Body-builders may be unwittingly taking the anti-cancer drug tamoxifen in a popular supplement used by participants in their sport, it was revealed today.
Researchers have found traces of the drug in a dietary supplement called Esto Suppress, according to a report in the British Medical Journal.
Tamoxifen has been used illicitly by body-builders for at least 30 years to try to prevent breast growth following the use of anabolic steroids.
But the latest study suggests it has also been "legally" available through dietary supplements.
Researchers tested four samples of Esto Suppress and found tamoxifen in three of them at different concentrations.
Researcher Simon Brandt, of Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK, says it is part of a growing trend for natural supplements aimed at people seeking to improve fitness or their love lives to contain real drugs.
He said healthcare professionals should take care to ask patients about their use of supplements.
He said most users would "be unaware that they are taking these substances."
BMJ 14 February 2014 [abstract]
Leave a Reply