Peptides: The Future of treatment

Peptides: What are they, uses, and side effects

Diseases are many and some of them take longer than others to fight with. Some of the diseases are fatal enough to take significant numbers of lives every single year. Since the birth of medical science, the target has been to find new ways to fight every disease and disorder and also to find preventive ways. The eagerness has given way to different medical procedures and medicines. But all of these medicines are not something that comes without any side effects. Researchers have been trying to find another option, a more natural one which can target the disease without causing harm to any other parts. Years of experiment has given them the peptides with more than enough potential to deal with many health conditions. 

The peptides

The peptides are natural compounds which are found in animal sources including human body. The peptides take part in several major bodily function especially in the form of hormones. While some hormones are derived from natural sources, some of these are synthesized in the research labs. The synthesized peptides are made to follow the natural ones to perform the same task in a better way. The target of synthesized peptides is to make the them work better and last long in the blood stream. The peptides have shown major results in the research results. Though we all see advertisements of peptides in skin care products, most of these peptides are not actually available in the market in the form of treatment. Most of these are still under the scrutinization of different research labs where researchers are trying to find ways to turn them into potent medicines. They can buy peptides online specifically for laboratory purpose. 

Proteins vs peptides

These two happen to be sisters as they have same building blocks, the amino acids. The basic difference lies in structure and size. Proteins are much larger compared to peptides. Peptides have somewhere between 2-50 amino acid molecules while proteins have 50 or more acids. proteins also happen to be more well defined in structure than peptides. This less defined structure of peptides let them adopt complex conformations like secondary, tertiary and quaternary. Peptides can also be subdivided into polypeptides and oligopeptides. While the numbers of amino acids range from 2-20 in oligopeptides, the numbers are comparatively higher in polypeptides. Proteins are formed by the joining of one or more polypeptides. So, we can say that proteins are large peptides. 

Benefits

Peptides have shown to have anti-aging and fat reducing properties. While it can protect as well as improve heart health, stimulating GH secretion is another function. As peptides connect directly with the targeted receptors including the DNA, they usually do not harm any other parts of the body. That is why peptides tend to have lesser complications or side effects compared to traditional medicines. This property of the peptides makes them perfect as treatment to various diseases. While some peptides are being used as treatments, most of these are still at the trial level.