S. Olympic Team physician John Ziegler worked with synthetic chemists to develop an AAS with reduced androgenic effects. Ziegler’s work resulted in the production of methandrostenolone, which Ciba Pharmaceuticals marketed as Dianabol. The new steroid was approved for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1958. It was most commonly administered to burn victims and the elderly. The drug’s off-label users were mostly bodybuilders and weight lifters. Although Ziegler prescribed only small doses to athletes, he soon discovered that those having abused Dianabol suffered from enlarged prostates and atrophied testes. AAS were placed on the list of banned substances of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1976, and a decade later the committee introduced ‘out-of-competition’ doping tests because many athletes used AAS in their training period rather than during competition.
Three major ideas governed modifications of testosterone into a multitude of AAS: Alkylation at C17α position with methyl or ethyl group created POly active compounds because it slows the degradation of the drug by the liver; esterification of testosterone and nortestosterone at the C17β position allows the substance to be administered parenterally and increases the duration of effectiveness because agents soluble in oily liquids may be present in the body for several months; and alterations of the ring structure were applied for both PO and parenteral agents to seeking to obtain different anabolic-to-androgenic effect ratios.
Growth Hormone (Somatropin)
Growth hormone or HGH which is actually somatotropin, in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in human development. GH also stimulates production of IGF-1 and increases the concentration of glucose and free fatty acids. It is a type of mitogen which is specific only to the receptors on certain types of cells. GH is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored and secreted by somatotropic cells within the lateral wings of the anterior pituitary gland.
A recombinant form of hGH called somatropin is used as a prescription drug to treat children’s growth disorders and adult growth hormone deficiency. In the United States, it is only available legally from pharmacies by prescription from a licensed health care provider. In recent years in the United States, some health care providers are prescribing growth hormone in the elderly to increase vitality. While legal, the efficacy and safety of this use for HGH has not been tested in a clinical trial. Many of the functions of hGH remain unknown.
In its role as an anabolic agent, HGH has been used by competitors in sports since at least 1982, and has been banned by the IOC and NCAA. Traditional urine analysis does not detect doping with HGH, so the ban was not enforced until the early 2000s, when blood tests that could distinguish between natural and artificial HGH were starting to be developed. Blood tests conducted by WADA at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece targeted primarily HGH. Use of the drug for performance enhancement is not currently approved by the FDA.
GH has been studied for use in raising livestock more efficiently in industrial agriculture and several efforts have been made to obtain governmental approval to use GH in livestock production. These uses have been controversial. In the United States, the only FDA-approved use of GH for livestock is the use of a cow-specific form of GH called bovine somatotropin for increasing milk production in dairy cows. Retailers are permitted to label containers of milk as produced with or without bovine somatotropin.
I had more I was going to include but this took 4 hrs to put together I hope that you enjoy the read and the information.
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