"Andro" is Bad News All Around

by Robert E. Wood

A lot of press ink lately has gone into the discussion of the recently rediscovered hormone androstenedione (more commonly referred to as "andro"). It seems to be the "safe" replacement to anabolic steroids that anyone can get to build up those biceps and increase lean muscle mass. Everyone knows that Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs this season, and used andro the whole way through. It is what all the 'roid raging jocks are switching to for their "competitive edge." ESPN even did a five-part series about the hormone on its web site and a television special last week on its use in high schools.

However, to treat this drug as a new miracle monster-builder and a harmless alternative to hard-core steroids is a mistake. Androstenedione is a direct hormone precursor of testosterone, of which anabolic steroids is comprised. It is ingested orally in most of today's mass-produced, over-the-counter variations, and then is usually converted, with the aid of a luteinizing hormone, to straight-up testosterone in the bloodstream. Without the luteinizing hormone (which some andro distributors "forget" due to its cost of production), the andro ingested is just as likely to be converted into a form of estrogen, estrone. The side-effects of andro, while advertised as "harmless" and "slight," only differ in magnitude. Hair loss and severe acne are only the best cases. This treatment, like standard steroids, can also cause testicular reduction. If it can be caused by steroids, it can be caused by andro, especially in higher-than-recommended dosages. These extreme dosages may or may not be what adults dive into, but the high school teen trying to secure a starting position on the football team will not exactly be patient enough to stick to recommended dosages. Indeed, most of the weight-lifting crowd on the campus of the 'U' hardly has time to settle into a standard work-out routine, what with midterms, papers, all-nighters, finals, and graduation (in one lucky reporter's case) bearing down on them. If would-be student body builders wanted to make up for time lost to these college eventualities by swallowing a few more capsules here or there, what's to stop them?

In addition to buying andro at your favorite chain store, it can also be ordered through the mail, over the web, or even over the phone. You may have even seen a few flyers around campus, whose advertising says in nauseating neon green, "for the greatest nutritional support for incredible gains in muscle building, look no further." The going rate for a month's supply is about thirty dollars.

The weight-lifting and fitness communities, who probably do more anabolics and hormone treatments than the entire American herd of beef cattle, sing a different tune, however. Steve Blechman, Editor-in-Chief of All Natural Muscular Development magazine, in its January 1999 issue stated: "Androstenedione is a lousy steroidI and it is our opinion that no one should take it for muscle building or performance enhancement," The esteemed editor goes on to say that there are many, better performance-enhancers, which last longer and are safer to use. While most physicians and sports-medicine experts still favor regular exercise and a healthy, low-fat diet, those who feel the need to "juice" can and will acquire their drug, protein supplement, or hormone of choice to give them an extra fifty pounds on their bench press.

Androstenedione was originally synthesized in 1935, according to "Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise," written in 1993, and edited by C.E. Yesalis. If it had significant anabolic properties, it would have been much more researched in the 63 years it has been available. It is merely one of many incarnations of the steroid that have shown no general, consistent increase in health or fitness. Advertisers' claims of 300% increases in testosterone levels and bench-press maximums increasing by fifty pounds or more in two weeks are ridiculous. Rare studies Q rare because the U.S. Congress passed legislation removing the oversight of such nutritional supplements by the FDA Q have found that doses of 100mg raised testosterone levels by 237%, at the most. Even then, the effectiveness of the treatment, at its peak level, lasted only about fifteen minutes to half an hour.

In the weight room itself, especially here on campus, a person on a "roid rage" is easily distinguishable. He or she is the guy ("guy" for both cases, since increased-testosterone treatments tend to give women masculine features, such as facial hair and a deeper voice) who is throwing around the bars and grunting and looking a bit too aroused to just be lifting weights. This rage is common both to those who do flat-out steroids and those who ingest andro. Being an eyewitness to these rampages is not exactly a pleasant experience. It is enough to keep one out of the weight room, gladly, through midterms and finals. Being Mark McGwire's spotter must be an interesting experience. By the way, it absolutely cannot be contested that Mr. McGwire has achieved all he has because of hard work, character, and his baseball skills in general. His drive and dedication to excellence must be respected, not just his power. Major League Baseball does not, as yet, ban the use of andro by its players. The NFL, International Olympic Committee, and NCAA do ban the substance, however. While there may be those in these leagues who still juice up, there are other, more legal and chemically effective hormone treatments with which to wet one's exercise whistle.

All in all, androstenedione, as a performance-enhancing hormone treatment, is neither effective nor particularly safe. There are those who try to employ the old axiom "Everything in moderationI," to justify their use of andro (or alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, etc.), implying that if they just take the recommended dosage, they will be fine. Unfortunately, without FDA oversight and approval, determining a recommended or safe dosage is tenuous at best. Those who do the research and those in the professional weightlifting community agree that there are much better alternatives to the use of this hormone. Regardless of all this, any muscle mass gained by the use of this hormone must still be earned in the weight room. There will never be any substitute for putting in the hours and living an otherwise healthy life. MR

This article was published in the 18 November 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 17, Number 4).
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