|
Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances
that relate to the way the male sex hormones operate. Steroids
work to promote growth of skeletal muscle and the development
of male sexual characteristics in both males and females.
It is thought that is was during the 1930's that scientists
discovered that anabolic steroids could in fact promote growth
of the skeletal muscle and this unfortunately led to the abuse
of the steroid supplements firstly by body builders and weightlifters
and later by other athletes in a variety of different sports.
It has got to the point now that steroid abuse is so widespread
in athletics that it can affect the outcome of some competitions
and more and more athletes are being disqualified for use
of illicit supplements.
Prohormones are similar in structure, completely natural
and have some functional differences that make them "safer"
as oral agents. Although they can't get to the crazy levels
that steroids can, the can reach "sane" levels of
androgen boosting. One study using 5-DHEA has it boosting
testosterone levels as high as roughly 500mg of testosterone
injections per week! You can't just buy off the shelf 5-DHEA
though and expect these kinds of results. Also, they are not
conclusive, but do give some insight on how much can be done
with true prohormones. Prohormones need enzymes to make them
active and that rate limiting factor is what may allow them
to actually be safer. Also, typical REAL prohormones (not
the grey market steroids) do not carry any liver stressing
agents. Real prohormones that are legal by DSHEA standards
do not contain the 17aMethyl group that causes the liver stress.
If you see this in the formula, stay away. The industry has
gotten away from responsible manufacturers to ones that have
no idea what they are doing and are making very ugly cocktails
that throw caution to the wind.
One of the main reasons that people become involved in abusing
steroids is that they can see the impact it has on their body
and the improvement it has on their athletic performance.
In recent years experts have put in place stringent methods
to deter steroid abuse in athletics, however there are some
new designer drugs that can escape detection so the problem
is not dealt with. Still, the people using steroids and prohormones
are shown to not be athletes or school kids, but adults that
have college degrees and who want to look and feel their best.
The environment is filled with estrogens like the alarming
BPA or Bisphenol A, which is in most pop bottles and plastics.
BPA can act like estrogen in the body, throwing off your normal
balance. In this case, prohormones and steroids can benefit
people. Also, one of the main "fears" which is prostate
cancer, seems to be more about estrogen, than androgens like
testosterone. Compared to the xeno-estrogens in the environment,
I personally see no reason to not take things like prohormones
to bring the body back into balance.
A lot of people dabble in steroids in order to increase their
muscle size or to reduce the amount of body fat they have.
Even though steroids are effective at improving performance
and enhancing muscle mass they do not come without problems.
Oral anabolic steroids can have seriously profound effects
on the various organs of the human body. The severity of the
damage caused to the body depends on the kind of drug that
has been consumed, the amount and the duration for which the
steroids have been used. It is thought that injectable steroids
have lesser adverse effects compare to oral drugs due to the
17aMethyl functional group.
|
