StackGuide

Real tools, real trade-offs

Medications

Prescription medicine with real mechanisms and real evidence — and real side effects, costs, and unknowns. We give the adult version: what it does, what the trials actually show, and where it belongs. All of it is a conversation with a clinician, not a self-serve decision.

11 entries · roughly 3% of what moves the needle

Medications

Statins

The most-studied cardiovascular drug there is — strong, cheap, and considerably better tolerated than its reputation suggests.

A Strong evidence Know the context

Medications

GLP-1 (semaglutide)

A genuinely powerful class of medication for obesity and cardiometabolic risk — with strong trial evidence, real side effects, and a cost profile that belongs in a medical decision.

A Strong evidence Know the context

Medications

SGLT2 inhibitors

Diabetes drugs that turned out to protect the heart and kidneys, now used well beyond glucose control.

A Strong evidence Know the context

Medications

PCSK9 inhibitors

Injectable antibodies that drive LDL to strikingly low levels, with proven cardiovascular event reduction for high-risk patients — held back mainly by cost and access.

A Strong evidence Know the context

Medications

Ezetimibe

A well-tolerated pill that lowers LDL by blocking its absorption in the gut, with proven incremental event reduction when added on top of a statin.

A Strong evidence Know the context

Medications

Metformin

The first-line drug for type 2 diabetes with a strong, decades-deep safety record — and an anti-aging reputation that has gotten well ahead of what's actually been shown in humans.

A Strong evidence Know the context

Medications

Tadalafil

A long-acting PDE5 inhibitor taken as a low daily dose — FDA-approved for both erectile dysfunction and benign prostatic hyperplasia, cheap as a generic, and generally well tolerated.

A Strong evidence Maybe

Medications

Testosterone (TRT)

Appropriate treatment for diagnosed hypogonadism — not an anti-aging shortcut for normal men.

B Moderate evidence Know the context

Medications

Low-dose aspirin

Valuable after a cardiovascular event, but for primary prevention the bleeding risk usually outweighs the benefit.

A Strong evidence Know the context

Medications

Enclomiphene

A SERM that raises the body's own testosterone by nudging LH and FSH — preserving fertility unlike TRT — but not FDA-approved and available only through compounding.

B Moderate evidence Know the context

Medications

LDN

Naltrexone at a fraction of its usual dose (1.5–4.5 mg), used off-label for chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and some autoimmune conditions on genuinely thin but interesting evidence.

C Suggestive evidence Know the context