Questions & claims

Common questions

Practical and general — not about any one compound.

What you've heard vs what's shown

Claims that get repeated a lot, next to what the evidence actually supports.

Glossary

Terms you'll run into on compound pages and in the research, explained once.

ACTH

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone. A pituitary hormone that controls your body's stress-hormone response. Semax is structurally related to a fragment of this.

Agonist

Something that locks onto a receptor and switches it on. (Semaglutide is a "GLP-1 receptor agonist" — it switches on the GLP-1 docking point.)

Angiogenesis

The growth of new blood vessels. Useful for healing wounds, but the same process that can also feed a tumour.

Bacteriostatic water

Sterile water with a small amount of preservative added, used to mix powdered peptides so they don't grow bacteria once opened.

Bioavailability

How much of a dose actually makes it into your bloodstream and does something, versus how much gets broken down before it has a chance to work.

Comorbidity

A separate health condition someone has alongside the main one being discussed — e.g. having high blood pressure as well as obesity.

Compounding pharmacy ("specials")

A pharmacy licensed to prepare individual, unlicensed medicines against a specific doctor's prescription, rather than selling pre-approved packaged drugs.

GH-axis

The chain of signals between the brain and pituitary gland that controls growth hormone release. This app calls it "Growth Hormone" in plain language, but you may see "GH-axis" used elsewhere.

GHRH

Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone. The natural signal from the brain that tells the pituitary gland to release growth hormone. Peptides like Sermorelin and CJC-1295 are designed to copy or extend this signal.

Ghrelin

The "hunger hormone" — it's what makes you feel hungry. Some peptides work by copying it.

GLP-1 / GIP / Glucagon

Three different gut-and-pancreas hormones involved in appetite and blood sugar. Modern weight-loss drugs copy one, two, or all three at once.

Glucose

The sugar your body uses for energy, carried in your blood. Most blood sugar drugs and tests are really measuring this.

Half-life

How long it takes for half a dose to clear your system. A short half-life means a drug's effect fades quickly; a long one means it lingers.

Hormone

A chemical messenger your body makes and sends through the blood to tell other parts of the body what to do.

HSDD

Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. The official medical term for persistently low sexual desire that's causing distress — the one specific condition PT-141 is actually approved to treat.

IGF-1

A hormone your liver makes in response to growth hormone. Often measured as a stand-in for how much growth hormone activity is happening.

Insulin

The hormone that tells your cells to absorb glucose from the blood. Low sensitivity to insulin is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes.

Lipid

The general term for fats in the blood, including cholesterol and triglycerides. A "lipid panel" is a blood test measuring these.

Melanocortin

A brain signalling pathway involved in appetite, skin pigmentation, and sexual arousal. PT-141 works on this pathway.

Metabolism

All the chemical processes your body uses to turn food into energy, and to build and break down tissue.

MHRA

The UK government body that checks a medicine is safe and actually works before doctors are allowed to prescribe it.

Off-label

Using an approved medicine for something other than what it was officially approved for. Still legal for a doctor to prescribe, just not what the drug was originally licensed for.

PDE5

An enzyme that drugs like Viagra block to increase blood flow. "PDE5 inhibitor" is the technical name for that whole class of erectile dysfunction drugs.

Peptide

A short chain of amino acids — smaller than a full protein, but built the same way. Almost everything in this app is one.

Pituitary gland

A small gland at the base of the brain that releases several hormones, including growth hormone.

RCT

Randomised Controlled Trial. The gold-standard type of study where people are randomly split into groups — one gets the real treatment, one gets a placebo — to fairly test whether something actually works.

Receptor

A docking point on a cell that a hormone or drug locks onto to trigger an effect, like a key fitting a specific lock.

Reconstitution

Mixing a powdered peptide with liquid (usually bacteriostatic water) before it can be injected.

Secretagogue

Something that triggers a gland to release a hormone it already makes, rather than replacing that hormone directly. (CJC-1295 is a growth hormone secretagogue — it makes your pituitary release more, rather than injecting growth hormone itself.)

Subcutaneous injection

An injection just under the skin (not into a muscle or vein) — the most common way peptides are taken.

Titration

Slowly increasing a dose in planned steps, rather than jumping straight to the full amount, to let your body adjust.

Triglycerides

A type of fat carried in your blood. High levels are linked to heart disease risk.

Visceral fat

Fat stored deep around your organs, inside the abdomen, rather than just under the skin. Considered more harmful to health than fat elsewhere.