Week in Week out Steroids documentary

This documentary was filmed in 121 Gym in South Wales the boy in the documentary, Chris passed away soon after filming the documentary on 28.04.07. This doumentary takes a a real unbiased study of anabolic steroids and the influence it has on the body.

watch this 2 part documentary and see how Chris struggles to maintain his body- was he right in taking them ? was it justified?

post your comments and tell us what you think.  

(sorry the final video cuts before the credits- but the overall conclusion is there)

Debating whether or not PED’s should be introduced into professional sports

the forum held a debate on the whether or not PED's should be allowed in professional sports

On January 15^th Intelligence squared hosted a debate on the issues surrounding performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. Reason Senior Editor Radley Balko was one of the many participants in the New York debate- here is the YouTube page for videos of all the presentations, rebuttals and Q&A with the audience.

Check it out if you’re interested,

Intelligence squared debate

Fighting FORE the motion-

Radley Balko

Norman Fost

Julian Savulescu

AGAINST the motion

George Michael

Dale Murphy

Richard Hound

Major Leaguer Ramirez banned from 50 games

Ramirez has been banned after being found using PEDs

Major league Baseball seems to be hitting new lows after new allegations rise about players polluting the game with illegal performance enhancing drugs.

Manny Ramirez of the Los Angeles Dodgers has become the biggest star to be suspended for violating baseball’s drug policy, accepting a 50 game punishment last Thursday after dropping his plans to appeal.

Ramirez, 36, who former Dodgers manager and hall of famer Tom Lasorda called the teams most popular player since it moved to Los Angeles in 1958, will leave the game on the eve of New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez’s return. Rodriguez had never been suspended from a game until earlier this year when he acknowledged he used PED’s from 2000 to 2003.

His return coincides with the release of a book that speculates Rodriguez used anabolic steroids for longer then he claims.

(A review of this book will be posted on the site as soon as possible).

New undiscoverd techniques to detect unknown PED’s

Cheating athletes may soon be caught out

According to recent findings in Drug Testing and Analysis journals, athletes using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) are heading for a big surprise as German researchers are currently developing tests for a class of drugs that are not yet available, but could be used in the future. Until recently, researchers could only detect drugs already on the market.  

Because of this breakthrough, it has now become easier to catch athletes using illegal substances to improve their performance. During the last Olympic events in Beijing, six athletes were caught using drugs, whilst three suspects were identified after the games.

According to reports some sources have argued that many athletes using PEDs have managed to remain undetected when standard tests were applied. Many have speculated that a number of athletes could have been using drugs that effectively enhance performance in animals, but remain untested on humans. Because these drugs are in such an early stage development, it is very hard for sports officials to detect them.

However, thanks to the help of our trusty German researchers, officials will soon be able to screen a number of emerging drugs, as well as many other not yet available on the market.

The test detects a core chemical structure belonging to ‘benzothiazepines’, a class of compounds that stabilise protein channels and obstruct calcium leaking from muscle cells during strenuous exercise. Scientists agree that calcium aids muscle contraction. It calcium leak, the contractions become weaker, thus triggering muscle fatigue.
‘As soon as these drugs enter human clinical trials, there is a huge potential for them to be missed in sports,’ explained Dr Mario Thevis, head of the Center for Preventive Doping Research at the German Sport University of Cologne, Germany. ‘This preventive research lets us prepare before these compounds are officially launched.’

Researchers have reported that because the compounds are simple in nature, their production and black market trade as performance enhancers are pretty much clear-cut.

Dr Thevis added that this research characterised the compounds based on their weight and molecular structure, effectively giving the team a molecular ‘fingerprint’ for identifying the compounds.

By using high-resolution mass spectrometry, it was demonstrated that the benzothiazepines JTV-519 and S-107 could be detected in spiked urine at concentrations as low as 0.1 nanograms per milliliter.

‘We used the common approaches that are employed for detecting anabolic agents,’ Dr Thevis said. ‘Our work showed that we could identify the right compounds and that we have a sensitive test.’

The next step, according to the researchers, is to look for the molecules that emerge from the metabolic breakdown of the compounds once they have entered the human body. The answers will give the researchers a greater understanding of the compounds to be used when screening the samples of athletes.

It should be noted that only when a green light has been given for clinical trials can the compounds be given to humans. Until that day comes, the researchers will have to rely on bench studies using human microsomes, which are tiny vesicles that mimic cell metabolism.

Celebrities and Drugs

A Knight’s Tale

The recent demise of Heath Ledger has created a huge stur across the world; not because death by drugs is an uncommon concept in Hollywood, but because Ledger was an aspiring young actor- who unfortunatly experienced his first and last encounter with drugs before his sudden death.

A spokesperson for the medical examiner has reported none of the following were taken in excess – two sleep medications, two anti-anxiety drugs and two narcotic painkillers. Despite this report, the ME ruled this accidental death as a result “of abuse of prescription medications.” Sadly, Ledger is only the latest celebrity to die after mixing prescription meds.

 But experts from addiction specialists to pathologists point out that prescription abuse is not just narrowed down to celebrities: In fact, after the report was released many people admitted to having some or all of those drugs in their medicine cabinets, left over from previous prescriptions.

 Concern for prescription drug abuse has led the drug control policy agency to participate in a $30 million ad campaign to raise awareness about the problem. The launch was delayed in light of Ledger’s death (the White House didn’t want to appear to “opportunistic,” according to spokeswoman Dana Perino), but if you watched the Super Bowl, you may have seen the commercial showing a drug dealer complaining that he can’t compete with kids getting their drugs for free out of their parents’ medicine cabinets. Many, including Ledger’s parents, hope that lessons will be learned from this tragedy. In a statement, the family said, “Heath’s accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage.”

 Were you surprised that too many prescription drugs led to Health Ledger’s death? Were you aware of the risks of combining multiple prescription drugs?-
in saying all this I’m not saying avoid all medical help, but abuse of prescription drugs can be lethal.  

 Many people may not realize that mixed together, sleep aids, anti-anxiety drugs, anti-depressants and narcotic painkillers can be deadly. In Ledger’s case, the combination of drugs probably caused his central nervous system to slow down so much that his heart stopped beating and lungs stopped. It’s unlikely that any doctor would prescribe all six of these drugs to the same patient, but nowadays it’s not difficult to obtain prescriptions from several different doctors. Unless you tell your doctor what other drugs you’re taking, it’s difficult for him or her to anticipate potential complications.

 Some use prescription drugs to get high because they are so widely available, and much easier to get than illegal class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Aside from this, many parents may not know that among teens, prescription drug abuse ranks ahead of all illegal drugs except for marijuana according to a report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy released two days after Ledger’s death. The agency noted that, “Teens are abusing prescription drugs because many believe the myth that these drugs provide a ‘safe’ high.” That may be a common misconception among the young and the old. Even though a drug may be prescribed by a physician, taking it in the wrong way or in excess can be fatal.

Why Would Pop Stars use Steroids?

stars who use PEDs to improve their image

 Doctors are claiming some entertainers believe steroids or human growth hormones have anti-ageing benefits.

The music industry- in its own right is definitely a competitive sport- take 50 cent for example- the g- unit star has taken his brash lyrics and used them against his opposition, targeting the likes of Ja Rule and the Game. But maybe harsh lyrics are just not enough- So how do the stars stay at the top of their game?

Well the answer apparently lies in rejuvenation. According to Albany Times Union, Florida Doctor Gary Bandwein allegedly shipped the goods to 50, Blige and company; steroids or HGH would be shipped for the artists to Long Island chiropractor Michael Diamond, who holds residency at New York gym Clay. Michael Diamond- who had not been charged under any accounts- coincidently is an instructor of anti-aging and longevity medicine at the Manhattan fitness centre. According to the article, experts believe that more entertainers are turning to “the unproven anti-aging effects of steroids.”  

However, to gain the upper hand against his opponents, its hard to think that 50 cent would turn to steroids as a New York newspaper article claimed through sources on Monday. So why would artists like 50 cent, Mary. J. Blige, Timbaland, Wyclef Jean and playwright director Tyler Perry (according to reports) decide to use steroids or human growth hormone? 

Why you ask? According to Dr Thomas Barnes, a Newport Cosmetic surgeon with more than 10 years of experience in the field, HGH, though controversial in some circles, has its benefits. Barnes said when people pass age 30- especially entertainers- life begins to take its toll on people’s complexions. According to Dr Barnes, HGH specifically brings levels of testosterone back up- benefits can include thickening of the hair and skin and “a luster again in the eyes and basically helping the body look more vigorous.”  

Dr. Thomas Perl, a professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, begs to differ. Perl is the founder of www.AntiAgingQuackery.com a site launched in 2005 to oppose the rhetoric of steroids and HGH’s benefits. In rare instances, he explained, administering HGH makes sense; he listed short bowel syndrome and growth-hormone deficiency as those exceptions. Overall, however, he calls steroids and HGH cheap gimmicks, fraught with misleading information and too easily available online.   “The irony is that animal studies show growth hormones actually decrease life span, they doesn’t increase life span,” he said. “It’s all marketing. It’s all a sale.”  

“It is a drug, and it really should be administered by someone who is licensed personnel,” Dr. Barnes said. “It’s easy for a trainer to give it, but when problems start, that’s when the finger-pointing starts.”  

 “Hormones are the darling of the anti-aging industry, because people generally equate the word with youth,” Dr. Perl insisted. “And they think, ‘Take a hormone. Oh, it makes me young again.’  

John Battaglia, an image consultant/ life coach who runs the Rockstar in You and has worked with Justin Timberlake and Usher, said the obsession with youthful images can sometimes counter an artist’s primary goal: a long-term career. “The music business is a young person’s business, so there’s certainly a premium on appearing young or appearing younger,” he told MTV News. “So certainly people really can do a lot of different things — sometimes going to very extreme measures in their appearance — to be able to give a youthful image.”

The American Dream?

This exposé is a shocking realisation of just how popular and important performance enhancing steroids are on the young athletic teens of America.

The Olympic drug store is open…..

Fastest, strongest, fittest: the Olympic ideal remains undimmed. But what if that ideal was available for purchase from an East European clinic in the form of a bodybuilding drug that leaves no trace?

Well according to Warren Pole of the Daily Mail the possibility has already become a reality. How? Through prescription Health Hormones. In this article, Pole discusses his experience in Russia, and explains just how easy it is to attain them- from his first encounter with Dunca and the girls to Dr Miclea at the Royal Fit clinic of Bucharest.

Whilst here in the UK, this drug can only be attainted through prescription ( and only under severe circumstances), in Russia it seems it’s just as easy to obtain as it is to obtain paracetamol from your local chemist.  

Most users love it for its anti-ageing effects: as we get older, we produce less HGH. However, studies have shown that boosting falling levels in adults can have incredible effects. Body fat is burned, lean muscle mass is increased and energy levels and libido are raised. These discoveries are fast making rhGH the ultimate remedy to that most insidious and incurable of afflictions – old age.

So how has it not been mentioned or discovered in professional sport?

It’s everywhere in professional sport,” says Dunca, “Because there’s no danger of being caught.” Indeed, the fact is that not only does GH build strength and speed, it does so invisibly, no doping test can reliably detect its use.  

A two-day course of treatment costs £7,850, which includes extensive tests and a six-month supply to be injected daily. So is it worth the risk?  According to Dr Miclea, side effects usually only occur when taking large doses, such as swollen ankles, sore wrists and numb hands.

The use of rhGH is becoming far more widespread now,” says Professor Peter Sonksen, one of the world’s leading authorities on growth hormone.

 “In America, the market for it is already massive and is growing at a phenomenal rate. Athletes are certainly using it, knowing that 24 hours after they last injected they can submit themselves to a test and it will be negative. The evidence is that abuse is widespread in sport and has been for a very long time.”

“In Sweden, there were even cases where mothers sold growth hormone they’d been given for their children to athletes.”Pole only truly discovered the extent of drug use in professional sport whilst judging a body building contest in Las Vegas- there drug use was the norm as the human body simply cannot reach the freaky size of body buildings top players- unless serious chemicals are used alongside equally serious training.  

But, in bodybuilding, drug use is accepted. It’s not condoned but it’s not tested for either. When the benefits of injecting growth hormone began surfacing, bodybuilding picked up the needle before anyone else.

According to reports, six months before the Sydney Olympics in 2000, a pharmaceutical wholesaler in the city was raided. The only thing stolen? Human growth hormone.

Estimates put the amount taken was enough to dope an entire country’s team for six months. So with all this taken in to account, can drugs really be eradicated from professional sport, when most still cannot be detected by the official drug tests? It is unfortunate to think that there are sportsmen/women out there who are using undetected performance enhancing drugs, and getting away with. It is a dishonor to professional sports, and to all those athletes’ who genuinely put in the effort and steer clear of such supplements (although they maybe few and far between).

My question- why bother campaign against the effects of drugs abuse, when it’s already so glamorised in professional sport? It seems to be a contradiction in its self. I just hope by 2012 Olympics, this ‘Olympic drug store’ does not enter Britain along with the rest of out East European competitors.

A satirical look at the use of steroids with Vera De Milo!

 

Ok so you are probably wondering how a clip of Jim Carey in 2 piece got a place in this blog.  Even though the clip is just a comedy sketch, I thought it did point out a few good points. Usually when people start taking steroids they never consider the severe long term-effects of steroid abuse. This is usually because the short term effects tend to be easily treatable, like acne. So it is highly unlikely that kids will be concerned about having a heart attack in the future when they see ‘positive’ changes in their physique only a week after taking steroids. Sadly I’m sure many kids have already adopted Vera’s mantra of ‘live fast die young and pretty’. 

So i ask you, does this clip prove that drugs are not taken seriously enough? or does it prove that people are (in particular children) unaware of the repercussions of drug abuse?

Prove me right, prove me wrong either way let me know 🙂

 

performance enhancing drugs approved by ethicist?

disagrees with ethicist

 

Leading ethicists are questioning the value of banning some of the sports drugs listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada). It’s a view rejected emphatically by former Olympic champion Linford Christie, who tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone in 1999; 100m sprinter Christie, rebutted comments from Julian Savulescu.

 According to professor of applied ethics at the University of Oxford, UK. ‘I think there are good reasons to allow safe performance enhancers such as caffeine or creatine,’ Altitude training and hypoxic air tents (used by Wayne Rooney) are legitimate ways to increase athletes’ red blood cell counts, according to Wada. The agency bans blood-enhancing drugs such as the red blood cell regulating hormone erythropoietin, EPO (Chemistry World, October 2004). Wada’s code is ‘incoherent and unjustified,’ Savulescu said, because EPO, in safe doses, has the same effect on the blood as the legitimate methods.   

Christie said Savulescu’s comments were risky. Humans should accept that some are born faster and fitter than others, he said. Christie said aspiring athletes should be subject to graphic images of the effects of steroids, including shrunken testicles and penises (Christie publicly criticised media attention paid to his tight fitting running attire, leading to his nickname of the ‘Lunchbox’).    

Phil Willis, chair of the committee predicts that gene receptor technology will become the next hot topic in performance enhancing technology. Athletes will attempt to use gene enhancement in the next four or five years, he told Chemistry World. Changes to genes will be harder to detect than drugs, and the detection labs are shifting their emphasis from chemistry to biology, explained Steve Maynard from HFL, one of the UK’s Wada accredited testing labs (Chemistry World, August 2004, p7). ‘We cannot adapt current methods to detect gene doping,’ said Maynard.     

What does this mean for the future of professional sport? Will performance enhancing drugs be detected in future sport competitions?