Other Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Viagra is a drug used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men. The drug is FDA approved in the U.S. and is available from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. There are also several generic preparations available worldwide. This drug has became on the most popular drugs for erectile dysfunction today. For the purposes of steroid users the use of Viagra is rather limited beyond that of a “recreational” purpose. One exception to this may be once a steroid user is coming off of anabolic-androgenic steroids and have suffered a significant reduction in their ability to perform sexually and/or their sex drive. The use of drugs such as sildenafil citrate can help to alleviate some of the difficulty many have during this period of time.

Finasteride is an inhibtor of 5a-reductase, which is the enzyme responsible for converting testosterone into DHT, thereby minimizing the unwanted androgenic effects that result from its presence. The effect of this drug is very fast acting, and suppresses DHT levels by as much as 65% within a 24 hour period of taking a single 1mg tablet. Medically, this drug is used to treat benign prostate enlargement and male pattern hair loss. It is also being investigated for the treatment of hair and facial growth on the face and body of women. Male athletes and bodybuilders are interested in ministered for tis ability to reduce the androgenic side effects associated with the use of testosterone and certain derivatives. The first release of this drug in the United States was under the brand name of Proscar and was produced by the pharmaceutical company Merck and approved by the FDA in 1992. It was specifically given approval for use by patients with benign prostate enlargement.

HCG is a prescription medication containing chorionic gonadotropin obtained from a natural origin. Chorionic gonadotropin is a polypeptide hormone normally found in the female body during the early months og pregnancy. Chorionic gonadotropin is present in a significant amounts only during pregnancy and used as an indicator of pregnancy by standard over the counter pregnancy test kits. HCG was first discovered in 1920, and was identified as a pregnancy hormone approximately 8 years later. The first drug preparation containing chorionic gonadotropin came in the form of an animal pituitary extract, which was developed as a commercial product by the pharmaceutical company Organon. Organon introduced the extract in 1931, under the brand name of Pregnon. Atrademark dispute forced the company to change the name to Pregnyl, however, which reached market in 1932. Pregnyl is still sold by Organon to this day, although it no longer comes in the form of a pituitary extract. Manufacturing techniques were introduced in 1940 that allowed the hormone to be obtained by filtering and purifying the urine of pregnant women. Today the drug is widely available from different companies in countries all over the world.

Erythropoietin is a type of protein that is produced in the kidneys, and is responsible for stimulating red blood cell production. Epoetin alfa is the pharmaceutical form of erythropoietin, which was manufactured using recombinant DNA technology. The compound is produced from animal cells into which the gene coding for human erythropoietin has been inserted. The biological activity and structure of epoetin alfa are indistinguishable from that of human erythropoietin. This drug is used to treat many forms of anemia, effectively stimulating and maintaining erythropoietin in a large percentage of patients treated. EPO was developed by the biotechnologies firm Amgen, and was first intrduced to the U.S. market in 1984. The release of the drug was looked upon as a breakthrough in the treatment of anemia, which beforehand was being addressed mainly with agents that indirectly or nonspecifically targeted red cell production, such as oxymetholone, which may present a number of unwanted side effects to the patient.

Ephedrine is a stimulate drug that belongs to a group of medicines called sympathomimetics. Specifically, it is both an alpha and beta adrenergic agonist similar in action to the popular weight loss drug clenbuterol. In addition, ephedrine enhances the release of nor epinephrine, a strong endogenous alpha agonist. The action of this compound is notably similar to that of the body’s primary adrenergic hormone epinephrine (adrenaline), which also exhibits activity towards the body’s alpha and beta receptors. When administered, ephedrine will notably increase the activity of the central nervous system, as well as have a stimulatory effect on other target cells. This may produce some effects that will be beneficial to a bodybuilder or athlete. Ephedrine is an old medication, and has been used in the U.S. for a number of medical applications over the years including that of an appetite suppressant, decongestant, and hypotension treatment associated with anesthesia. Today, it is approved as an over the counter medicine, and sales are mainly from this sector. The drug is also a common ingrediant in methamphetamine and because of this regulations have been put in place to regulate large sales of the drug. Many believe that due to the rising problem of meth use in the United States that ephedrine will eventually become a controlled substance.

Cabergoline is a selective dopamine receptor agonist. This agent is highly specific in its actions, with a strong affinity for the dopamine D2 receptor, and a low affinity for dopamine D1, A1-adrenergic, A2-adrenergic, 5-HT1-serotonin, and 5-HT2-serotonin receptors. Its main clinical use is for the treatment of hyperprolactinemia, or the hyper secretion of prolactin from lacto tropes in the anterior pituitary. It is also used in the management of Parkinson’s disease. This drug effectively inhibits prolactin secretion by mimicking the actions of dopamine on the D2 receptor. Cabergoline was developed during the 1980s. The most popular brand name for the drug is Dostinex, which is produced in the United States and many other countries around the world by the large pharmaceutical company Pharmacia. This company did have exclusive rights to the sale of the drug until 2005 when the FDA began approving several generic brands of the drug for use. The Dostinex brand still dominates the global market. Cabergoline is most commonly found in tablets of 500mcg each.

DNP is one of the most controversial drugs in use by bodybuilders. This agent is not sold for human use anywhere in the world at this time, but is readily available as an industrial chemical. Among other things, it is used an intermediary for the production of certain dyes, for photographic development, as a fungicide, in wood pressure treatment to prevent rotting, and as insecticide. It  is technically classified as a posion. The fat loss properties of DNP were reportedly first noticed during World War 1, when overweight men working with DNP in munitions plants started losing substantial amounts of weight. It did not take very long for this chemical to be identified as the cause. Soon after, it ws packaged as a drug product. By 1935, more than 100,000 Americans had already used “patent mediine” remedies that included the drug. DNP was the first synthetic drug that was ever used for weight loss in the United States. There were several popular brand names for the drug when it was marketed and was found in pharmacies all across the country. This drug was introduced before the time of government reviewed safety concerning drugs and medications. It wasn’t long after the drug was on the market that reports of severe side effects started coming in. There was a report of women who went blind temporarily in California. After this, reports of cases severe as death started being reported and by 1938 DNP was off the market for good. It has never since been re introduced as a medicine of any kind for humans or animals.

Liothyronine sodium is a synthetically manufactured prescription thyroid hormone. It specially consist of the the L-isomer of the natural thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3). Thyroid hormone stiumlate basal metabolic rate, and are involved with many cellular functions including protein, fat, and carbohydrate metabolism. Liothyronine sodium is used medically to treat hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland does not produce sufficient levels of thyroid hormone. Hypothyroidism is usually diagnosed with a serum hormone profile, and may manifest itself with symptoms including loss of energy, lethargy, weight gain, hair loss, and changes in skin texture. The first medication that included T3 was technically a thyroid extract, first given to a patient with my edema in 1891. Natural thyroid extracts contained therapeutically viable levels of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4, and were widely used in medical practice for more than 60 years. In the 1950s, however, these drugs slowly start giving way to new synthetic thyroid medications, namely liothyronine sodium and levothyroxine sodium, which were consistent in dosage and effect, and more desirable to consumers than prepared animal extracts. Although liothyronine sodium and levothyroxine sodium are both widely available in the U.S. and abroad to this day, liothyronine retains a significantly smaller portion of the global thyroid market. Given its more potent and fast acting effect, however, liothyronine sodium remains a popular thyroid drug with bodybuilders and athletes. Liothyronine sodium is most commonly supplied in oral tablets of 5mcg, 25mcg, and 50mcg.

Clenbuterol is an anti asthma medication that belongs to a broad group of drugs known as sympathomimetics. These drugs affect that sympathetic nervous system in a wide number of ways, largely mediated by the distribution of adrenoceptors. There are actually nine different types of these receptors in the body, which are classified as either alpha or beta and further subcategorized by type number of ways, largely mediated by the distribution of adrenoceptors. Clenbuterol has been available as a bronchodilator for decades and is widely used in many parts of the world. Although it has a good safety record and approval in a wide number of other countries, this compound has never been made available for human use in the United States. The fact that there are a number of similar effective asthma medications already approved by the FDA and available may have something to do with this.

Cialis is a drug used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men. The drug is FDA approved in the U.S. and is available from the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. There are also several generic preparations available worldwide. This drug has became on the most popular drugs for erectile dysfunction today. For the purposes of steroid users the use of tadalafil citrate is rather limited beyond that of a “recreational” purpose. One exception to this may be once a steroid user is coming off of anabolic-androgenic steroids and have suffered a significant reduction in their ability to perform sexually and/or their sex drive. The use of drugs such as tadalafil citrate can help to alleviate some of the difficulty many have during this period of time.