DR. BILL'S SITE.

ANDROSTENEDIONE

Androstenedione is a steroid that is normally produced by the gonads (testes and ovaries) and the adrenal glands. Androstenedione is a normal precursor to progesterone, estrogen and testosterone.

The Medical Letter (volume 40  issue 1039, November 6, l999 page 106) lists several references in the literature pertaining to androstenedione. They state: "Almost no published information is available on the effects of taking androstenedione. One study found that two women who took one 100-mg oral dose had a four- to six-fold increase in blood testosterone levels within one hour (VB Mahesh and RB Greenblatt,  Acta Endocrinol, 41:400, 1962).
Data from a German patent application (R Haecker et al. Patent #DE 4214953, 1993, http://stneasy.cas.org) showed that oral androstenedione supplements increased blood testosterone levels by 40% to 83% with 50-mg doses and 111% to 237% with 100 mg."

The Medical Letter also indicates no data are available on the long-term safety of taking androstenedione. Adverse effects of exogenous testosterone include, in men, acne, decreased endogenous testosterone production, decreased spermatogenesis, testicular atrophy, gynecomastia (breast development),behavioral changes and possibly an increased risk of prostatic cancer.

In women, effects of testosterone have included a deeper voice, hirsutism, acne, clitoral hypertrophy, amenorrhea, male-pattern baldness, and coarsening of skin.
Use of androstenedione, like testosterone is banned by the IOC, NCAA, NFL and many other athletic organizations.

A recent study (February 8,2000) in the Journal of the American Medical Association, authored by Dr. Benjamin Leder - a Harvard University endocrinologist) involved 42 healthy men.
The men were between the ages of 20 and 40. Fourteen took 300 milligrams of the supplement daily for seven days; fifteen took 100 milligrams daily for seven days; and the rest took none.
The results showed that those men taking 300 milligrams daily averaged a 34% increase in testosterone levels and estrogen levels nearly tripled. The men taking 100 milligram doses showed no significant increases in either testosterone or estrogen levels.

Dr. Bill would also like to point out to the reader  that  androstenedione effects on muscle mass is unknown. More significantly  - little information is available on the purity and efficacy (potency) of the androstenedione preparations sold as dietary supplements in the USA.