> Mice that had been given large doses of the drug over the course of two years (a lifetime for a lab rodent) developed cancer at a higher rate than their dope-free peers. Tumors appeared all over their bodies, from the tongue to the testes.
> ...
> Since then, he has developed a less potent version that he hopes will also be less toxic.
So yeah, this isn't exactly ready for mass consumption.
Whereas the link between anabolic steroids and cancer is pretty weak. If someone is interested in getting fit (or fit looking) with pills, we already have some pretty good stuff out there.
Pretty much. For anyone interested in how anabolic-androgenic steroids got banned in the USA, check out Bigger, Faster, Stronger - The Side Effects of Being American for a much fairer viewpoint than your high school counselor shoved on to you. tl;dr: Steroids were banned due to non-scientific scares equivalent to "poison in candy" arguments around Halloween.
The inconvenient truth is that we already have the fountain of youth [0] - it's injectable long-ester testosterone, which is cheap, easily obtainable, and safe [1].
EDIT: I see you said "pills." While safe-ish, they're much more dangerous due to liver toxicity. Injectable testosterone is much more effective, cheaper, and safer.
[0]: For men. For women, the results are different and comes with worse side effects.
[1]: Safe is a relative term. But exogenous test use done correctly is very, very safe. And compared to the alternatives that are sold, like prohormones, they're orders of magnitude safer.
Yes, low dosages (200 mg/week) of eg testosterone enthanate will make most guys over 35 feel ten years younger. Bodybuilders would laugh at such low dosages as this is far less than one would take on a typical cycle, but the benefits are undeniable, with few negatives. However, it's illegal unless prescribed.
This is quite the generalization, plenty of drugs have negative side effects in high doses (see: tylenol). It doesn't mean they aren't still widely useful in small ones. If anything we need to learn more about the drug, just like any other.
> The combination of effects made 516 seem like a promising treatment for what’s known as “metabolic syndrome,” a cluster of symptoms—including obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar—that is a precursor to heart disease and diabetes. More than a third of adult Americans are estimated to have metabolic syndrome, which made 516’s potential profits seem rather attractive.
The dangers of rampant heart disease and type-2 diabetes can't be understated either in this context.
Also the next paragraph notes it only caused cancer in later stages of the mouses life which may translate to 60-70yrs in humans. It's possible there are potential trade offs still at lower doses for people in their 50s at a high risk of dying from heart failure.
> ...
> Since then, he has developed a less potent version that he hopes will also be less toxic.
So yeah, this isn't exactly ready for mass consumption.