Sex steroid and growth hormone supplementation to enhance performance in adolescent athletes.

Abstract

Ergogenic aids are taken to enhance energy utilization by producing more, controlling its use, or increasing mechanical efficiency. Most athletes are looking toward enhancing performance by proper training modalities and methods; however, some look to the biochemical route for a "quick fix." Thus, the use of chemical agents is on the rise. Herein is provided information on the anabolic-androgenic agents androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, and the "parent" compound, testosterone. The former two, at best, have equivocal activity, but testosterone is both anabolic and androgenic in doses that adolescents might receive. Growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 are anabolic, nonandrogenic compounds with undoubted effects on the lean body mass compartment. Both are expensive, not readily available, and subject to the art of counterfeiting. Thus, very few data are available in non-growth hormone-deficient adolescents. The discussion of these agents ends with issues of fairness, ethics, and the message we attempt to project to our teenagers, whether athletes or not.