Long-R3, BD and Kyno
Questions: What do you think about IGF-1 long-R3? I've been hearing a lot about it, both good and bad. What is it, what does it do and is it safe?
Answers: IGF-1 Long-R3 is a new synthetic form of the human IGF-1 hormone, patented and owned by GroPep Limited in Australia. Called Long-R3 for short, this drug is structurally an 83 amino acid analog of human IGF-I, modified at the 3 position by the substitution of an arginine molecule, and carrying an extra 13 amino acid peptide at the end (terminus) of the hormone. (You can probably see why it's called "Long R-3" IGF-). These modifications do a couple of important things to the IGF-1 molecule, namely increasing its half-life and interfering with its ability to bind to serum IGF binding proteins that would otherwise render the hormone inactive. The resulting synthetic IGF-1 molecule is far more potent than regular human IGF-1 on a milligram for milligram basis, at least according to all the early drug assays. And it seems to produce all the same biological effects in in-vitro and animal models.
So, we've answered the "what it is" part. Now, for "what it does" part, as I assume you want a little more than, "it does the job of IGF-1." In terms of bodybuilding, IGF-1 has long been the theoretical endpoint of synthetic human growth hormone. Growth hormone itself isn't anabolic and actually exerts its anabolic activity by increasing levels of IGF-1 in the body. In this regard, GH is more or less to IGF-1 what HCG is to testosterone- a hormone-stimulating drug. For as long as bodybuilders have understood why GH was anabolic, they have wondered how long it would take for injectable IGF-1 to become a reality. With GH synthesis becoming significantly easier and cheaper this past decade, and the price of pharmaceutical GH dropping dramatically, demand for this drug is at an all-time high. So, too, is interest in exploring other drugs in this arena, which brings us back to IGF-1 Long-R3. Long-R3 is a very new drug that has arisen out of the latest wave of global interest in human growth hormones, but it's already looking very promising on paper.
Now, you need to keep in mind that Long-R3 is not a prescription agent, regardless of what pretty vial you may obtain the drug in. It is currently only in its early stages of evaluation and development and has not yet even been approved for human trials in any country. We have no actual safety data on this hormone to reference because it has never been evaluated in humans, which ultimately makes your last question (is it safe?) impossible to answer with any certainty. That, of course, hasn't stopped many bodybuilders from using it and those guys are currently making themselves guinea pigs with "research only" samples of Long-R3. So far, what I can tell you is that the drug is working as an anabolic- very well, in fact. We've seen solid consistent gains in lean mass and strength while taking IGF-1 Long-R3 in doses as low as 30-50 micrograms per day. (These are doses far lower than what we would expect to need of human IGF-1). But again, we know little of what this drug is actually doing to the body aside from causing muscle growth.
In particular, we do not know how strongly it's promoting the growth of other organs. Organ growth is a possible effect of GH and one that can be noticeable when the drug is abused. But this drug also has an excellent safety record when used properly. With Long-R3, on the other hand, we have no idea how strong this effect is next to GH as it has never been studied. So, the bottom line is this drug may work, but (and I am not trying to scare you away from trying it when I say this) before making any decisions about its use, you need to consider that it's far from being "FDA approved."
British Dragon Fakes
Question: I heard there are new fakes of British Dragon going around that look really sharp. Have you heard about these? How do I spot them?
Answer: There are indeed fakes of the British Dragon line circulating. BD has become one very popular company over the past few years, so much so that the initials BD no longer commonly refer to British Dispensary in Thailand, but these guys. BD is in such high demand, however, that the counterfeiters just cannot resist knocking them off. I've been in direct contact with the company for some time now and they have been finding themselves in constant need of upgrading their security features to stay one step ahead of the crooks. First they used holograms, which were quickly copied. Custom pill dyes- they knocked these off, too. Then they started using foil inlays in their vial labels. These, too, were duplicated very quickly. In Anabolics 2005, at the advice of a company principle, I mentioned the need to examine the plastic tops for the words "TEAR AND FLIP UP."
At the time of publication, the counterfeiters had not located these specific vial tops and were using ones that read only "FLIP OFF." It was a good way to catch them. But not one month after Anabolics 2005 hit the bookshelves, one persistent Russian counterfeiter found the correct BD tops and released yet another wave of excellent-looking fakes consumers were ill prepared for. Pictures of one of these recent fakes, next to the last version of real BD product to be sold, are included for your review. These new fakes have everything, including the foil and correct tops. Only the lettering is a little off!
So, what was BD left to do with yet another high-quality fake to compete with? What any enterprising steroid company would do; they are upgrading their security features again. From now on, all new lots of injectable BD products will carry custom printed flip tops and injection-molded custom rubber stoppers. That's right. A first for any steroid company, the rubber stoppers from BD will now carry the company logo right in the rubber. Given the high cost involved in a project like this, let's hope it's enough to deter the fakers for a while.
Kynoselen
Question: I'm a drug-tested athlete and lately I've been hearing a lot of good things about kynoselen. My question to you is, will this substance show up on a very rigid drug screening?
Answer: Just to give our readers a little background, kynoselen is a veterinary injectable drug product used to aid the recovery and healing of sick animals. It basically contains a blend of different vitamins and minerals (selenium, magnesium, potassium, and B12), along with heptaminol and some AMP (adenosine monophosphate). Heptaminol, an ionotropic amine, is the key active ingredient in this product. It works by blocking the uptake of noradrenaline, which in turn increases circulating and local levels of this hormone. Its actions are loosely related to those of caffeine, making this a weak stimulant-type drug. It seems to have more overall value than caffeine, however, with an ability to reliably increase contractile strength and reduce muscle fatigue. With this in mind, bodybuilders and athletes have been using kynoselen for modest fat loss, as well as strength and muscle gains. It is not quite an anabolic steroid as far as results go, but then again, if you can't use steroids due to drug testing, it might be an attractive option.
Now, as for your particular circumstance, I can't say for sure if it will show up during your screen, as you didn't mention what sport you were competing in. I would have tried my best to look into the current testing if you had. According to author Bryan Haycock, this drug is already banned in horse racing and given the rapidity in which new drugs are added to the banned lists in competitive sports in general, I wouldn't want to give you any bad advice you might take to heart. Let's just say the ability to test for heptaminol is clearly there; whether or not your particular organization is looking for it is another question. Best bet is to contact them and ask for the current list of banned substances. If heptaminol isn't on the list, nor are any of the other ingredients, you should be absolutely fine, as no rules were broken. If it were on the list, I probably wouldn't risk it.
Questions: What do you think about IGF-1 long-R3? I've been hearing a lot about it, both good and bad. What is it, what does it do and is it safe?
Answers: IGF-1 Long-R3 is a new synthetic form of the human IGF-1 hormone, patented and owned by GroPep Limited in Australia. Called Long-R3 for short, this drug is structurally an 83 amino acid analog of human IGF-I, modified at the 3 position by the substitution of an arginine molecule, and carrying an extra 13 amino acid peptide at the end (terminus) of the hormone. (You can probably see why it's called "Long R-3" IGF-). These modifications do a couple of important things to the IGF-1 molecule, namely increasing its half-life and interfering with its ability to bind to serum IGF binding proteins that would otherwise render the hormone inactive. The resulting synthetic IGF-1 molecule is far more potent than regular human IGF-1 on a milligram for milligram basis, at least according to all the early drug assays. And it seems to produce all the same biological effects in in-vitro and animal models.
So, we've answered the "what it is" part. Now, for "what it does" part, as I assume you want a little more than, "it does the job of IGF-1." In terms of bodybuilding, IGF-1 has long been the theoretical endpoint of synthetic human growth hormone. Growth hormone itself isn't anabolic and actually exerts its anabolic activity by increasing levels of IGF-1 in the body. In this regard, GH is more or less to IGF-1 what HCG is to testosterone- a hormone-stimulating drug. For as long as bodybuilders have understood why GH was anabolic, they have wondered how long it would take for injectable IGF-1 to become a reality. With GH synthesis becoming significantly easier and cheaper this past decade, and the price of pharmaceutical GH dropping dramatically, demand for this drug is at an all-time high. So, too, is interest in exploring other drugs in this arena, which brings us back to IGF-1 Long-R3. Long-R3 is a very new drug that has arisen out of the latest wave of global interest in human growth hormones, but it's already looking very promising on paper.
Now, you need to keep in mind that Long-R3 is not a prescription agent, regardless of what pretty vial you may obtain the drug in. It is currently only in its early stages of evaluation and development and has not yet even been approved for human trials in any country. We have no actual safety data on this hormone to reference because it has never been evaluated in humans, which ultimately makes your last question (is it safe?) impossible to answer with any certainty. That, of course, hasn't stopped many bodybuilders from using it and those guys are currently making themselves guinea pigs with "research only" samples of Long-R3. So far, what I can tell you is that the drug is working as an anabolic- very well, in fact. We've seen solid consistent gains in lean mass and strength while taking IGF-1 Long-R3 in doses as low as 30-50 micrograms per day. (These are doses far lower than what we would expect to need of human IGF-1). But again, we know little of what this drug is actually doing to the body aside from causing muscle growth.
In particular, we do not know how strongly it's promoting the growth of other organs. Organ growth is a possible effect of GH and one that can be noticeable when the drug is abused. But this drug also has an excellent safety record when used properly. With Long-R3, on the other hand, we have no idea how strong this effect is next to GH as it has never been studied. So, the bottom line is this drug may work, but (and I am not trying to scare you away from trying it when I say this) before making any decisions about its use, you need to consider that it's far from being "FDA approved."
British Dragon Fakes
Question: I heard there are new fakes of British Dragon going around that look really sharp. Have you heard about these? How do I spot them?
Answer: There are indeed fakes of the British Dragon line circulating. BD has become one very popular company over the past few years, so much so that the initials BD no longer commonly refer to British Dispensary in Thailand, but these guys. BD is in such high demand, however, that the counterfeiters just cannot resist knocking them off. I've been in direct contact with the company for some time now and they have been finding themselves in constant need of upgrading their security features to stay one step ahead of the crooks. First they used holograms, which were quickly copied. Custom pill dyes- they knocked these off, too. Then they started using foil inlays in their vial labels. These, too, were duplicated very quickly. In Anabolics 2005, at the advice of a company principle, I mentioned the need to examine the plastic tops for the words "TEAR AND FLIP UP."
At the time of publication, the counterfeiters had not located these specific vial tops and were using ones that read only "FLIP OFF." It was a good way to catch them. But not one month after Anabolics 2005 hit the bookshelves, one persistent Russian counterfeiter found the correct BD tops and released yet another wave of excellent-looking fakes consumers were ill prepared for. Pictures of one of these recent fakes, next to the last version of real BD product to be sold, are included for your review. These new fakes have everything, including the foil and correct tops. Only the lettering is a little off!
So, what was BD left to do with yet another high-quality fake to compete with? What any enterprising steroid company would do; they are upgrading their security features again. From now on, all new lots of injectable BD products will carry custom printed flip tops and injection-molded custom rubber stoppers. That's right. A first for any steroid company, the rubber stoppers from BD will now carry the company logo right in the rubber. Given the high cost involved in a project like this, let's hope it's enough to deter the fakers for a while.
Kynoselen
Question: I'm a drug-tested athlete and lately I've been hearing a lot of good things about kynoselen. My question to you is, will this substance show up on a very rigid drug screening?
Answer: Just to give our readers a little background, kynoselen is a veterinary injectable drug product used to aid the recovery and healing of sick animals. It basically contains a blend of different vitamins and minerals (selenium, magnesium, potassium, and B12), along with heptaminol and some AMP (adenosine monophosphate). Heptaminol, an ionotropic amine, is the key active ingredient in this product. It works by blocking the uptake of noradrenaline, which in turn increases circulating and local levels of this hormone. Its actions are loosely related to those of caffeine, making this a weak stimulant-type drug. It seems to have more overall value than caffeine, however, with an ability to reliably increase contractile strength and reduce muscle fatigue. With this in mind, bodybuilders and athletes have been using kynoselen for modest fat loss, as well as strength and muscle gains. It is not quite an anabolic steroid as far as results go, but then again, if you can't use steroids due to drug testing, it might be an attractive option.
Now, as for your particular circumstance, I can't say for sure if it will show up during your screen, as you didn't mention what sport you were competing in. I would have tried my best to look into the current testing if you had. According to author Bryan Haycock, this drug is already banned in horse racing and given the rapidity in which new drugs are added to the banned lists in competitive sports in general, I wouldn't want to give you any bad advice you might take to heart. Let's just say the ability to test for heptaminol is clearly there; whether or not your particular organization is looking for it is another question. Best bet is to contact them and ask for the current list of banned substances. If heptaminol isn't on the list, nor are any of the other ingredients, you should be absolutely fine, as no rules were broken. If it were on the list, I probably wouldn't risk it.