DETROIT – Three cases of patients suffering from the adverse affects of steroid-enriched dietary supplements have been reported by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.
The cases, which include patients with liver injury and renal failure, are discussed in the current issue of The Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology .
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week issued a warning regarding the use of over-the-counter body-building supplements that are illegally enriched with anabolic steroids.
"To date, reports of any deleterious health consequences of purportedly low doses of steroids in dietary supplements are scant but our published cases highlight the potential health consequences of using these supplements, with unwitting subjects becoming the victims," says lead author Stuart C. Gordon, M.D., Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Henry Ford Hospital.
The cases of three otherwise healthy adult males, ages 21 to 38, were reported with symptoms including nausea, anorexia, jaundice, severe itching and renal failure.
The three cases outlined in the article now bring the total of cases reported in the last year to six.
"Anabolic steroids have long been known to cause liver damage, but what is not widely known is that over-the-counter health food supplements may actually contain these compounds," says Dr. Gordon. "The buyer of these compounds likely has no idea that he is ingesting these agents, even after reading the small print on the label."
Stuart C. Gordon, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Henry Ford Hospital, is available for interviews.
Prolonged intrahepatic cholestasis and renal failure secondary to anabolic androgenic steroid-enriched dietary supplements. Krishnan PV, Feng ZZ, Gordon SC. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2009 Aug;43(7):672-5.
Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology