Breaking news on steroids

[Mplssoxfan]

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Sources: Steroid penalties much tougher with agreement

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON -- Major League Baseball players and owners agreed to toughen penalties for steroid use to a 50-game suspension for a first failed test and a lifetime ban for a third, The Associated Press learned.

 

 

The deal, which also adds testing for amphetamines, was described to the AP by two congressional aides on condition of anonymity because it had not been officially announced.

 

 

A formal announcement was planned for later Tuesday, a baseball official told the AP.

 

 

Baseball's current steroid penalties are a 10-day suspension for a first offense, 30 days for a second offense, and 60 days for a third. The earliest a player could be banned for life is a fifth offense.

 

 

The sport's second new steroids agreement in 10 months came after lengthy negotiations prompted by urging from Congress -- including the threat of legislation that would require higher penalties and stricter testing standards.

[SoxFanForever]

About f***ing time they did something right.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Probably a little too late. I expect congress will pass their bill anyways.

[whitesoxfan101]

Does this plan test for HGH?? Because until that is tested for, the game won't really be clean.

[Kyyle23]

Can HGH be tested for yet?

 

I bet Donald Fehr fought this tooth and nail.

[Kyyle23]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2224832

[whitesoxfan101]

Can HGH be tested for yet? 

 

I bet Donald Fehr fought this tooth and nail.

 

To be honest, I don't know....which is why if they aren't testing for it, I won't rip MLB.

 

But as long as HGH isn't tested for, the game is tainted, simple as that.

[Balta1701]

Since HGH can't be tested for using a urine test...the real key question you guys should be asking is not whether or not HGH is tested for, but whether or not this program allows for a blood test.

[Kyyle23]

i was under the impression that it couldnt be tested because it is a naturally occuring hormone in people

[southsider2k5]

Good to see this is happening. I am especially happy that they added speed to the list.

[greasywheels121]

Happy to see this being done.

 

I just hope this doesn't affect my advocacy speech.

 

We had a rough draft due yesterday, and I did mine on being in support of tougher steroid policies. Having this happen now makes a lot of the points in my speech very insignificant and obsolete. I just hope my AI isn't a sports fan.

[Balta1701]

i was under the impression that it couldnt be tested because it is a naturally occuring hormone in people

Link

A preliminary test for human growth hormone (HGH) is ready for the Athens Olympics, British researcher Claire Hartley said on Wednesday.

 

Anti-doping experts had warned drug cheats that they were confident a test for HGH, believed to be widely used in top sports, would be ready in time for the August 13-29 Games, but Hartley’s statement was the first confirmation.

 

Hartley, from the University of Southampton, told Reuters a laboratory in Munich had developed a blood test that could verify the presence of HGH up to 36 hours after it was administered.

 

“The IOC (International Olympic Committee) is saying this test is ready for Athens,” she said.

[Rowand44]

About damn time. Glad to hear this.

[Balta1701]

Good to see this is happening.  I am especially happy that they added speed to the list.

Amphetamine Penalties

(There was no testing for amphetamines in previous agreement)

• First positive test -- Mandatory additional testing.

• Second positive -- 25-game suspension.

• Third positive -- 80-game suspension.

• Fourth positive -- Commissioner's discretion, with an arbitrator being able to review.

• In addition, a conviction for possession carries a 15-to-30 game penalty, while a second offense carries a 30-to-90 game penalty. A third offense nets the offender a one-year ban, while a fourth offense equals punishment at commissioner's discretion. If a player is convicted for distribution, he will be suspended 60-to-90 games, while a second offense equals a two-year ban and punishment for a third offense is commissioner's discretion.

First positive test...we probably don't even know about it.

[Kyyle23]

So this is something that can only be tested within 36 hours of the HGH being taken. Is HGH a drug that is used strictly for building body mass, or is it also a drug that is used for energy bursts? If a runner was attempting to build stamina, and used HGH in his training and built up his stamina, would it be necassary for the runner to continue taking HGH to maintain that stamina through his races?

 

there is so much I dont know about steroids, im not trying to be argumentative as much as I am trying to get information to form my own opinions.

[Balta1701]

So this is something that can only be tested within 36 hours of the HGH being taken.  Is HGH a drug that is used strictly for building body mass, or is it also a drug that is used for energy bursts?  If a runner was attempting to build stamina, and used HGH in his training and built up his stamina, would it be necassary for the runner to continue taking HGH to maintain that stamina through his races? 

 

there is so much I dont know about steroids, im not trying to be argumentative as much as I am trying to get information to form my own opinions.

I think one of the big questions we have with many of these steroids is what happens to players when they get off of them. For example, let's say Bonds started juicing right before the point ESPN suggests. Let's then say he kept it up through 2002, and stopped in 2003. How much would his performance decline? If he continued working out, would he be able to maintain the muscle mass, or would it decay withotu the drugs?

 

The trouble is, there's almost no way to do a controlled study on these things, because you simply can't find a statistically significant sample of athletes willing to take them and let you monitor the effects. I sure as hell wouldn't be a part of that. Not even considering how illegal it is.

 

HGH is usually taken to help build muscle mass. Human Growth Hormone...kinda sums it up. One of its big advantages was that it was undectable in urine tests, and very difficult to detect until very recently. If you believe Victor Conte's words and calendars (from 60 minutes), it was a key part of the schedules he designed - THG one day, HGH the next, etc.

 

But when a person comes off of it, what happens? We don't ahve a clue.

[Mplssoxfan]

First positive test...we probably don't even know about it.

With speed, I'm okay with that. We don't know about first positives for pot, either, do we? I'm actually not sure, but I don't think so.

[Frank the Tank 35]

It all depends on genetics and the timing of applications and exercise. Some people are predisposed to being able to get big and/or stay big. After you take steroids, you WILL not keep all your gains, you can only hope to keep as much as possible. Then you recover (let your testes grow back, etc) and wait till your body has returned its hormonal levels to normal. Then you do it again and again. Each time you keep some of what you have gained. Depending on your nutrition and exercise program, you can keep these gains for an indefinite period of time. Of course as you age, your body loses its ability to keep all that mass, and you slowly lose it all. Look at Arnold now, he's still big but not nearly as big as he once was. I would kinda assume that he's not juicing anymore due to the fact that he's the governor and he's starting to get up there in age. I'll expound upon more of what I know, but I gotta run (to the gym, how ironic).

[Fenway]

from

New York Post

http://www.nypost.com/sports/31351.htm

 

 

We expect a lot from baseball. Other sports have troubles. Other sports have issues. Other sports have had drug problems, and steroid problems. Other sports have had gambling scandals. Other sports had color lines that forbade African-Americans from playing.

Those other sports never have gone on trial as often, or as publicly, as baseball.

 

We take baseball personally. We hold baseball accountable. Say what you will about all the corny "Field of Dreams" poetry that so often tinkles in the background, but baseball really is a part of who we are. It's part of our daily fabric even in the short days of November, when baseball couldn't seem further away.

 

Here's the thing, too: More often than not, baseball justifies the massive amounts of faith we invest in it. More often than not, baseball sprints ahead of America's cultural curve. It was that way with gambling. It was that way with race. It was that way with cocaine.

 

Now, it is that way with steroids, and with amphetamines.

 

This morning, if you are a baseball fan, you have to feel good about how far baseball has come, and how quickly it has arrived there. Finally, there is a steroid policy with teeth. Finally, there is an acknowledgment that uppers have been a scourge even longer than steroids have been.

 

Finally, we can believe in the game again.

[southsider2k5]

Baseball is also the only American sport that has an anti-trust exemption... Maybe that is why it gets looked after just a little more closely...

[redandwhite]

The Positive Effects of testosterone on the Heart

by Doug Kalman MS, RD

 

 

 

 

Steroids will cause your kidneys to implode, your heart to blow a ventricle, and your liver to squirt out of your arse, fly across the room, and knock the cat off the futon. We read it on the Internet and saw an after school special about it, so it must be true, right?

 

Actually, the more you learn about steroids, the more you come to realize that, like all drugs, there's a difference between their intelligent use and outright abuse. In this article, Doug Kalman takes a look at the effects of testosterone on the heart. What he found may surprise you.

 

 

Over the years we've all heard the repeated mantra that anabolic steroids are bad for the heart. Some physicians will tell you that gear raises your risk of heart disease by lowering your good cholesterol (HDL) and raising your bad cholesterol (LDL). In fact, as some docs will tell you, steroids are known to even induce cardiac hypertrophy (enlargement of the heart). And since you can't flex your heart in an effort to woo women, who'd want that?

 

But, as in every story, there's more than one side. In fact, let it be said, the dangers of steroids are overstated and, hold onto your seats, may even be good for the heart. Let's examine some of the scientific studies on the positive effects of testosterone on the heart.

 

 

What are the cardiovascular effects of steroids?

 

Cardiologists at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia recruited both juicing and non-juicing bodybuilders for a study. Each bodybuilder had various aspects of the heart measured (carotid intima-media thickness, arterial reactivity, left ventricular dimensions, etc.). These measurements indicate whether bodybuilding, steroid usage or both affect the function, size, shape and activity of the heart.

 

The doctors found some obvious and not so obvious results. Predictably, those bodybuilders who used steroids were physically stronger than those who didn't. What was surprising was that the use of steroids was not found to cause any significant changes or abnormalities of arterial structure or function.

 

In essence, when the bodybuilders (both groups) were compared with sedentary controls, any changes in heart function were common to bodybuilders. The take home message from this study is that bodybuilding itself can alter (not impair) arterial structure/function and that steroids do not appear to impair cardiac function. (1)

 

 

Does MRFIT need a T boost?

 

A famous cardiac study was published about 10 years ago. It soon became on ongoing study known as the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT). The present study examined changes in testosterone over 13 years in 66 men aged 41 to 61 years. The researchers determined if changes in total testosterone are related to cardiovascular disease risk factors.

 

The average testosterone levels at the beginning of the study were 751 ng/dl and decreased by 41 ng/dl. Men who smoked or exhibited Type A behavior were found to have even greater decreases in T levels. The change in testosterone was also associated with an increase in triglyceride levels and a decrease in the good cholesterol (HDL).

 

The authors concluded that decreases in testosterone levels as observed in men over time are associated with unfavorable heart disease risk. (2) Sounds to me like a good reason to get T support/replacement therapy in the middle age years!

 

In a similar study, researchers in Poland examined if testosterone replacement therapy in aging men positively effected heart disease risk factors. Twenty-two men with low T levels received 200 mg of testosterone enanthate every other week for one year. Throughout treatment, Testosterone, estradiol, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL were measured.

 

The researchers determined that T replacement returned both testosterone and estradiol levels back to normal and acceptable levels. They also found that T replacement lowered cholesterol and LDL (the bad cholesterol) without altering HDL (the good cholesterol). Furthermore, there was no change in prostate function or size.

 

The take home message from this study is that T replacement doesn't appear to raise heart disease risk and it may actually lower your risk. (3) It appears that more physicians should be prescribing low dose testosterone to middle age and aging men for both libido, muscle tone and for cardiac reasons.

 

 

What about younger men?

 

It's been long established that men have a higher risk of heart disease. One of the risk factors implicated is Testosterone. Reportedly, the recreational use of testosterone can alter lipoprotein levels and, in fact, case reports exist describing bodybuilders who've abused steroids and have experienced heart disease or even sudden death. But the question remains, is the causal association one of truth or just an association?

 

To answer this, researchers at the University of North Texas recruited twelve competitive bodybuilders for a comprehensive evaluation of the cardiovascular effects of steroids. Six heavyweight steroid-using bodybuilders were compared with six heavyweight drug-free bodybuilders.

 

As expected, the heavy steroid users had lower total cholesterol and HDL levels as compared to the drug-free athletes. What was unexpected was that the steroid users also had significantly lower LDL (the bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels as compared to the non-steroid users. In addition, the juicers also had lower apolipoprotein B levels (a marker for heart disease risk). Thus, the authors concluded that androgens do not appear to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. (4) The take home message from this study is that the negative cardiac side effects of steroids are most likely overstated.

 

In a little more progressive study, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Boogie Down Bronx (the BDB to those in the know) examined testosterone as a possible therapy for cardiovascular disease. (5) The researchers note that T can be given in oral, injectable, pellet and transdermal delivery forms. It's noted that injections of testosterone (100 to 200 mg every two weeks) in men with low levels of T will decrease total cholesterol and LDL while raising the HDL.

 

In fact, testosterone therapy has been found to have antianginal effects (reduces chest pain). Low levels of testosterone are also correlated with high blood pressure, specifically high systolic pressure. The researchers determined that returning T levels back to normal and even high-normal levels have positive cardiovascular effects and should be considered as an adjunctive treatment for maintaining muscle mass when someone has congestive heart failure.

 

 

Putting it all together

 

Strong research demonstrates that the risks of negative cardiovascular effects of steroids are overstated. In fact, a recent paper published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology questioned the whole risk of using steroids. (6) Joey Antonio, Ph.D. and Chris Street MS, CSCS published strong data showing that the risks of steroid use are largely exaggerated, much like scare tactics used by your parents while you were a kid. Of course, it goes unsaid that abuse of anything will lead to unwanted consequences.

 

We know that as we age, circulating testosterone levels naturally decrease. For most people the testosterone decrease goes from high-normal to mid to low normal. Data shows that there's an inverse relationship between T levels and blood pressure as well as abdominal obesity (that paunch we see on so many middle age males). testosterone replacement lowers abdominal obesity and restores testosterone back to normal levels. Restored testosterone is correlated with better mood, better muscle tone, stronger sex drive, lower cardiovascular disease risks, stronger bones and better memory. It's important to note that while conservative use gives a pronounced positive health benefit, higher doses may not necessarily lead to further health benefits.

 

 

What to do

 

If you see your body composition changing (your gut starts looking like your Uncle Lester's), your strength or muscle tone diminishing despite your hard training and good diet, and your sex drive not matching up to TC's columns, have your testosterone levels checked. The acceptable normal range for testosterone to physicians is 300 mg/dl to 1100 mg/dl. Yes, that's a pretty wide range.

 

In the clinic, we see people with the complaints consistent with "andropause" (a term for male menopause) and/or increased cardiovascular risk having testosterone levels between 300 mg/dl and 550 mg/dl. Bringing it up to the mid to high-normal level is what gives the health and "youthful" benefits. Traditionally 200 mg/dl of supplemental testosterone given every one to two weeks improves body composition, lowers total cholesterol and LDL, while raising HDL.

 

It appears that supplemental T is a healthier and safer way to go than many of the drugs used to treat poor lipid profiles. The data presented in this article applies for males over 35, not those who are 18. If you think that you can benefit from testosterone therapy look for physicians who market themselves as "anti-aging" or "longevity physicians" as well as the more progressive endocrinologists or cardiologists.

 

Long story short, used intelligently, testosterone is good medicine!

 

 

About the author: Douglas S. Kalman MS, RD is a Director for Miami Research Associates (MiamiResearch.com) a leading pharmaceutical and nutrition research organization in Miami, Florida. Doug is also a national spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine and according to his latest test has high T levels. Doug can be reached at [email protected].

 

References:

 

1) Sader MA, Griffiths KA, McCredie RJ, et al. Androgenic anabolic steroids and arterial structure and function in male bodybuilders. J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37(1):224-230.

 

2) Zmuda JM, Cauley JA, Kriska A, et al. Longitudinal relation between endogenous testosterone and cardiovascular disease risk factors in middle aged men. A 13 year follow-up of former Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial participants. Am J Epidemiol 1997;146(:609-617.

 

3) Zgliczynski S, Ossowski M, Slowinska-Srednicka J, et al. Effect of testosterone replacement therapy on lipids and lipoproteins in hypogonadal and elderly men. Atherosclerosis 1996;121(1):35-43.

 

4) Diekerman RD, McConathy WJ, Zachariah NY. Testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin, lipoproteins and vascular disease risk. J Cardiovasc Risk 1997;4(5-6):363-366.

 

5) Shapiro J, Christiana J, Frishman WH. testosterone and other anabolic steroids as cardiovascular drugs. Am J Ther 1999;6(3):167-174.

 

6) Antonio J, Street C. Androgen use by athletes: A reevaluation of the health risks. Can J Appl Physiol 1996;21(6):421-440.

[Gene Honda Civic]

Steroids made my penis bigger.

[redandwhite]

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Nov 20, 2005 -> 03:10 PM)

Steroids made my penis bigger.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

that too