Andromania by Will Brink

It seems like the entire bodybuilding world has gone into some kind of “andro-mania” regarding these new “testosterone boosters” that have come on the market in the last year or so. It all started with :: DHEA :: People knew that DHEA was a few enzymatic steps away from testosterone but in fact had little to no effect on testosterone levels of healthy young men. Though DHEA appears to have some legitimate health improving uses in certain populations (i.e. people with low DHEA levels), it was pretty much a bust for increasing lean muscle mass or reducing bodyfat in young bodybuilder types. So, some very smart people realized that there are several prohormones that are in fact only one enzymatic step away from testosterone and started selling these prohormones.

The first was Androstenedione. Androstenedione is found between DHEA and testosterone (DHEA -> Androstenedione -> Testosterone) and is converted from DHEA to testosterone in normal metabolism. DHEA is (potentially) converted into testosterone in a two step fashion using the 3 §-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 5, 4-isomerase and 17 §-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzymes.

Androstenedione of course when taken directly only needs the latter enzyme for the conversion. In addition to Androstenedione, there has been a recent explosion of these pro hormones hitting the market, such as 4-androstenediol, 5- alpha Androstenediol, and the less androgenic nor-androstenedione. Believe it or not, there are several more of these prohormones being worked on and made ready for the bodybuilding/sports nutrition market as you read this (such as 4-norandro- stenediol) . All of these prohormones have slightly different properties, such as some convert better than others, some use different enzyme for conversion, while others convert into nandrolone instead of testosterone and/or other metabolites, etc, etc. This is not the time and the place for me to break all this down as to which of the above does what, but I am just trying to illustrate just how complex this can get.

“So what’s your beef Brink?” you ask. What bugs the hell out of me about these products is we have a lot more questions than we do answers regarding such compounds. Yet, certain companies are selling them without letting people know about these questions and act like we know everything there is to know about them as it relates to their effects on the people taking them. This bothers me. Let me be completely clear here. I am all for these products being legal and available.

However, I think people should always be well informed of the pros and the cons, potential side effects, who should use such products and who should not, as well as other information regarding these products so that people can make up their own mind as informed consumers.

What kind of questions you ask? Well for one thing, we don’t know what effect these various andro products will have on DHT (though we do know that some of them can convert to DHT). Will people genetically predispositioned to hair loss be effected if these andro products increase DHT? Probably. Will these products raise estrogen production in men at some dosage? Quite possible. Could these products raise prostate specific antigen (PSA) in some older men? Unknown. Will these products cause facial hair growth on women who are sensitive to that? Probably (I have had several women complain about this effect). Will these products cause a down regulation of natural testosterone output through some effect on the hypothalamic pituitary testicular axis (HPTA)? Possible. At what dose will this happen? Unknown. I would surmise that taking a 100-300mg dose of any of these products right before or right after workouts three to four days per week would not negatively effect the HPTA, but I am sure at some dose for some unknown period of time, it could. Will the ninety minute to three hour spike in testosterone these products cause actually have an effect on lean bodyweight (muscle) over time, or is it strictly a psycho active response? Unknown.

:: Continued :: | :: Prohormones ::