|
Go To:
Bioidentical Androgens used to Enhance
Performance
Androgen
More About Androgen
Bioidentical Androgens Used to Enhance Performance and Risks Associated
Androgen
is the generic name for any of the
male hormones. Androgens are
typically used as performance enhancing drugs for athletes. When used in
this way, they are called anabolic steroids.
Androgens,
used in the steroid form, promote the growth of muscle tissue by
mimicking the effects of natural testosterone in the body. Studies have
shown that athletes who use anabolic steroids do have an increase in
muscle tissue, strength and endurance, but there is no proof that the
use of the steroids actually enhances performance.
There are also huge risks associated with the use of androgen steroids.
Included with them are:
- Liver cancer
- Jaundice
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Acne
- Heart failure
Injecting the steroids poses the other common risks associated with
needle use such as HIV, AIDS, hepatitis, etc.
Men who use the
steroids can experience side
effects such as:
- Shrunken testicles
- Development of breasts
- Infertility
- Reduced sperm count
- Baldness
- Pain in urinating
- Enlarged prostate
- Sometimes even severe aggressive behavior
Women can take on irreversible masculine characteristics, such as a
deeper voice, facial hair, smaller breasts, and a lack of menstrual
periods. Young people who take the steroids can stunt their growth.
Androgens
Main Entry: an·dro·gen
Pronunciation: an-dr -j n
Function: noun
: a male sex hormone (as testosterone)
- an·dro·gen·ic / an-dr - jen-ik/ adjective
For many years, castration has been the only known strategy cure for
metastatic prostate cancer. Prostatic tumors need
androgenic
hormones to grow, and until now, efforts to chemically
block all of these hormones have proven disappointing. However,
researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have
identified new androgen inhibitors that they believe could supplant
castration as the primary method of treatment for prostate cancer.
Dr. Angela Brodie, professor of pharmacology and experimental
therapeutics, and research fellow Yang-zhi Ling, believe that several
inhibiting compounds discovered in their research may now be the first
and most promising treatments of prostate cancer.
"It's been known for some time that total androgen inhibition could be
more effective than castration, but we hadn't been able to identify and
synthesize a compound that would suppress both testicular and adrenal
androgens," said Brodie. "Despite removal of the testes, some prostatic
tumors can be stimulated even by very low levels of androgens, and some
adapt well enough to convert adrenal androgen into a stronger androgen
called DHT. These compounds show promise of a more thorough blockade,
even against these more difficult tumors, than any we've seen before."
More About
Androgens
Usually a steroid hormone,
androgen is the generic name for any natural or synthetic compound that
stimulates or controls the development and preservation of masculine
characteristics. Included in this, is the function of the male sex
organs, as well as secondary sex characteristics. The primary and most
well-known
androgen is
testosterone.
Many women might benefit from taking such a steroid hormone like
testosterone along with estrogen since it has been proven to improve
libido, sexual function, and well-being. The correct androgen
replacement can be especially useful in some younger women who have had
hysterectomies, forcing menopause, since they have lost the androgens,
as well as estrogen and progesterone, which the ovaries produced. |
