THE REAL 'DIRT' ON HORMONE SUPPLEMENTS

McGwire's brew called useless, even dangerous

WASHINGTON - Baseball slugger Mark McGwire's spectacular home run-hitting
ability almost certainly doesn't come from taking hormone supplements, a
group of doctors said yesterday.

In fact, they said people who take hormones in the hope of becoming
stronger or more vigorous aren't just wasting their time and money - they
might be harming themselves.

From the ambitious high school athlete to the middle-aged office worker who
wants to feel a little younger, they're all equally wasting their time, the
doctors, specialists in hormones, said.

They said injections of human growth hormone are being prescribed
improperly, adding that other hormone supplements - like the
androstenedione taken by McGwire - don't work.

Dr. Stanley Feld of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
complained about sports stars who take supplements.

"These people are magnificent athletes and have phenomenal body mechanics
and they're throwing dirt in their system," Feld said in a telephone
interview.

McGwire, who last week broke Roger Maris' 1961 record of 61 home runs in a
season, hit his 63rd home run Tuesday night. He has admitted taking
androstenedione, also known as andro, which is forbidden by the
International Olympic Committee but isn't banned by major league baseball.

"If it was really working and really the reason that he hit 62 home runs,
he might be in danger of hurting himself," said Feld, whose group guides
doctors specializing in hormones and metabolism.

Several endocrinologists held a news conference yesterday to warn of the
dangers of hormone supplements - both those sold over the counter in the
United States, like andro and DHEA, and those prescribed by doctors, like
human growth hormone. Andro is a substrate - it's used by the body to make
testosterone, the "male" hormone. But Feld said
animal studies show that adding hormones to the body doesn't cause hormone
levels to rise.

Instead, the body compensates by producing less hormone.

In the case of andro, the amount of testosterone made in the testicles goes
down.

"So your sperm count goes down," Feld said.

"And for some strange reason, it speeds up the conversion of testosterone
to estrogen," he added - pointing out that estrogen is the "female"
hormone.

"So rather than masculinizing, you might feminize," he warned.

The body also compensates for human growth hormone, which is prescribed for
children who haven't grown properly and for people who've had their
pituitary gland removed. The pituitary regulates the release of growth
hormone.

"On the other hand there are people who feel a little tired, are a little
older, want to look for the fountain of youth," Feld said.

'FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH' SOUGHT

Sometimes a doctor doesn't do the right tests and will prescribe human
growth hormone.

Feld said when someone who doesn't have a deficient pituitary gets human
growth hormone, the gland simply compensates by producing less of the
hormone.

"If the person feels better, they might feel better because they are being
treated by a doctor" - a well-known phenomenon called the placebo effect.

But if someone has another illness causing them to feel low, such as
cancer, getting hormones could delay diagnosis of their true disease.

Earlier this week doctors warned against DHEA, another over-the-counter
hormone supplement.

Dr. Marshall Goldberg, an endocrinologist at Jefferson Medical College,
said taking DHEA might cause prostate cancer.

He said he found it stimulated the growth of cells in the prostate - a
first step to cancer.

Feld said the true answer to feeling vigorous is a boring one.

"Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning," he said.

"It's staying in shape, it's not abusing your body with alcohol, with heavy
foods."

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson