And all for a hormone that neither boosts testosterone levels nor increases muscle mass, according to researchers led by Douglas S. King, Ph.D., of the department of health and human performance at Iowa State University in Ames. A precursor to testosterone that is produced in the adrenal gland and gonads, androstenedione-popularly known as andro-has been marketed legally as a "natural" way to stimulate testosterone production, thus helping users to bulk up.

But in a study of 20 men ages 19 to 29 who were placed on an eight-week resistance exercise regimen, Dr. King's team found that the half who supplemented their workouts with andro made no greater gains in muscle than did exercisers on placebo. For six of the eight weeks, the ten subjects took andro in daily doses of 300 mg-far more than the 100 mg doses typically recommended by manufacturers, according to the Iowa researchers.

More importantly, Dr. King and colleagues found that while andro failed to boost testosterone, it actually raised subjects' levels of the estrogens estradiol and estrone, and cut their levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL). The study was funded by Golden, CO-based Experimental and Applied Sciences, an andro distributor.

In the andro group, the mean HDL level dropped 12 percent after two weeks of supplementation and remained there through the end of the study. After two weeks, subjects' serum estrone had risen from a baseline mean concentration of 106 pmol/L to 153 pmol/L; this level stood at 142 after five weeks. Estradiol increased from 220 pmol/L to 310 after two weeks of andro and stood at 280 after eight weeks. The placebo group saw no significant differences in HDL or estrogens.

This suggests, Dr. King's team reported, that "a significant proportion" of the andro was aromatized to estrogen.

So the steroid hormone sold as a dietary supplement may put users at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, pancreatic cancer, breast enlargement and, in women, breast cancer, the researchers concluded.

"I predicted this thing [andro] wouldn't work," said Charles E. Yesalis, M.P.H., Sc.D., of the department of health policy and administration at Pennsylvania State University in University Park.

Many consumers, however, lack the knowledge to make such a judgment, illustrating the problem that has accompanied the flood of unregulated supplements, herbs and extracts into the market in recent years. Physicians, according to Dr. Yesalis, need to take the initiative to find out what products patients are taking.

"Many of these things are just benign," he said. "Others are arguably drugs that could alter physiologic function."

For instance, creatine-another supplement designed to boost athletic performance-could adversely affect renal function. Megadoses of vitamins, which many people believe healthful or at least harmless, constitute another self-treatment about which physicians should question patients, he said.

Andro's status as a dietary supplement under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 has shielded it from regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "It should have been banned a year ago," said Dr. Yesalis, referring to andro's sudden celebrity when Mark McGwire admitted he used the supplement as a performance booster.

By the way, I have been taking 4 Androstenediol in conjunction with Di-Indolin and eating a pound or so of broccoli a day. As of yet, there has been no production of female-like breast tissue (my largest concern). Admittedly, I don't have the luxury or time of having pre and post Andro estrogen blood level tests done to see the results for myself. Maybe I should. Anyways, my gains have been really good, taking only the recommended dosage of a 100mg capsule 3 times a day. Good luck!

Does Andro work? Sure it does. In combination with other supplements, such as creatine, the recovery period is cut. As for the anger issue, I haven't noticed it. Neither have those close to me. Your research is extremely misleading to the readers. Anyone that uses Andro for gains in mass and strength, stacks it with other supplements. It is virtually impossible to see gains from just one product as your research attempted to claim. Let the readers become educated on supplements like Andro and Creatine without having your misleading study as their guide. This is a product that actually works when stacked with other supplements.

And let me ask you this. If that university study which was funded by EAS is sooo true, then why does EAS still market and sell their bogus andro product Andro 6. The fact of the matter is that andro products that do not contain DHEA work, and I know many people who concur with my conclusion. And we have the results to back it up. One other thing, since androstenedione is in and out of the human body's system in just a few hours, I wonder if during that study they tested their subjects' testosterone more than a few hours later. Then that would explain it all.