Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Testosterone Supplements: Yea or Nay?
A reader asks: Testosterone supplement ads say they increase muscle mass and improve sexual performance. Are these supplements safe? Here’s the reply from Johns Hopkins.
You have no guarantee of the safety or effectiveness of any dietary supplement, including those promoted as natural hormones. Dietary supplements are not required to undergo the rigorous testing that pharmaceutical drugs do. You also have no guarantee that a supplement contains the ingredients listed on the label or that it does not contain harmful ingredients or contaminants.
The potential dangers of these unregulated substances were underscored recently in a letter published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. In the letter, physicians from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas reported that two men, ages 51 and 67, developed widely metastatic prostate cancer within months of beginning a testosterone dietary supplement that was advertised in a fitness magazine. Both men had been screened for prostate cancer within the previous 11 months and were found to have normal PSA levels and digital rectal exams at that time.
While it's not possible to draw firm conclusions that the testosterone supplement was responsible for the cancer, laboratory experiments showed that it is a potent stimulator of prostate cancer cells. In addition, it made the cells resistant to the antiandrogen therapy used to treat advanced prostate cancer.
Posted in Prostate Disorders on January 7, 2010
Reviewed January 2011
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I've been receiving testoterone by way of injection (.8 ml) every two weeks for about 5 years. At the time I started I did some research and found that Proscar acted in a mitigating fashion to block or nuetralize any affects from the testosterone on the prostate. Having had a bit of a scare 5 years ago with some enlarged prostate cells ( or something to that effect) I've been on an annual watchfull waiting regime with my urologist having no concerns with my PSA tests or flow tests. So maybe the Proscar does what it is touted to do ??? Anyway it seems to work for me and others may want to research this avenue for themselves should they want testosterone suplementation.
Good luck
Atwone.
Posted by: Atwone | April 2, 2010 8:04 PM
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FDA cleared drugs also have their share of hazards.
Two people? I am surprised you even published this shakey, non scientific inference.
Posted by: clckrich | January 9, 2010 1:11 PM