THE VANGUARD BLOG
Physician-curated deep dives into the science of men's health optimization.
Monograph
Maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max) is the single most predictive fitness metric for all-cause mortality across multiple population studies — more predictive than smoking, hypertension, diabetes, or any other commonly measured risk factor. Each one-MET…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Trimix is a compounded intracavernosal injection containing three vasoactive drugs: alprostadil (a prostaglandin E1 analog), papaverine (a smooth-muscle relaxant), and phentolamine (an alpha-adrenergic antagonist). Self-administered by…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Trazodone is an FDA-approved antidepressant from 1981 that has, almost entirely off-label, become the most-prescribed sleep medication in the United States. At antidepressant doses (150–600 mg/day), it is an SSRI-era predecessor with a tolerability…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Oral finasteride (1 mg/day) and oral dutasteride (0.5 mg/day) are the most-evidenced medical therapies for male androgenetic alopecia. Both work by inhibiting 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to the more potent…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Tirzepatide is a synthetic peptide agonist of both the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor and the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor. FDA-approved as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes (2022) and as Zepbound for chronic…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Time-restricted eating (TRE) is the practice of confining all daily caloric intake to a defined window — most commonly 8 hours (16:8), 10 hours (14:10), 6 hours (18:6), or one meal per day (23:1, OMAD). The intervention has exploded in cultural…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is the taurine-conjugated form of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), a hydrophilic bile acid produced naturally in humans in small quantities. In Europe it has been used clinically since the 1990s for cholestatic liver…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Skeletal muscle is increasingly recognized in the longevity literature as a metabolic and endocrine organ — a glucose disposal sink, an endocrine signaling source (myokines), a reserve for the metabolic challenges of acute illness and recovery, and…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Red yeast rice is rice fermented with the mold Monascus purpureus. The fermentation produces a family of natural-product polyketides called monacolins, the most clinically relevant of which is monacolin K. Monacolin K is identical in chemical…
29 May 2026
Monograph
The racetam family is the original modern nootropic drug class. Piracetam was synthesized by Corneliu Giurgea in 1964 in Belgium; the term "nootropic" itself was coined by Giurgea to describe what he believed piracetam to be. The class shares a…
29 May 2026
Monograph
The U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. That number was set decades ago based on short-term nitrogen-balance studies in young sedentary adults, and it represents the minimum required…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Prolonged water-only or near-water-only fasting — typically 3, 5, or 7 days — has emerged from a niche longevity practice into a recurring feature of the men's optimization conversation. The mechanistic case is interesting: prolonged fasting drives…
29 May 2026
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