Around the world, gym-goers and athletes have been turning to an increasingly popular new pill to aid their muscle building and boost strength gaining. Called SARMs, and coming in pill and powder form, the drug company-developed SARMs are being heavily marketed online, labelled as the ‘legal steroids’.
Described as providing all the muscle building benefits of anabolic steroids, but without any of the nasty side effects, there is some debate over whether SARMs is actually safe. In October 2017, the Food and Drug Administration in the US issued a public advisory notice, advising caution on SARMs (selective androgen receptor modulators), publicly warning that sarms increase the risk of “life-threatening reactions.”
Despite being banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, sarms powder is readily available online, and can be purchased at giants such as Amazon, eBay and via PPC adverts on Google and Facebook.
Assistant professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, Perry Wilson said: “Baldness, rage, testicular atrophy [shrinking], liver damage, stroke and gynecomastia [enlarged breasts in men] have been seen in people taking Sarms.”
A former minister for sport in the UK, Lord Moynihan said: “These drugs are known to have deadly side-effects and yet Amazon and others continue to sell them openly. The situation requires urgent investigation and action.
“The web giants should take action. They need to show leadership and responsibility with immediate effect.”
The ‘Is Sarms Safe’ debate is nothing new. Since 2015, the Anti-Doping Agency is the US has levied sanctions on over 25 track and field stars, cyclists, weight lifters, MMA fighters and other athletes for testing positive for different variations of SARMs.
According to The Glimpse, SARMs was developed by scientists at drug companies more than two decades ago. They were created to counter the age-related decline in muscle and strength that starts in someones middle age which contributes to falls and broken bones. Other major diseases, such as heart failure cancer, and kidney disease, are also punctuated by the loss of physical and muscle mobility.
However, several samples of Sarms, taken in a survey by JAMA, published in November 2017, showed that 40 percent of the sarms powers and pills tested, contained hormones and unapproved drugs. The survey also showed that a few samples also contained a drug whose use was stopped a decade ago by GlaxoSmithKline, following examples of causing cancer in animals.
As of this moment, there is no definitive ruling on sarms and it is legal to buy all around the world. However, how long it remains legal is another question and recent campaigns like the CRN social media blitz, indicate that when it comes to sarms, if you really want to take the chance, you should grab them whilst you can.