Before and immediately after the 10-week trial, the subjects were put through a series of measurements and tests. These included anaerobic testing. For anaerobic training or testing to take place, exercise must be of high intensity and performed to near exhaustion.
In the trial, Broeder says the athletes were exercised to the point of collapse. Most of them vomited with the stress.
"We use athletes as 'lab rats'. They go from low level to high level activity in a short period. We then compare what happens to their physiology."
By the end of the trial the trunk to limb fat ratio in the DAV group had reduced from 104.7 to 101.0. There was no measured effect on weight or body mass indices.
"The significance of this," Broeder says, "lies in the influence of fat deposition patterns on the risk of heart disease. Increased fat around the trunk is a major cardiovascular risk factor."
More good news on the heart front for the DAV group was a significant decline in LDL cholesterol concentrations of 12.2 per cent.
"As a result, the LDL/HDL (good/bad cholesterol) ratio also declined 8.4 per cent, which would reduce that group's cardiovascular disease risk profile," says Broeder.
There were no negative effects observed in either group for the liver and kidney function enzyme markers.
He also points out that unpublished Russian experiments have shown that injections of DAV extract are effective in lowering blood pressure. Summarising these, Broeder says 20 treatments reduced the diastolic to systolic ratio from 110:192 to 98:164.
He says own findings in this area are also very promising, but did not release them in Queenstown.
"It defies logic to get such dramatic cardiovascular results in weight lifters - athletes who are already fit - so we need to do more work to confirm them. I would like to see it used by elderly people undergoing endurance training," Broeder says.
"If I focus on blood pressure, on lowering pressure with no negative effect on liver enzymes, I would be likely to get funding from the US National Institute of Health and the natural health sector."
On the athletic performance side, Broeder says velvet has a great potential as a supplement. He says supplements in high performance sport are essential.
"In activities like the Tour de France the athletes perform at a level where they are expending calories at a faster rate than they can replace them."
Partially because of this, a market has grown for supplements and sports drinks, many of which have been promoted without any real scientific evidence of their benefit. There has also been the widely-publicised abuse of anabolic steroids to build muscle mass.
With this history, it is essential for the deer industry to back its claims with sound research. Broeder says his study was a step in the right direction.
Its main purpose was to investigate the effects of DAV on body composition, maximal strength, maximal power output, and maximal aerobic power before and after 10 weeks of resistance training in men.
Throughout the trial, the athletes were in a free-living environment, but they had to continue to exercise and to take their capsules.
When tested at the end of the trial, the group taking DAV showed a significant improvement in bench press (4.2 per cent) and squat exercise (9.9 percent) performance. The placebo group showed no change.
The peak power of the DAV group reduced only 0.5 per cent during the anaerobic trials, compared with a 3.2 per cent reduction in the placebos. Their average power reduced by 2.1 per cent compared with 5 per cent. They were also about 60 percent quicker in reaching peak power.
A particularly interesting result was the effect of DAV on aerobic capacity. In absolute terms and relative to body weight it increased significantly - by 9.8 percent and 9.4 per cent respectively. There was no change in the placebo group.
Additionally, during a maximal treadmill test, most subjects in the DAV group had a reduced heart response of 5-8 beats per minute.
Other benefits of DAV supplementation were reduced muscle damage and a dramatic improvement in the rate of repair of any muscle damage that did occur. Muscle damage is measured by blood levels of creatine kinase (CK).
CK is an enzyme found in cells which helps them source energy during exercise.
During anaerobic exercise, some muscle cells break open and their contents find their way into the bloodstream. A rise in CK levels in the blood indicates that muscle damage has occurred, or is occurring.
In the DAV group, CK levels were 25 per cent lower than the baseline, compared with 11 per cent with the placebos. Two days later, CK levels in the DAV group were 45 per cent below the baseline.
Broeder says all these results are very significant differences, especially for athletes who were already extremely fit and training at a high level.
"About a half of the athletes who were in the trial are now taking velvet regularly. It was a double-blind trial, but the ones taking DAV knew within two or three weeks that they were taking something really different."
Further analysis of trial data may show more significant results - including some which indicate that DAV may have a potential in the prevention of osteoporosis.
"The placebo group appeared to lose bone density during the study, which indicates they were over-training. I need to check the data, because this normally occurs over 12 months, but repeated anaerobic training is very damaging to the body.
"If I can show that the DAV group maintained bone density, while levels fell in the placebo group, there will be potential for sourcing research funding in this area."
Sourcing further funding outside the deer industry for research is important. because of the high cost of trials and the finite capacity of levy funding.
Also, Broeder's trials will be seen by many as a pilot study. Of the original 32 subjects, only 18 completed all aspects of the study properly. Fortunately they were evenly split between the placebo and DAV groups.
Drop-outs are a reality of trials involving humans, especially trials as strenuous and exacting as this. Also, there were those who had to be removed for not following trial protocols correctly.
In the future, Breeder would like to see more studies along the lines of his initial research. These would need to include trained and untrained men and women.
More heart rate and blood pressure research is also needed, including a study of blood pressure responses to DAV supplementation on "sedentary moderately hypertensive individuals", in other words, middle-aged couch potatoes.
If middle-aged people could remove the fat from their waists and reduce their blood pressure simply by taking DAV, the deer industry will be onto a winner.
When it comes to marketing velvet, Broeder says the industry will be greatly aided by having a standardised product.
"In the supplements market most products are sold without any guarantee of activity. The Velvet Activity Index developed by Invermay will be very helpful for those wanting to use velvet."
He also says new opportunities are emerging in the United Stales and baby boomers age and attitudes change.
"There has been a big change in a short time in the acceptance of preventative medicine and anti-ageing medicine. The Life Extension Foundation produces a magazine which is heavily pro-supplement - an article or two in there about velvet could have a huge influence."
Caution: The cardiovascular results referred to above should not be interpreted as a recommendation for the use of velvet as a medicine to lower blood pressure. Much more research is needed in this area to establish the safety and efficacy of velvet in this context.
