416 Testosterone
compound without medical supervision can be particularly risky for adoles-
cents, as testosterone can first make a young person taller but then prema-
turely halt further bone growth, thereby preventing attainment of normal
adult height. Still another bad consequence of an athlete’s illicit usage of tes-
tosterone may occur if sports regulatory authorities discover that an athlete is
using it; the drug is banned from competitions.
Drug interactions.An experiment found that eating licorice reduces testos-
terone levels in men, enough that the candy may contribute to problems of
male sexual function. Adolescent hamsters that drinkalcoholshow elevated
testosterone levels, and a human study showed high levels among some al-
coholics. Testosterone impairs blood clotting, which may dangerously boost
actions from medicines given to reduce blood clots.
Cancer.Although testosterone is a naturally occurring substance in mam-
mals, additional doses of testosterone have caused cancer of the breast, uterus,
and cervix in mice and are suspected of promoting liver cancer in mice and
rats. An experiment using both testosterone and estrogen produced cancer in
hamsters. Testosterone is not proven to produce cancer in humans but is under
suspicion. The drug may help bring about human prostate cancer but is not
necessarily a direct cause. A case of kidney cancer has been ascribed to lengthy
dosage, and in other case reports, testosterone was suspected of causing liver
cancer. Paradoxically the drug has been used to help treat cancer.
Pregnancy.In animal tests the drug has caused pregnancy failure and has
masculinized female offspring. Human fetal harm is a suspected consequence
if pregnant women take doses of testosterone. A case report said that using
the drug during pregnancy caused ambiguous gender appearance in a child,
an appearance so ambiguous that the child was misidentified as male for
several years even though she was female (as demonstrated by assorted med-
ical tests and by the fact that as an adult she gave birth to a child). Testosterone
has been investigated as a potential drug for stopping a woman’s milk pro-
duction. Regarding pregnancy and nursing, one manufacturer of the drug
bluntly states that the product “must not be used in women.”
Additional information.In addition to testosterone itself other pharma-
ceutical varieties (called “esters”) are testosterone cypionate, testosterone
decanoate, testosterone enanthate, testosterone isocaproate, testosterone pro-
pionate, and testosterone undecanoate. These are used for the same purposes
that testosterone is used, and they basically have the same effects.
Additional scientific information may be found in:Dabbs, J.M., and M.F. Hargrove. “Age, Testosterone, and Behavior among Female
Prison Inmates.”Psychosomatic Medicine59 (1997): 477–80.
Freeman, E.R., D.A. Bloom, and E.J. McGuire. “A Brief History of Testosterone.”Journal
of Urology165 (2001): 371–73.
Gambineri, A., and R. Pasquali. “Testosterone Therapy in Men: Clinical and Pharma-
cological Perspectives.”Journal of Endocrinological Investigation23 (2000): 196–214.
Giorgi, A., R.P. Weatherby, and P.W. Murphy. “Muscular Strength, Body Composition
and Health Responses to the Use of Testosterone Enanthate: A Double Blind
Study.”Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport2 (1999): 341–55.