The purpose of the report is to understand the changes that methasterone makes to the brain and how it then effects sports performance. Methasterone is an anabolic steroid used by athletes and body builders who wish to increase testosterone as well as muscle fibre count. It is a designer steroid and is also known as superdrol. It is taken by athletes who either wish to enhance sports performance or are just looking to ‘make gains’ and ‘bulk up’. It is becoming far more common to hear of people taking steroids as sports are becoming far more important to society and more money is being payed to those involved. athletes are always looking for that edge which may be the difference in getting that multi-million-dollar contract and not getting a game, this is when people often turn to steroids.

This report shall begin with understanding the chemical properties of methasterone, the chemical makeup and the effect it has on the brain and other vital organs. It will then be discussed and put into terms, of how it does in fact impact on a person’s sport performance.



Background

The process of creating methasterone is a rather complicated one, but it can be summarised in a few simple steps. The original product, testosterone undergoes a methylation reaction with methyl iodide, this adds a methyl group. Hydrogenation then occurs in a methanol solution, to add a second methyl group. Finally, hydrogenation occurs once again to remove the double bond, this gives you a final product of methasterone.

Testosterone chemical structure – retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Testosterone.PNG)

Methasterone chemical structure - retrieved from (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methasterone#/media/File:Methasterone.png)

The melting point of methasterone is 223- 225°C and its boiling point is 423.8°C at 760 mmHg (millimetres of mercury). mmHg is an old unit of measurement for pressure, 70 mmHg reefers to what is equal to one atmosphere, this pressure would be recorded at sea level. Methasterone is white and is found as either as a powder or tablet. And is very slightly soluble in water.

When a man is taking methasterone, many physical changes are obvious to see, he’ll develop larger muscles, his testicles will decrease in size, he may develop larger breasts and may cause him to bald. If a female is taking methasterone, she too will develop larger muscles, it may disturb her menstrual cycle, her breasts may shrink, her voice will deepen and she is likely to grow facial hair. 

Muscles will grow much easier, quicker and larger when taking methasterone, but once the athlete stops taking methasterone, muscles will shrink back down again, starting again from zero. Unlike the muscles though a lot of the other side effects will not return to their previous state. The females voice will remain deep and the bald patch the man has developed will not go away. These physical side effects occur due to the all the extra testosterone the body now has. Other side effects like the growing of breasts in a man occur because as the body has more testosterone it naturally tries to balance it with estrogen (the female reproductive hormone).

Apart from physical changes, noticeable by the person or anyone playing close enough attention to them, many things within their body will change drastically, these are not visible, but are far worse long term for the steroid taker. It causes damage to the liver and kidneys, can increase heart rate, hence increasing chance of heart attack, as well as weakening your immune system. 

The evidence scientists have collated over the years about the effects of steroids as general topic, on the brain is very limited. It is known though that it can cause a change in behaviour. Taking steroids can cause aggression and violent outbursts. When you stop using the steroid, it more often than not leads to depression and can even lead to suicidal behaviour. 

When tested on adolescent animals, it was shown that it disturbed the normal development of aggression circuits throughout the brain, the circuits responsible for stimulating aggression were amplified and the ones responsible for suppressing aggression were suspended. This causes everything to be thrown out of the natural balance, hence the high levels of aggression.

It’s also been proven that the taking of steroids affects the anterior hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for sending out hormones, this is because steroids are meant to replicate the hormones our body already makes, steroids just give them to us in much higher dosages. 

Steroids also have an effect on how neurotransmitters function, this is due to the testosterone in the steroid being distributed to many sections of the brain, including the hypothalamus, the section of the brain that is in control of appetite, blood pressure, mood control and reproductive system. When the testosterone from the steroid gets sent to the hypothalamus, it disturbs the natural occurrence of testosterone made in the body.

Essentially though, what methasterone does do is enables the body’s muscle cells to produce more protein, this along with working out allows for large muscle growth. They can also block cortisol from binding to the muscle cells receptor sites. This decreases the breakdown process, less breakdown means less muscle fatigue, this enables a quicker recovery and you are able to push further. This means someone taking methasterone, can push themselves further, they recover quicker so they work out more regularly and muscles will grow easier. 

Discussion

The purpose of this report was to come to a better understanding on how methasterone effects sports performance. So far, methasterone’s chemical properties, the chemical makeup and the effect it has on the brain have been covered, but what does any of this actually have to do with sport performance, how does it impact how an athlete preforms during their chosen sport? In this section we will discuss exactly that. What does methasterone actually do to improve your performance?

All the information given so far though does not in fact have to do with sport performance, so let’s put it into perspective. Firstly, imagine an elite male athlete, training up for a big event and doing so 100% legally and naturally. He will work along with a trainer to try the get the most out of his trainings. Each session he will be pushing his body to either improver aerobic or anaerobic fitness. Either way the athlete will be working hard and his muscles will be sore afterwards. Naturally it will take his body 48 hours on average to get rid of the lactic acid he has developed in his muscles. In this time his muscles will have repaired themselves causing them to become stronger and larger. 

now let’s imagine another male elite athlete, but this time he’s taking methasterone, which is illegal and unnatural. His sessions will be able to go for longer and his work rate will be higher, because his muscles will fatigue less. After the sessions he will also only take 24 hours to recover, so he will be able to work hard again much quicker. For him also, when his muscles repair themselves, they get larger and stronger than how they would have rebuilt without the methasterone.

All this means, that when it comes to performance day, the athlete taking methasterone will be able to have made larger muscle gains, will be fitter, he’ll be able to work harder on the actual day as he will still be taking methasterone and if he’s competing in a multi-day event he will be able to perform at his max over a longer period of time.

Although the example uses males, the same applies to females, they will also have the same benefits from taking the substance. Both sexes would also loose the muscle mass they have developed over the course of taking methasterone too and both would have the negative side effects mentioned throughout.

Conclusion

In the report we covered chemical properties of methasterone, it’s chemical makeup including how the designer drug is made. The effects, both positive and negative, that impact brain and as well as other vital organs. It was then discussed how exactly it does impact sports performance. We can now conclude that methasterone is a highly complex drug to manufacture, with a starting product of testosterone. It has a very long list of dangerous side effects to your body, but not a huge amount is known by scientists as to what actually goes on in the brain in relation to steroids. Though it will allow you to prepare and preform for a sporting event far better physically, the aftermath of it, both physically and mentally is one you will be left with for a long time after using it.

Public Education Piece

My public education piece is a video to advise the general public of the information learned during this research assignment.


References

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