Great Chase Turns Into Great Debate

No one knows Mark McGwire’s body better than Jay McGwire, his 28-year-old younger brother and a physical trainer who works at a fitness facility in Chino Hills.

The McGwires, often mistaken for twins, lived together in Northern California while Mark recovered from the heel and lower back injuries that sidelined him for virtually the entire 1993 and ’94 seasons, and it was Jay, into bodybuilding since high school, who helped redesign the supplement-aided weightlifting program that helped his brother return bigger and better than ever.

That program also has become a subject of debate in the last week as the St. Louis Cardinal first baseman wages a riveting home run duel with Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and closes in on Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers.

The debate stems from McGwire’s recent confirmation that he uses androstenedione, thought to be a naturally occurring testosterone booster that is sold over the counter as a dietary supplement.

It is legal in baseball but banned by the NFL, NCAA and International Olympic Committee.

All consider it to have steroid qualities, putting it in the class of performance-enhancing and potentially dangerous anabolic steroids, which have been linked to coronary disease, cancer, liver dysfunction and severe mood and mental disorders.

What it is and what it isn’t is as much a part of the debate as McGwire’s open use of it. For instance, Michael Mellman, the Dodgers’ team doctor, said he doesn’t recommend androstenedione or anything like it.

“If I don’t know that it will help and I can’t assure it won’t hurt, then I’m not going to recommend that a player use it,” he said.

“It comes out of a poorly regulated industry in which there is no required testing for safety and efficacy.”

Said a high ranking baseball official: “I’ve been on the phone to medical people for the better part of the last two days. One says we have a problem [by not banning androstenedione and similar substances] and the next says we don’t. We certainly didn’t need this at this time, but at the least we’re going to take a harder look at it in conjunction with the players union, and that machinery is being put in place now.”

McGwire has used androstenedione for more than a year, and several other protein and amino acid-type supplements, including creatine, for four years. Jay McGwire, who said he has used similar supplements since he was in high school without any physical ramifications, put his brother on the program during the injury-marred 1993 and ’94 seasons.

In no way, the younger McGwire said, does androstenedione directly enhance McGwire’s performance on the field.

In no way, he said, is he cheating.

“It has nothing to do with his swing,” Jay McGwire said. “The only thing he gets out of it is enhanced tissue recovery. Weightlifting tears down tissue. This allows him to recover more quickly. It allows him to work out six times a week instead of four.

“Mark had lifted before he got hurt [in ‘93], but not correctly. We put him on a program strengthening his legs and abs, not just his upper body. We worked at increasing his flexibility. He’s bigger and quicker now. He has phenomenal bat speed, range of motion.”

If there are some attempting to discredit his three consecutive seasons of 50 or more home runs as a product of testosterone and performance-enhancers, how do they explain the 49 homers he hit as a rookie or the 39 in 1990 or the 42 in 1992? McGwire was already averaging 36 homers a year before injuring his heel in 1993.

“This should be the greatest time in his life,” Jay McGwire said. “So many people come up to me every day to say that he’s creating so much joy and excitement for them. But then there’s these other people who just want to bring him down.

“I mean, Mark takes so much pride in his body and is so worried about what people think of him that he would never do anything to damage his health or image. The key to anything is moderation, but that’s not to say he’s taking steroids because he isn’t.

“I don’t know why the NFL and IOC have banned these products. We’re fortunate to be in a time when we know so much more about nutrition and have these supplements available to help us achieve our goals.”

Brotherly love is understandable, but Dr. Gary Wadler, a supplement authority and associate professor of medicine at NYU, was reached at his Long Island office and said it would be foolish to “delude anyone that this is an innocuous substance.”

“As a hormonal-related testosterone precursor it carries all the components of an anabolic steroid,” he said. “An anabolic steroid, used in conjunction with a strength program, can definitely enhance performance where strength is important but carries serious health risks.”

He added that the disturbing aspect is that McGwire and others have basically authored a contract with the devil by tempting all the “wannabes” to use these supplements and he bemoaned the absence of government regulation in a $6-billion industry climbing toward $12 billion.

“The government considers testosterone a controlled substance and requires a triplicate prescription to acquire it, but here you have an over-the-counter product that turns into a controlled substance [by elevating testosterone levels],” Wadler said. “That’s schizophrenic. It’s just so dangerous to allow these precursors to be sold over the counter without having to prove the safety and efficacy.”

Androstenedione was a favorite of the former East German sports machine. It was used in a more potent nasal spray then. Now it is taken orally. The positive test it can produce is difficult to differentiate from the banned steroids, a significant reason that it too, is banned by the IOC and others as a related substance.

Patrick Arnold helped introduce and market the capsule form as president of Seymour Bio-Organics of Seymour, Ill. He said in reasonable dosages it creates a very “transitory and mild testosterone increase of about 30% on average for two or three hours” and is virtually impossible to abuse because of the body’s own fail-safe system.

“It doesn’t build muscle over the long term, but can it increase concentration and strength in a given performance? It’s never been proven, but that’s what we hope,” Arnold said.

“It’s a very safe way of performance enhancement. I mean, let’s face it. Drinking a cup of coffee can enhance performance, and I would say this is just as safe.”

So, apparently, would the brothers McGwire.

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Androstenedione at a Glance

* 1. What is androstenedione?

Androstenedione (an-dro-STEEN-die-own) is a muscle-building substance, equivalent to a steroid, found in animals as well as some plants. It is a “building block” or precursor to testosterone.

* 2. What is it supposed to do?

When taken orally, your body breaks down androstenedione into testosterone. The increased blood testosterone levels result in effects such as increased energy, enhanced recovery and growth from exercise.

* 3. How much does this increase testosterone levels?

According to the German patent for androstenedione, 50 milligrams given orally to men raised plasma testosterone levels from 140% to 183% and 100 milligrams raised levels from 211% to 237%.

* 4. How long do the testosterone increases last?

Blood levels start rising about 15 minutes after you take androstenedione and stay elevated for around 3 hours.

* 5. Is androstenedione legal?

Androstenedione is legal for sale as a nutritional supplement. It is legal in baseball, but it is banned by the NFL, NCAA and International Olympic Committee.

* 6. Is it safe?

The negative side effects are unknown because no major studies of androstenedione have been done.

Source: Los Angeles Times research