HEALTH WATCH : Steroid Use Widespread, Study Says

Elite athletes are not the only ones who sometimes turn to steroids to build better bodies and improve performance.

A national survey shows that steroids are used by an estimated 300,000 Americans who engage in recreational sports, play on neighborhood teams or work out at health spas.

“There are a lot of people who believe that the benefits outweigh the risks,” says Charles E. Yesalis, professor of health and human development at Pennsylvania State University and the lead author of the study, published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

The study, the first to calculate anabolic-steroid use in mainstream America, estimates that 700,000 more have used steroids in the past.

To many experts, the results were not a surprise. “I think most of us have known that this stuff has been going on for a long time,” said Claude Migeon, director of the Pediatric Endocrine Clinic at the Johns Hopkins University Children’s Center, Baltimore.

Doctors have cautioned that steroids can have a number of serious side effects, including liver damage, mood swings and alterations in immune function.

Talking Not So Easy

Century City psychologist Lilli Friedland says there’s only one problem with advising people affected by the firestorms to talk about their feelings. So many people just don’t know what they feel.

“Especially men, but people in general don’t know what to talk about,” she said. At least nothing beyond the basics: angry, sad, lonely or happy.

“Most (fire victims) are into telling people ‘I’m dealing with it,’ ” she said. “Or as one mental-health professional said, ‘I cried. I’m fine now.’ ”

To help out, Friedland says she has a list of 200 possible feelings, from abandoned to zany.

“Where it’s real hard is to be able to continue on an emotion for more than a single sentence.”

An example might be: “I’ve been really scared for the past week since our house burned down. I know we will survive. But I’m really scared about what if we’re never able to replace even on a material level, much less on an emotionally fulfilling level, what we had?”

Being able to express and resolve emotions over a disaster such as this can take years, she said.

Easy-to-Swallow Advice

Prescription drugs can cost a small fortune. Physicians and pharmacists offer these cost-saving tips:

* Always ask if there is a generic--or a similar product with a generic available that would still do the trick, says David Miller, executive director of the Maryland Pharmacists Assn.

* Order a larger supply. “If you are on a chronic medication, ask your physician whether you can get a three-month supply at once so that you will only pay one dispensing fee,” says Stephen Schondelmeyer, director of the University of Minnesota’s Pharmaceutical Research in Management and Economics Institute.

* Shop for the best prices, phoning both local and mail-order pharmacies. Prices can range widely.

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This weekly health roundup, compiled from staff and wire-service reports, appears in View on Tuesdays.