Science: Fatigue Fighter

High altitude fliers and factory workers also have their uses as guinea pigs. After long study of fatigue in factory and flight, Drs. Hudson Hoagland and Gregory Pincus of the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology last week reported in Science that a hormone-like substance called pregnenolone greatly increases human stamina, not only in the air but at ground level. Unlike most artificial stimulants, pregnenolone apparently has no harmful after effects.

Under the stress of tiring work or a shortage of oxygen, the cortex (outer layer) of the kidneys’ adrenal glands secretes unusual amounts of certain hormones known as 17-ketosteroids (containing one oxygen and 17 carbon atoms). They are discharged in the urine. The investigators discovered that the output of ketosteroids (and of urine) rose in direct proportion to fatigue and loss of efficiency. There was wide variation among individuals; those with the greatest stamina showed the smallest secretion of ketosteroids.

Drs. Hoagland & Pincus thought that fatigue might be reduced by feeding men a steroid substance to counteract their losses. They found that pregnenolone, a synthetic steroid, seemed to do the trick. They have not determined just how it works, but when 50 milligrams of pregnenolone were given per day, efficiency and stamina generally improved.