| The substance, a natural forerunner of both testosterone and estrogen, made the headlines in 1998 when a when a reporter saw a bottle of the stuff in the locker of baseball star Mark McGwire. Encouraged by wild claims that andro could boost their testosterone levels by as much as 400 percent, would-be sluggers and athletes of many other stripes started taking the supplements in hopes of matching McGwire's bulk and strength.
By the summer of 1999, the little bottle had disappeared from McGwire's locker. Andro is still legal in Major League Baseball (although prohibited by both the National Football League and the International Olympic Committee), but the home run champion has given it up. Health experts hope admires of McGwire who tried the supplement will once again follow his lead.
Andro is still popular, partly because of claims that the supplements keeps red blood cells healthy, enhances recovery from exercise, and heightens performance.
Does Andro work?
When the andro craze took off in 1998, nobody really knew how the supplement affected the body. Now, thanks to a landmark study, scientists have some answers. And they are not the answers that andro users want to hear.
McGwire may have hit 70 home runs in 1998, but the recent study suggests androstenedione was just a bystander. Researchers at Iowa State University tested the supplement on 20 healthy men as they undertook eight weeks of weight training. Ten of them, selected at random, took 300 milligrams of andro (slightly more than manufacturers generally recommend) each day for six weeks, while the other 10 unknowingly took a dummy pill made of rice flower. Throughout the training period, the two groups enjoyed the same gains in muscle bulk and strength. Either rice flour deserves a craze of its own, or andro is a bust as a muscle building supplement.
Andro failed to live up to its billing in another important way: It didn't budge the subjects' testosterone levels. It did, however, increase their supply of estrogen, hardly the goal of most male users have in mind. The supplement may have a different effect on women. One study of two women found that a single 100 mg dose of andro briefly increased their testosterone levels. The Iowa State researchers speculate that andro may raise testosterone levels only in people whose bodies don't already have plenty, namely women and elderly men.
Does Andro interact with other drugs?
Since andro is a direct precursor of testosterone and estrogen, it is possible that it could increase the activity and the risk of side effects of estrogen and drugs that deliver male sex hormones. (People suffering any kind of hormone imbalance should also avoid andro.)
What are the usual dosages?
The usual dosage of andro is 50 to 100 milligrams in pill from twice-a-day, but read on before you decide to take any.
What are the dangers of Andro?
In some ways, users should be grateful that andro doesn't live up to its ad copy. A sudden 400 percent increase in testosterone could set off extreme aggression and possibly damage the liver, according to a team doctor for the NBA. Still, the Iowa State study of 20 men who took andro suggest that the supplement can pose serious risks. The subjects who took andro had a 12 percent drop in their HDL cholesterol (the good kind!), a change that would likely increase the risk of heart disease in long term users.
Researchers suspect prolonged use could lead to other problems. Elevated levels of andro in the blood may promote cancer of the pancreas and prostate; men concerned about prostate problems, in particular, should avoid it. Theoretically, andro could also cause bone growth problems in children, premature labor during pregnancy, and masculinization in women, including male-pattern baldness, according to the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.
Although none of the subjects showed side effects from their revved-up estrogen level it is conceivable that any man who took the supplement long enough would risk growing breasts. Good luck finding the warning label.
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