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Medical Experts Calling for Control of 'Andro'
– Poughkeepsie Journal, Knight-Ridder News Service

ORLANDO, Fla. -A group of medical experts have said it is urging the Food and Drug Adminis-tration to declare the dietary supplement "andro" a steroid and to ban its over-the-counter sale. Androstenedione, a body-building additive found in many products sold in gyms and health-food stores, is widely used by teen-agers and athletes. It gained noto-riety in 1998, when St. Louis Car-dinals baseball player Mark McGwire disclosed he used andro in his record-setting season. The task force- whose members include experts from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Sports Medicine will assist the FDA in developing required scientific evidence by collecting case reports of adolescents and adults who have experienced ill effects from using andro. The goal is to have andro made available only by prescrip-tion.Unlike prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements do not have to undergo safety testing before they are sold. "We're seeing increased use of these products in kids, all the way down to age 12, when kids are in middle school," said Bernard Griesemer, a Missouri pediatrician and former member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' sports-medicine committee.

"And parents and younger kids believe that these things. DHEA (dehydroepianandrosterone) and andro-are not steroids.These are anabolic steroids. The fact that they are not not prescription has nothing to do with their biochemistry. Labeling changed Last year, the Federal Trade Commission forced . The FDA Inc.and ASTNutrition Concepts to change the labeling of their andro-based body-building products and warn users of the potential risks of the supplements, including unwanted changes in male and female sexual characteristics and danger to people at risk for prostate or breast cancer. The FTC charged that the companies claimed on their Internet sites that the andor products have no negative side effects. To build a case against "andro" the task force will gather case studies of young men and women who have experiened negative side effects, including stunted growth, premature baldness, excessive body and facial hair in women and breast growth in men. "Studies have shown that taking andor can dangerously raise hormone levels," said Allan Korn, chief medical officer of the task force, which was organized by Blue Cross Blue Shield."We know, anecdotally,kids and athletes are taking andor and having problems, and we're calling the medical community to help us document those problems." Doctors may not have much trouble

Middle-schol kids are taking these products six to 10 years, perhaps. And we don't know the long-term side effects of these products. The FDA doesn't. The National Institutes of Health doesn't. No one does. – Dr, Bernard Griesmer Missouri documenting one side effect, said Dr. Larry Bowers of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the new independant testing agency."The growth issue is probably the easiest one to document. There are ways to tell by looking at bones by X-ray. If a 13-year old is showing bone age of 18 or 20 year old, then that's obviously no right." Said Griesemer: "We're starting to see some nasty male-pattern baldness in high school and college kids. It's sad when you've got a 20-year-old patient who wants hair transplants. Or when you've got a 13-year-old worrying about going bald." Most troubling, he noted, is the finding that some kids begin using performance-enhancing drugs in middle school and then continue to use them for years.Middle-schol kids are taking these products six to 10 years, perhaps. And we don't know the long-term side effects of these products. The FDA doesn't. The National Institutes of Health doesn't. No one does. -Dr, Bernard Griesmer Missouri