Home Talk Live Lori Contests Nutrition Homegrown Training Galleries Muscle Scoop Die Welt About Us		more Q&A >     Questions & Answers Case #1 "Need to Burn Off The Fat" 11.16.02 Dr. David, I am a 54 year old female who is starting a bodybuilding routine. I am currently attending physical therapy for arthroscopy surgery and going to the gym 3x a week. I am losing weight as I workout but because of the fat I can't see the full benefits of my work. I have seen and heard about fat burners to help with fat loss. I should also assure you that I am working with a dietitian and making changes in my diet. I would like to know if there are supplements that are safe for women. If these supplements do exist at what dosage should they be taken. Thanks for any help you can give me. Dear 54, What is your height and weight now? Also, do you have any other medical problems? Like smoking? Heart disease? High blood pressure? diabetes? Loss of bone density? Yours, Dr. Dave CASE #2 "The Case of the Buff Baby" Dear Dr. Dave, No one will touch this, maybe you can help. This is only for my own information. What effects do anabolic steroids, specifically Primobolan Depot, have on the effectiveness of birth control pills? There is no literature out there that has been of any assistance. Thank you for your time. Ms. A Dear Ms. A, This has probably never been researched. Very few patients use anabolic steroids legally or to improve their health or to treat an illness. So, for example, it would be difficult to get a 1000 females to study for 20 years. As a guess, i would imagine anabolic steroids reduce the chance of viable pregnancy. what dose of steroid are we talking about? For how many years? Dr. Ores Dear Dr. Dave, Thank you so much for your reply. The dosage and duration in question is small. 100 mg per week for 6-8 weeks for a 125 lb. female. There was one bit of information found from Schering in regard to oral primobolan. It was very vauge however stating that there was a small risk of virilization of the fetus. It was not clear if this simply meant if taken during a pregnancy. Obviously one would not want to conceive while taking any such substances. That being said and pregnancy wanting to be avoided, when taken into consideration that this anabolic steroid influences hormonal levels (testosterone), does it reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills in that they influence estrogen levels? I realize that with no studies having been done any answer is simply an educated assumption. I know your time is valuable. Thank you so much for any help. Ms. A Dear Ms. A, I am not aware of any studies which may answer your question. I would try to contact a few ob-gyn doctors? maybe ob-gyn doctors who take care of professional weight lifters? I would imagine that anabolic steroids would be contra ­ indicated during pregnancy. I can¹t think of any sensible, sane reason to intentionally expose a fetus to anabolic steroids. How about not using these steroids while you are trying to become pregnant.until you have delivered you healthy new baby? There are some research projects it¹s best to not participate in. Yours in Health, Dr. Ores       Dr. Ores is a General Practitioner who practices medicine on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City and is also the host of "Medically Incorrect with David J. Ores, MD" on Monday nights (10pm) on the Time Warner Cable Network in Manhattan/MNN channel. Please feel free to e-mail him any questions you might have about health, fitness, wellness or the health sciences in general to david.ores@verizon.net. Thank you and good health! To go to his site click here .   Selected questions and answers from "Ask Dr. Dave" may be posted here by femalemuscle.com without last names or email addresses. Please include your first name, place of residence, height and weight.     more Q&A >