From USA Today (August 11, 1999)

Nandrolone, once the steroid of choice, appears popular again, based on a rash of recent positives. Don Catlin, head of the Olympic testing lab at UCLA, believes he knows why: the prevalence of nandrolone or related compounds in products. "I'd stake my life on it," he says. "Several of these over-the-counter steroids, as I call them, are straight away metabolites of nandrolone."

Nandrolone builds muscle, but is easier on the liver than other steroids. Athletes might not realize substances they're taking contain nandrolone or its relatives. Unlike the nandrolone taken in the '70s and '80s that was injectable and could stay in the system for weeks, the new version is taken orally and can be out of the system "in a day or two," according to Catlin.

Nandrolone was rendered obsolete in the late '80s by improved testing and a move to unannounced, out-of-competition testing. Some athletes have tried to beat the tests by referring to French reports that nandrolone occurs naturally. "The amount is very, very small," Catlin says.

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