U.S. health regulators are warning consumers to stay away from any body building supplement that claims to contain steroid-like ingredients. According to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA although products containing synthetic steroids are frequently marketed as dietary supplements, they are in reality unapproved new drugs that have not been reviewed by the FDA for safety and effectiveness.

Such body  body building products have been linked to a variety of adverse events,  including liver damage, stroke, kidney failure and pulmonary embolism (artery blockage in the lung). The FDA is advising consumers to stop taking body building products from any manufacturer that claim to contain steroid-like substances or to enhance or diminish androgen-, estrogen-, or progestin-like effects in the body.

Consumers should consult their health care professional if they are experiencing symptoms possibly associated with these products, particularly nausea, weakness or fatigue, fever, abdominal pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes) or brown/discolored urine.  The FDA also recommends that consumers talk with their health care professional about any body building supplements they are taking or planning to take, particularly if they are uncertain about a product’s ingredients.

In addition to yesterday’s warning, the FDA said it also sent a Warning Letter to  American Cellular Laboratories, which sells body building products under the names “TREN-Xtreme,” “MASS Xtreme,” “ESTRO Xtreme,” “AH-89-Xtreme,” “HMG Xtreme,” “MMA-3 Xtreme,” “VNS-9 Xtreme,” and “TT-40-Xtreme”.  The FDA has received five adverse event reports, including serious liver injury, in men taking products marketed as dietary supplements by American Cellular Laboratories including TREN-Xtreme and MASS Xtreme.  Acute liver injury is generally known to be a possible side effect of using products that contain anabolic steroids. Some of the cases resulted in hospitalization, but there were no reports of death or acute liver failure.

According to the FDA, the products named in  Warning Letter sent to American Cellular Laboratories are purported to contain steroid-like ingredients, but in fact contain synthetic steroids.