SCIENTISTS DON'T KNOW IF 'ANDRO' IS DANGEROUS

Little research on supplement's side effects

Baseball slugger Mark McGwire may be leading the major leagues in home
runs, but scientists aren't so sure that "andro" power has anything to do
with it.

They also can't say whether androstenedione - the supplement McGwire and
many amateur athletes are taking to try to boost testosterone levels, and
thus enhance their performance - is safe.

Except for a 1962 study on two women, "there's not a single published
report in the U.S. as to the effects of androstenedione on testosterone,"
says Tim Ziegenfuss, an assistant professor of exercise science at Eastern
Michigan University.

Excess testosterone can help build muscle, but doctors fear it may cause
cardiovascular, liver or other problems. However, distributors say "andro"
products don't raise testosterone levels enough to be harmful.

Scientists and physicians say little research is available addressing the
supplement's potential muscle- and stamina-building effects, as well as
side effects, in people.

Researchers say the lack of studies so far, and the fact that high doses of
other, related steroids can cause medical problems, should make users pause
before risking their health for uncertain athletic gain.

Although it is unclear what happens when using the supplement, naturally
produced androstenedione is converted in the body into the male hormone
testosterone, as well as into the female hormone estrogen. This happens
only in tissues that contain the right machinery, such as the adrenal
glands, testes and ovaries.

The concerns about androstenedione's side effects focus on the
testosterone. In healthy people, doctors worry that unusually high levels
of testosterone might trigger various health problems.

The actual side effects of high testosterone are "not as clear as you might
think," says Richard Casaburi of Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre in Torrance,
Calif. That's partly because scientists aren't going to conduct a study
that calls for giving high doses of the hormone for a long time.

One of the few studies on the effects of androstenedione in people was
conducted recently by Ziegenfuss. He tested fewer than 10 men, he says, and
found only a small increase in blood levels of testosterone 90 minutes
after the men took a single 100-milligram dose of androstenedione.

But, he says, his study was not designed to address whether taking
androstenedione increases athletic performance, or whether it has any short
or Iong-term side effects.

The work was funded by Patrick Arnold, who says he introduced
androstenedione to the United States in 1996.

Arnold, who heads an Illinois company called Seymour BioOrganics Inc., says
he had noticed a description of the compound on U.S. patent documents filed
by two German researchers in 1993.

The scientific claim most widely touted by U.S. distributors - that
androstenedione raises testosterone levels by as much as 237 per cent -
traces to this patent paperwork, Arnold says. The patent did not include a
citation of a published scientific study.

Meanwhile, critics have questioned whether androstenedione, and not
McGwire's natural ability, should be credited for his home runs. One
scientist noted it takes more than muscle to hit home runs.

Hand-eye co-ordination is key, says Michael Meyers, professor of sports
physiology at the University of Houston, and steroids are not known to make
this ability better or worse.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson