The team also looked at the effect of testosterone on the volunteers’ mood, personality and immune system. Those conducting the tests did not know who was receiving testosterone and who was on the placebo. Weatherby measured the men’s muscle size and performance at the beginning of the trial, and after three and six weeks. The controversial trial, produced by New Scientist, the UK’s Channel 4 and production company Mentorn for a television show broadcast in Australia, Canada, France and the UK this week, was approved by the ethics committee of Southern Cross University. Nine were given weekly shots of testosterone enanthate at a dose of 3.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight for six weeks (equivalent to roughly half the dose of the 1996 trial), and nine were given a placebo.
In the latest study, Weatherby monitored the performance of 18 male amateur athletes over a six-week training regime. No one has ever looked at testosterone’s effects over shorter periods. The only other comparable study, in 2001, looked at the effects of different doses, but the volunteers were only tested after 20 weeks. Performance tests done at the end of this period showed the hormone had improved muscle size and strength in those doing strength training, and to a lesser extent in those who did not exercise. Volunteers were given weekly injections of either 600 milligrams of testosterone enanthate or a placebo for 10 weeks (bodybuilders usually take much larger doses). The first rigorous study of the performance-enhancing effects of testosterone in young men was not carried out until 1996.
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