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New Andro Study
Generates More Questions than Answers
By John Morgenthaler
The recent study on the value and safety of androstenedione published in the June 2, 1999 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association is a welcome and much needed addition to the knowledge base for this potentially important substance. Unfortunately, the results raise more questions than they answer, according to Lane Lenard, PhD, author of The Smart Guide® to Andro (Smart Publications, Petaluma, CA, 1999).
The Mark McGwire andro incident last summer brought two important questions quickly to the surface," says Dr. Lenard: "Does androstenedione do what McGwire and thousands of proponents claim it does? And is it safe? The Iowa State University study represents the first serious independent scientific attempt to answer these questions." The results suggested that androstenedione may be less beneficial and more dangerous than previously thought. "The problem is, though, that the study design makes it very difficult to interpret the results meaningfully," he adds.
For example, notes Dr. Lenard, the dose of androstenedione used in the study – 300 mg per day, swallowed – may have been inadequate to induce a significant boost in testosterone levels. "When you swallow andro pills, most of the active androstenedione gets metabolized in the liver. Only a small portion survives to add to the body’s testosterone pool. You get much better absorption by taking andro as a sublingual (under the tongue) spray or lozenge, which bypasses the liver. So, this result tells us nothing about the potential effects – good or bad – of sublingual andro. And given the lack of a testosterone boost, it’s hardly a surprise that there was no significant difference in muscle mass associated with androstenedione, compared with placebo," Lenard explains.
Another possible explanation for the lack of an anabolic effect is the fact that the study participants were all novices to weight training. In an editorial accompanying the andro article in JAMA, steroid expert Dr. Charles E. Yesalis, III, points out, "Such inexperienced weight trainers generally make significant gains in the early phase of resistance training programs [without androstenedione]. These large [placebo] gains could overshadow, statistically, any potential gains from androstenedione."
Although the androstenedione supplements did not cause any adverse side effects, the Iowa State researchers were concerned by elevated levels of estrogen as well as by slightly higher levels of LDL (the "bad") cholesterol and slightly lower levels of HDL (the "good") cholesterol.
"Again, there are several possible explanations for these effects," states Dr. Lenard. "Start with the fact that the subjects were all young (aged 19-29 years) men with normally high levels of testosterone. Due to the body’s normal metabolic pathways, it has long been suspected that when testosterone levels are high, additional androstenedione might get converted into estrogen."
For this and other reasons, anybody who knows anything about androstenedione warns against its use by young men with youthful testosterone levels, especially by teenagers. This is clearly stated in The Smart Guide to Andro. So, these results tell us nothing about the potential benefits and risks men aged 40 or older might derive from boosting their sagging testosterone levels. Dr. Lenard notes that the effects and disposition of testosterone in older men are likely to be quite different than they are in younger men.
In addition to The Smart Guide® to Andro, Lane Lenard, PhD, is the author or co-author of Enhance Your Vitality & Potency for Men Over 40 and 5-HTP: The Natural Alternative to Prozac (both Smart Publications, Petaluma, CA). He has been a medical and science writer for over 20 years and has also been an editor of Science Digest and Sexual Medicine Today magazines.
References:
- Yesalis CE, III. Medical, legal, and societal implications of androstenedione use. JAMA 1999;281:2043-2044.
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