SARMs Harm by Jerry Brainum 5/25

 

 

Selective androgen receptor modulator drugs, or SARMs, continue to be among the most popular drugs used by athletes and bodybuilders. SARMs were developed in the late 90s to replace testosterone and anabolic steroid drugs. The problem with steroids and testosterone had to do with possible side effects related to their androgenic effects. Steroids, which are synthetic versions of testosterone manipulated to provide a more significant anabolic effect compared to testosterone, are known to produce side effects, with the oral versions of the drugs being harsh on the liver. While the anabolic or building impact of steroids and testosterone is desirable, the androgenic effects are not. These androgenic side effects include male pattern baldness, acne, and prostate gland problems, mainly prostate gland enlargement or benign prostate enlargement (BPE). However, these androgenic side effects that are often attributed to testosterone are not from testosterone but rather its metabolite, dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. Nonetheless, SARMs were developed to avoid the usual side effects related to either testosterone or anabolic steroid use. 

The advantage of SARMs over testosterone and anabolic steroids is their specificity for the androgen receptor. All androgens, including testosterone and anabolic steroids, must interact with the androgen receptor to exert their biological and hormonal effects. However, the problem is that enzymes can also convert testosterone into other hormones, such as DHT and estrogen, which are responsible for most of the side effects attributed to them. SARMs were developed to avoid these problems, and although most are not steroids, by interacting with the androgen receptor, the hope is that they will provide the considerable anabolic benefits of testosterone without the unwanted androgenic side effects. Indeed, the main impetus for the development of various SARM drugs was a fear of prostate cancer resulting from using testosterone therapy. What's ironic about this is that testosterone doesn't cause prostate cancer. The prostate gland only accepts a finite amount of testosterone, and average amounts or the amount that circulates in the blood do not promote prostate cancer. If higher doses of testosterone or anabolic steroids did cause or promote prostate cancer, every athlete and bodybuilder who is on a high-dose steroid regimen would be afflicted with prostate cancer, and that doesn't happen. The men most likely to get prostate cancer have genetic predispositions, are older,  and are usually low in testosterone. You read that right: having consistently low testosterone levels is a far greater risk for prostate cancer development compared to having high levels of the hormone. Some scientists also implicate consistently higher levels of estrogen in men as a cause of prostate cancer. That makes sense when you consider that certain female cancers, such as those of the uterus and breasts, are known to be stimulated by estrogen.

SARMs have been proposed to treat most . . .