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Andro, a muscle-building supplement once used by Mark McGwire, increases testosterone and
estrogen levels and causes serious health problems, according to a Harvard study.
The Harvard team gave 29 healthy men varying levels of andro for one week. Blood tests
revealed a 34% increase in testosterone and a 128% increase in the estrogen hormone
estradiol, according to the study recently published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association.
The findings lend credibility to long-brewing scientific scuttlebutt that the easily
obtained supplement causes some not-so-athletic traits. We’re talking breasts in men and
facial hair in women, as well as acne, baldness, and an increased risk of heart disease,
which is why McGwire quit.
Androstenedione, as he learned, is made of a naturally occurring steroid hormone used by
the body to make testosterone. It’s available one of two ways. You can sit back and allow
your adrenal gland or testis to produce it in finely controlled amounts honed by millions
of years of evolution. Or you can buy it over-the-counter.
Sounds easy. Walk to the corner store, buy some andro, and start bench-pressing V-8 engine
blocks. Remember 1998. McGwire’s huge arms are showcased regularly on late-night sports
shows as he hits yet another frozen rope out of the park. When word got out the St. Louis
slugger uses andro, the little-known drug seemed like the perfect way to add muscle. Your
body, however, doesn’t take too kindly to being second-guessed.
Fact is, andro super-charges your sex hormones, which isn’t good. It turns out that your
body converts excess testosterone into estrogen. So, in a roundabout sort of way, taking
andro boosts your testosterone, some of which is converted to estrogen, which in turn
gives you breasts—especially embarrassing if you’re male. If you’re female, you’ll probably never have too much male hormone, so the andro-turned-testosterone influx gives you facial hair and a deeper voice. Gender-bending aside, increased testosterone levels
can also trigger a host of life-threatening diseases such as liver abnormalities and
pancreatic cancer.
No one knows how many people take andro, but the Harvard team estimates that 4.9% of male
and 2.4% of female adolescents have used illegal anabolic steroids. And since andro is available over the counter, they believe its use is much higher. Expert suspects
McGwire’s homerun hoopla increased usage in every segment of sports, from high school to
professional athletes.
“I get asked to give talks on this all the time, which reflects a widespread public
curiosity on performance enhancing drugs such as andro,” Expert said.
Look for the supplement to come under close scrutiny in the future. The Harvard study was
funded in part by Major League Baseball, which wants to better understand the supplement.
The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether it should be reclassified as a
steroid. And possibly pre-guessing the final verdict, the Olympics, the National Football
League, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association ban its use. Even so, it’s likely
a few wannabe muscle-heads will put the blinders on and stay with andro, health be
damned.
“We’re living in pill-taking times,” Expert said. “Everyone wants a quick fix for more muscles, better health, or improved sight. So if somebody asks me for a strength
supplement, I steer them toward creatine, which is safe, and definitely away from
andro.”
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