As told on Good Morning America (September 29, 2009), Jareem Gunter almost died from severe liver failure from taking the supplement Superdrol. He explained that he took the supplement because he was in his first year of competing in college baseball and the supplement promised a dramatic increase in strength.
What Gunter didn’t know was that the supplement he chose contained methasterone which is a substance that acts like testosterone. Gunter was hospitalized and almost lost his life after taking the supplement for one month.
According to the report on Good Morning America (September 29, 2009), the Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to hear first hand reports on September 29 from young athletes of their near-death experiences with strength supplements.
Food and Drug Administration's Warning on Strength Supplements
This hearing is a follow-up to a warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last summer warning consumers “not to use body-building products that are sold as nutritional supplements but may contain steroids or steroid like substances” (New York Times, July, 29, 2009).
According to Singer, N., and Schmidt, M., (New York Times, July 29, 2009), the “F.D.A. cited eight popular products from American Cellular Labs that the agency found to contain hidden and potentially hazardous steroids”. These products included Mass Xtreme and Tren Xtreme. Unfortunately, these products only scratch the surface of the possible hundreds of products that may be harmful and on the market.
The problem is that the supplement industry is not regulated like the drug industry is. The Federal Drug Administration carefully regulates pharmaceutical companies to ensure that their products are safe, effective, and treats what the company claims it can treat.
Dietary supplements are a self-regulated industry in which companies are responsible for the safety, effectiveness, and claims of their own products. There is no oversight agency reviewing supplements for their safety and effectiveness. The F.D.A. only gets involved when it has received reports of serious health problems linked to a specific product.
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act
According to Stevens, M., (Nov. 1, 2008) as published in the American Family Physician, the problem of regulating supplements escalated with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994. This act defined dietary supplements as products that are “intended to supplement the diet and that contain a dietary ingredient”. - a fairly broad and vague definition.
The ingredients can include any of the following products:
- Vitamin
- Mineral
- Herb
- Amino Acid
- Concentrate
- Metabolite
- Naturally occurring substance
The line between “drug” and supplement blurs when one considers that most drugs are derived from “naturally occurring substances”.
The passing of DSHEA resulted in an explosion of supplements with sales for sports supplements currently at $2 billion dollars annually. The products claim amazing results, are easy to obtain, and are accessible to anyone through the internet. Young athletes are an easy target for the marketing of these products.
Educating Young Athletes
Because the sports supplement industry is not regulated by an oversight agency, it is recommended for young athletes to not purchase and/or consume products that have not been thoroughly researched by a family physician or sports medicine professional.
According to the F.D.A., strength supplements that claim to “enhance or diminish the effects of hormones like testosterone, estrogen or progestin” should not be taken (New York Times, July 29, 2009). Products with the words or phrases including “anabolic”, “tren”, “blocks estrogen”, and “minimizes gyno” should also be avoided.
Many parents, coaches, and sports medicine professionals would like to see a “no-substance” policy put into place for young athletes. In the absence of a “no-substance” policy, parents, coaches, and physicians need to talk openly and honestly with young athletes about the potential side effects and risks associated with the use of supplements.
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