THE VANGUARD BLOG
Physician-curated deep dives into the science of men's health optimization.
Monograph
Polynucleotides (PN) are short fragments of DNA, typically extracted from the gonadal tissue of Pacific salmon, processed to produce a defined molecular-weight range of nucleotide chains. The most-recognized branded product is Rejuran…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Minoxidil is a potassium channel opener originally developed as an antihypertensive in the 1970s. The hair-growth side effect was noticed quickly; topical minoxidil was approved for androgenetic alopecia in 1988 and became the dominant…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Noopept (N-phenylacetyl-L-prolylglycine ethyl ester) is a synthetic dipeptide developed in Russia in the mid-1990s at the Institute of Pharmacology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. It was developed as a more potent analogue of piracetam —…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Microdosing is the practice of taking sub-perceptual doses of a classical psychedelic — most commonly psilocybin (roughly 0.1–0.5 g of dried Psilocybe cubensis, or about 1–3 mg of pure psilocybin) or LSD (approximately 5–20 mcg) — every few days,…
29 May 2026
Monograph
The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) and its successor AREDS2 are among the most rigorously conducted nutritional intervention trials in modern medicine. Funded by the National Eye Institute and conducted over more than two decades, the trials…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Methylene blue (methylthioninium chloride) is a phenothiazine dye first synthesized in 1876 and used clinically for over a century — as a treatment for methemoglobinemia (FDA-approved indication), as a urinary tract analgesic, and as a surgical dye…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Doxepin is a tricyclic antidepressant that has been on the U.S. market since 1969. At antidepressant doses (75–300 mg/day), it has the classic tricyclic side-effect profile — anticholinergic dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, orthostatic…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Ketamine is an NMDA-receptor antagonist that has been on the U.S. market as an anesthetic since 1970. In the early 2000s, NIH-funded work demonstrated that sub-anesthetic doses (~0.5 mg/kg IV over 40 minutes) produce rapid and substantial…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Inclisiran is a small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutic that silences the production of PCSK9 in the liver. Functionally, the result is the same as the monoclonal antibody PCSK9 inhibitors (evolocumab, alirocumab): more LDL receptors on hepatocyte…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Hexarelin is a synthetic hexapeptide growth hormone-releasing peptide (GHRP) developed in the early 1990s as part of the GHRP-2/GHRP-6/hexarelin family. At equivalent doses, hexarelin produces growth hormone pulses larger than GHRP-2 or GHRP-6,…
29 May 2026
Monograph
Follistatin is a glycoprotein that binds and neutralizes myostatin (GDF-8), activin A, and several bone morphogenetic proteins. Because myostatin is the dominant brake on skeletal-muscle growth, blocking myostatin produces dramatic muscle…
29 May 2026
Monograph
The fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) is a 5-day, low-calorie, low-protein, low-carbohydrate dietary protocol developed by Valter Longo's group at USC and commercialized as the Prolon program (L-Nutra). The protocol provides about 4,600 kJ (\(~1,100\)…
29 May 2026
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