Prohormone.
A prohormone is a chemical substance that is a precursor to a hormone, often with very little hormonal properties. Natural, human prohormones are pro-insulin and pro-testosterone. The  transformation from prohormone to hormone is a straight-forward enzyme-activated biochemical process and a means for regulatory control.
Prohormones have been used for medical purposes since the middle of the 20th century.
A typical prohormone that can be found in the market is a forerunner of the anabolic steroid testosterone. This precursor is intended to be converted to fully active hormone. This results in the enrichment of the original molecule with atoms which happen to be missing and they are needed for the final chemical structure of testosterone.
Over the last twenty years the use of prohormones has become popular among bodybuilders, weight lifters, runners and other athletes, since the effects can be similar but, usually, less drastic to those of synthetic steroids. The effects include gains in muscular strength and increase of lean muscle mass. There are currently a lot of companies manufacturing prohormone products.
The individual takes prohormones, in order to avoid the banned medical use of anabolic steroids and other hormones, expecting the prohormone to be converted to active hormone without any legal or medical risks. Such a use of prohormone can allow the athlete to claim that he/she has reached a remarkable achievement or a record without the use of banned drugs. Of course, this is not accurate, since the use of prohormone is allowed only in certain sports. It has to be mentioned that the presence or the excessive level of the prohormone in the blood can be traced before and after the contest.
Another issue addresses the legal classification. Most of the prohormones can be found in the market as dietary supplements and they are legally sold in most but not all countries. If the products are sold as a food supplement, they are available over-the-counter and apparently no safety restrictions are required. On the contrary, a lot of regulations are applied to prescribed hormones. In the US these measures are imposed on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Prohormones used to be classified by the FDA as dietary supplements, since they consist of compounds that can be found in the human body. However, since January 2005 things have changed. New legislation has come in effect and includes both anabolic steroids and prohormones in a category of controlled substances. |
