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March
02, 2001
Issue
# 36
EXTREME
Q&A
by
Jason Meuller
FEEDBACK
FROM THE ANDRO SPRAY TESTERS…
Well,
I haven’t received feedback from all of the participants in the
test, but what I am hearing so far is impressive.
As of yet, no one has claimed to have punch through steel,
but I’m waiting. We’ll
post further results next week.
STAY
TUNED TO AE FOR A FULL ARNOLD’S CLASSIC REPORT!
As
luck would have it, we’ve got several roving reporters at the AS
Classic this weekend, taking pictures and gathering details for the
rest of you AE’rs. We’ll
see if I can’t get my webmaster to post updates this weekend with
the latest and greatest news from Arnie’s show, complete with
photos.
GRENDEL
COMES OUT TO CALIFORNIA AND STAYS WITH THE MEULLERS!
Grendel
arrived earlier this week and has been living the wild life out here
in sleazy California. You
know, TV, eating, sleeping, more TV. It’s crazy here, sometimes I don’t know how I handle life
in the fast lane. Needless
to say, he’s keeping his hands and feet to himself, lest he lose
an appendage in one of my late night feeding frenzies.
Look for a full report from Grendel on his trip out to Cali
in an upcoming issue of AE.
AND
ONE MORE THING BEFORE THE Q&A BEGINS, CHECK OUT AVANT LABS!
Last
week I plugged Avant Labs and their associated magazine, Big
Motherfucker (BMF). We’ve
now got the owner of Avant Labs, Par Deus, writing on a regular
basis for AE. I’m not
plugging BMF because Par Deus is now writing for us rather, Par Deus
is writing for us because BMF is a great magazine.
Be sure to check out his great publication at www.avantlabs.com
and drop him a line at ParDeus@avantlabs.com
and let him know what you think about his work.
Now
on with the Q&A……
WHAT
KIND OF GH SHOULD I USE?
Question:
I think you guys have a great website, it’s the hardest
hitting bodybuilding website on the web and I wanted to congratulate
you on a job well done. Of
course, I couldn’t take the time to write you guys something
without getting some advice as well, so here goes.
I’ve never used GH and would like to, but an unsure of what
kind to use. I get
conflicting reports over what kind is better than others, and in the
end, I’m confused as all Hell.
Could you help a brother out?
Answer:
Beyond the issue of what testosterone ester is most
effective, the hype and bullshit surrounding GH has got to be the
most talked about subject in pharmaceutical bodybuilding.
Perhaps the biggest service I can offer to AE readers is to
cut through all the horseshit in this sport, and set the record
straight. So once
again, let’s dispel some common bodybuilding myths, these all
having to deal with GH.
If
I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times, one brand of
GH is better than another. Oh
really? And pray tell
kind sir, what is the reason why this brand is more effective than
all others?
“Uhh,
we’ll, it’s kinda like this.
This Green Cap is special, much better than any other kind of
GH. It last twice as
long in the body and is three times as potent.
And right now, I can offer you 36 iu’s for the low, low
price of only…”
Sound
familiar? If you’ve
ever asked a dealer about GH, you’ve probably heard a line
something similar to that. And
the information on the various bodybuilding boards doesn’t seem to
be much better. So,
let’s examine GH for a minute so we can get to the bottom of this
issue.
Human
Growth Hormone (HGH or somatropin) is a protein produced by the
pituitary gland that is responsible (for lack of a better term)
growth in the body. Growth
hormone plays an important role in sustaining lean body mass
(components of lean body mass include: water, organ tissue, muscle
mass, and blood components), breaking down fat tissue in adults, and
in stimulating growth in children.
HGH
is generally prescribed for treatment of hypopituitarism, a disorder
in which all or part of the pituitary gland does not work as it
should. A lack of certain hormones that would normally be made by
the pituitary gland may cause a number of symptoms.
Back in the stone ages before recombinant DNA technology (ok,
ok, so it wasn’t THAT long ago), patients who were treated with
HGH were given injections that consisted of HGH extracted from the
pituitary glands of cadavers. The
problem with using this HGH was twofold.
One, it took a helluva lot of pituitary glands to extract
enough HGH for one shot,
and the whole process was EXTREMELY expensive.
Problem two was that this HGH from cadavers could contain
proteinaceous infectious particles (also known as prions) which
could cause a rare but fatal brain disease in humans called Creutzfeldt-Jakob
Disease (CJD).
Here
comes the American Pharmaceutical Industry to the rescue! Genentech managed to create Protropin, a recombinant DNA HGH.
Unfortunately for the boneheads at Genentech, they produced a
protein with 192 amino acids in it, whereas real HGH only has 191
amino acids. Eli Lilly
quickly realized Genetech’s mistake and released Humatrope, a recombinant DNA HGH with the correct 191 AA
sequence. Why, you may
ask, is one tiny amino acid a big deal?
Well, Protropin creates an auto-immune response in about
30-40% of those using it, which means their body recognizes the fact
that the HGH they’re using is structurally different, and takes
steps to destroy it. In
other words, Protropin sucks.
So,
what has this got to do with the whole GH picture?
Well, when you realize that all other forms of GH besides
Protropin have the correct 191 amino acid sequence, it becomes
readily apparent that there can be no difference in efficacy between
any of these products. I don’t care if you’re using Nutropin, Humatrope,
Genotropin, Saizen, or Serostim, they’re all equally effective.
This
is probably pretty shocking to a lot of you, since you’ve been
buying into all of the GH hype for all of these years.
Too bad, get over it. The only GH on the market right now
that is different from any other is Nutropin AQ and Nutropin Depot.
Although both of these products are based on the 191 amino
acid sequence, Nutropin AQ is different because of the way it’s
packaged and Nutropin Depot is different because it lasts longer in
the body than other brands of GH.
However, the differences in both of these products SIMPLY
MAKES THEM MORE CONVENIENT TO USE, NOT MORE EFFECTIVE.
So if you’re going to use HGH, buy whichever one you can
get for cheapest, and stop buying into your dealers lies.
Good luck to you.
I
NEED MORE INFO ON 1-AD!!
Question:
Awesome webzine!!!! Thanks a lot, I have learned so much from this site
it's incredible. I can't wait for the printed mag to come out!!! I
just read the 1-AD article by Pat Arnold in the sponsor's forum. I
have a few questions that weren't addressed in the article.
1)
The article states that there is NO chance of the product, 1-AD, to
convert into estrogen, and that there is NO chance of the elevated
1-testosterone to convert into estrogen, so bitch tits and water
retention isn’t a problem to worry about. How about DHT?
2)
I know in the past Pat said that anyone being drug tested should
stay away from all pro-hormones (that was why I stayed away from
Andro Spray even though I REALLY WANT TO USE IT!!!!!), is that the
case also with 1-AD? Will it make you fail a drug test?? If so what
is the clearance time??
We
went straight to the source on this one, Pat Arnold answers this
readers question…
Anwer:
1-AD and 1-testosteorne can convert to DHT, but it converts
by a strange pathway. While
testosterone undergoes 5alpha-reduction to get to DHT, 1-AD and
1-test undergo what is known as 1(2)-reduction to form DHT.
The
extent of this 1(2) reduction is unclear, and in what tissues it
predominates in is not clear either.
So I really do not know the extent of DHT production.
However,
as far as prostrate is concerned, you need both estrogen and DHT to
stimulate benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH).
DHT alone will not do
it, and in fact, DHT given to subjects will lower their estrogen
levels and actually REDUCE BPH (its documented).
So as far as prostate is concerned, I have no real worries
about 1-AD. I do not know about the hair on the scalp and 1-AD.
All androgens can potentially
increase MPB in susceptible individuals.
How much 1-AD does this remains to be seen.
So far, in the handful of people that have tried it, there
have been no complaints.
1-AD
may be undetectable. It
does not convert to testosterone, so it will not upset the T/E
ratio. Also, none of
its metabolites appear to be similar to those of banned steroids.
However, I have not confirmed its undetectability by actual
testing of urine. I may
have that done soon, but if it comes back clean I am not going to
publicize this very much. I
think it could really piss off some important people in government
and sports and we are trying to calm things down in regards to
prohormone controversy right now.
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