Anabolic steroid users represent the largest client at needle exchange programs in the United Kingdom according to the weekly current affairs magazine, the New Statesman (”Shape of the future: observations on bodybuilding,” April 17).
The New Statesman magazine also identifies some disturbing trends in steroid use in the U.K.
But rates of steroid use aren’t the only thing that’s changing: so is the type of person who uses the drugs.
According to Martin Chandler, a specialist in steroid use at Liverpool John Moores University, the rise is caused by people “younger and less knowledgeable” than their previous counterparts. “What scares me is their limited research and understanding,” he says.
According to Martin Chandler, the increasing number of young people using steroids is due to aesthetic (body image) concerns and not performance enhancement concerns.
If the demographic of steroid users is changing, so too are their motivations. Among older users, the drugs were often taken as a means to open up non-academic job opportunities. This was particularly true in former manufacturing towns. When manual workers found themselves unable to make a living in the old industries, they often trained as security staff, bouncers or police officers to continue making a living through their bodies.
But, unlike mining and manufacturing work, for instance, these new careers did not develop appropriate physiques “on the job”. Being a doorman might require a big build, but the job itself is more likely to cultivate guts than shoulders. Hence the rise of gym culture, and steroids.
Now, according to Chandler, it is fashion rather than function that motivates the younger generation to pump up: “Ultimately, what new users are concerned with is body image. It’s got nothing to do with performance gain - it’s about aesthetic.” The trend is not surprising. Men’s magazines are booming; there are also flourishing industries in male health, diet and supplements. Meanwhile, multimillion-dollar advertising budgets are pulling in actors and sportsmen to sponsor the “male ideal”.
Fortunately, the harm reduction programs offer an additional opportunity at steroid education hopefully improving the health of steroid users.
Dr. Jay Hoffman is a Professor of Health and Exercise Science at the College of New Jersey and a member of the board of directors for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Dr. Hoffman recently shared his views of steroid use in professional sports with Express (a free daily published by the Washington Post).
Dr. Hoffman explains why he has no regrets about is own use of anabolic steroids during the 1980s in collegiate and professional football (”Sports Talk: Off the Field with Dr. Jay Hoffman,” April 15).
Because, one, it wasn’t illegal. I did it with a physician. I had constant blood and liver function tests. I did it with someone who cared about me as a patient, making sure it was done the right way. I never did anything black market. I did it in specific time frames, that would maximize my ability as an athlete used it for a specific purpose: to be a better football player. And people have to understand there is a difference between a strength power athlete that uses it to get ready for a season versus a body builder that uses it on a consistent basis. Most individuals who use it, use it in a cyclic fashion and stacking several different drugs for certain period of time, and then come off it. There are side effects that are associated with that and the side effects are greater with the amount of anabolic steroid being used. But it’s transient. And unless there’s an underlying disease — and that’s why it’s important to go with a physician — unless there’s an underlying disease, the risks associated with it are not as great as people make it out to be. But for those individuals who never come off a cycle, the risks are very real. Many of the athletes who have died, are generally those body builders or wrestlers who never come off it.
I think Dr. Hoffman touches on some very interesting points.
(1) The patterns of steroid use by most professional athletes and competitive bodybuilders are substantially different. The implication is that it is unfair to extrapolate the side effects from extreme users of anabolic steroids to all athletes (and individuals) who use anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes.
(2) The side effects of anabolic steroids are transient in nature for the most part.
(3) The side effects of anabolic steroids have been overstated if there is no underlying disease in the individual using steroids for non-medical purposes.
(3) Steroid use can be done the “right way” with proper medical monitoring by a physician with necessary lab work.
I have previously written about how the current climate of steroid hysteria has limited the availability of anabolic steroids for medically indicated purposes. I’ve also posted lists of compounding pharmacies that, in the face of limited availability and increased federal pressure, continue to sell anabolic steroids to patients who have a genuine medical need for them.
Today MESO-Rx has learned that at least one compounding pharmacy has contacted bodybuilding, steroid, and health websites requesting the removal of all references to the company, their website and the (anabolic steroid) product(s) they sell.
I spoke with the chief marketing officer for the compounding pharmacy to find out more information. I was told that the company was concerned about receiving adverse attention from publicity of anabolic steroid sales. The company was adamantly dedicated to only serving the populations (e.g. HIV, wasting) that truly needed steroids for medical purposes. The publication of steroid information in connection with their company could possibly compromise that goal, especially on a bodybuilding and/or steroid-related website.
It seems highly unusual for the chief marketing officer to try and stifle publicity for one of their products. But it is understandable. If they publicize that they sell nandrolone decanoate (for example), then they are likely to attract adverse attention from (1) bodybuilders and athletes seeking steroids for performance enhancement or (2) federal and/or state authorities who may suspect they are selling steroids in a manner similar to what has been alleged in other publicized compounding pharmacy steroid scandal cases.
But if a steroid like Deca Durabolin (nandrolone decanoate) is so difficult to find from a legitimate (compounding) pharmacy AND the (compounding) pharmacies that do sell it do not publicize (and actually prohibit promotion of the) fact, then how will patients (e.g. HIV/AIDS) who really need it for medical reasons be able to find it? And as of this writing, this information is not readily available on Google; the steroid sources for Deca Durabolin are practically all outside the United States (thereby making it illegal for U.S. citizens to purchase even with a valid medical prescription.)
This is not good for patients who need steroids for their health and well-being.
When the researchers looked at the subjects’ muscles through a microscope, they made a surprising discovery: Rather than returning to their original proportions, the muscles of the steroid users who’d stopped taking the drug looked remarkably similar to those of the subjects who were still using. They also had larger muscle fibers and more growth-inducing “myonuclei” in their muscle cells than the nonsteroid users.
The main findings were that: a) Muscle fiber hypertrophy by strength training is further increased by anabolic steroids. b) The number of nuclei per muscle fiber is higher in power lifters using anabolic steroids compared to non-steroids using lifters. c) Among power lifters who have withdrawn from anabolic steroid usage and training for several years, the number of myonuclei, both subsarcolemmal and internal, remains high. d) In active power lifters, anabolic steroids have no further effect on the number of satellite cells per fiber. e) Power lifters have a high proportion of split fibers.
High intensity resistance training increases muscle strength and banned substances such as testosterone and anabolic steroids can enhance the training effects. The studies on muscle cell morphology presented in this thesis reveals that anabolic steroids and testosterone increases muscle fiber size and adds more nuclei to the muscle cell.
Based on the morphological appearance of muscle sections from doped and nondoped power lifters, we conclude that testosterone and anabolic steroids enhances the hypertrophic effects of training without adding new features. The addition of myonuclei by training and doping appears to be longer lasting in some muscles than in others. The high proportion of split fibers in power lifter is probably due to high mechanical stress. The findings and conclusions in this thesis raise questions regarding relevant suspension times for athletes caught with banned substances in the body.
The thesis confirms what many bodybuilders have long suspected based on anecdotal evidence. Even noted steroid researcher Charles Yesalis is convinced of the permanent muscle-enhancing effects of anabolic steroids based on his assessment of 30 years of anecdotal evidence.
Charles Yesalis, a former strength coach and professor emeritus of health policy and administration at Pennsylvania State University, says athletes who continue to train can retain as much as 85% of their gains from using drugs. This isn’t based on muscle biopsies or peer-reviewed research, he says, but on 30 years of experience with athletes. He says he has talked privately with hundreds of dopers, some of them champions, and has seen the permanent benefits of performance-enhancing drugs. “These things are like rocket fuel,” he says.
The little known doctoral thesis has already influenced doping penalties even though it was not peer-reviewed and not published in any medical or scientific journal.
At a meeting in Madrid in November, WADA’s Foundation Board voted to change its code to allow for a maximum four-year ban for first-time offenders caught using performance-enhancing drugs. The new ban, which goes into effect in all sanctioned Olympic events in 2009, is a severe penalty for athletes — whose careers tend to be short. Bengt Eriksson, the vice-chairman of the Swedish Sport Confederation’s doping commission, who attended the Madrid conference, says he thinks the study was “one of the main reasons” WADA raised the maximum penalty. David Howman, WADA’s director general, says the Swedish study played only a minor role in the decision.
Scientific support for the notion that three or four cycles of anabolic steroids could lead to permanent muscle enhancement is big news in bodybuilding circles.
But if true, this could lead to lifetime bans for first time doping offenses by WADA and other anti-doping agencies. This is also big news in the doping world too.
WADA’s [director general] Mr. Howman says that if science continues to confirm the findings of the Swedish study, a lifetime ban is not out of the question. “Never say never,” he says.
The defense team of NPC bodybuilder Thomas Vigliatura used the “steroids made me crazy” defense in Vigliatura’s GHB/GBL distribution trial. (”Vigliatura says he’s changed,” March 30)
At the same time. Mr. Vigliatura’s life “was a merry-go-round of alcohol abuse, substance abuse and, most horrifically, the conduct detailed in the indictment,” Mr. Sinnis said. Mr. Vigliatura suffered from physical and psychiatric symptoms as a result of androgenic-anabolic steroids he began using in 1990 in connection with body building, Mr. Sinnis said.
And the steroid money quote…
The steroids left him with permanent severe cognitive deficits, according to excerpts of a neuropsychology report commissioned by the defense. But it noted that he has greatly recovered, perhaps fully, from the psychological and mood effects of the steroids and it predicted an ability “to return to a fulfilling and gainful life in society.”
The steroid insanity defense. Damn those steroids. Damn those steroids!!
Since nandrolone decanoate is no longer manufacturer by any U.S. pharmaceutical company, it is difficult to find in the United States with availability limited to compounding pharmacies. Members of Vergel’s Yahoo Group PozHealth have researched and identified only five compounding pharmacies nationwide that still offer nandrolone decanoate with a valid medical prescription (and in some cases, additional requirements) [”Nandrolone Prices at Compounding Pharmacies,” March 28).
Prices of a 10mL vial Nandrolone Decanoate (200 mg/ml) at Compounding Pharmacies
[NOTE: Pricing and compounding pharmacy has been removed per request. The publication of such information has regrettably caused adverse attention for at least one compounding pharmacy.]
Two other compounding pharmacies have ceased production of nandrolone decanoate due to federal pressure and/or limited availability of the raw materials (Applied Pharmacy Services and Leiter’s Pharmacy, respectively).
We desperately need a rational discussion on anabolics steroids to replace the steroid demonization and steroid hysteria sweeping our country. Legislation and federal actions involving anabolic steroids over the past several years have arguably done nothing to decrease steroid use among professional athletes or high school athletes; the war on steroids has indisputably compromised the available of anabolic steroids for medical purposes in affected populations. This is the real crime.
Former NPC Bodybuilder Tom Vigliatura has been falsely accused of selling steroids by reporter Lee Hammel of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette newspaper in Massachusetts. However, I am certain that this false accusation is the least of Thomas Vigliatura’s concerns; Vigliatura has been in prison since August 2005. He was sentenced this week to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit his home and his defunct supplement store, T. Vig’s Sports Supplements Unlimited for selling Ecstasy, Cocaine and GHB - but NOT steroids (”Bodybuilder gets 51 months, forfeits home and business,” March 24).
Thomas J. Vigliatura, 40, of 118 Santoro Road, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy from 2002 to 2004 to distribute illegal steroids known as GHB and GBL and to possess cocaine and Ecstasy as well as distribution of GBL and GHB.
Reporter Lee Hammel wants to throw in steroid distribution as one of the charges when he erroneously identifies GHB and GBL as steroids. It upsets me that so many reporters remain blissfully ignorant about anabolic steroids and fail to perform even basic fact checking when it comes to basic questions like “what are anabolic steroids?” Why should reporters stick to the facts? Maybe Hammel just assumed that he was selling anabolic steroids since, after all, Vigliatura was a competitive bodybuilder.
Anabolic steroids are already being demonized by the current tidal wave of steroid hysteria permeating the United States. There is no need to false associate steroids to a criminal case involving cocaine and ecstasy, police corruption and threats against a federal prosecutor that has nothing to do with steroids. But anything to further demonize steroids must be the new journalistic standard?
Thanks to reporter Lee Hammel, the Associated Press has picked up the story and syndicated it nationally using Hammel’s inaccurate reporting regarding steroids (”Bodybuilder sentenced on drug charges,” March 25).
Thomas Vigliatura pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute illegal steroids and possession of cocaine and Ecstasy…
The distribution of drugs like cocaine, ecstasy, and GHB has been a different enterprise from the distribution of anabolic steroids. (Although this distinction is starting to disappear as the federal steroid witch hunt threatens to push the entire steroid market completely underground.) The differences in cocaine/ecstasy/GHB distribution and anabolic steroid distribution is highlighted by the former group’s reluctance to testify or “snitch” on co-conspirators and the latter group’s widespread and eager willingness to “rat out” co-conspirators in exchange for leniency (”Bodybuilder’s sentence is bulked up by judge: six months,” July 27, 2007).
[Thomas J. Vigliatura] reiterated his contention that he refused to testify out of fear of reprisal to himself and his family…
“In no way was I trying to attempt to impede justice in any way,” Mr. Vigliatura told the judge before sentencing. “Most of you don’t know what it’s like where I live.”
Mr. Vigliatura’s real concern is his “reputation as a stand-up guy…”
Mr. Vigliatura did not want to be known as “a cooperator, snitch, rat, informant.”
Steroid dealers and distributors have not historically had the same concerns. But the federal war on steroids is close to succeeding at making the underground anabolic steroid market more dangerous than ever before for steroid users and steroid dealers alike.
The supply of pharmaceutical quality nandrolone decanoate by prescription is becoming very limited within the United States. Watson Pharmaceuticals was the only pharmaceutical company producing Deca Durabolin (nandrolone decanoate) in the U.S. It was available by prescription and could be obtained at most pharmacies around the country.
Watson claimed that Deca Durabolin was discontinued in March 2007 because the raw ingredients were no longer available from the FDA-approved supplier of the powder (”AIDS activists upset by dropped wasting drug,” April 19, 2007).
Patricia Eisenhaur, director of investor relations for Watson Pharmaceuticals, confirmed that Deca-Durabolin, also known as nandrolone decanoate, an anabolic steroid prescribed by physicians to combat AIDS wasting, was discontinued on March 20.
According to Eisenhaur, the active ingredient to manufacture the drug was no longer available from the Food and Drug Administration-approved supplier. Eisenhaur was unable to provide the name of the supplier, which was the only approved manufacturer of the active ingredient.
Obviously, those familiar with black market androgens know that there is no nandrolone decanoate powder shortage. Nelson Vergel of the HIV Blog explains the real reasons why Watson discontinued production (”Important information about nandrolone in the U.S.” March 17).
The decision from the manufacturer (Watson) to stop making nandrolone decanoate (an effective injectable medicine to treat unintentional weight loss and to increase muscle mass) was based on economics and political pressure.
Watson stopped making it because:
It is a generic CHEAP drug
They can sell expensive Oxandrin instead. Oxandrin is approved for unintentional weight loss but costs $1200 a month and can cause liver toxicity in some.
Nandrolone’s indication is for anemia and no doctor uses it for that purpose, so they prescribe it legally off label.
Congress and the DEA are treating anabolics like the treat crack-cocaine and are closely watching every prescriber’s and manufacturer’s move. No HIV doc has ever got in trouble since many studies have shown nandrolone’s benefit and can justify its medical use. However, inexperienced HIV doctors who have not been around long enough to know its history shy away from prescribing due to the bad publicity and misconceptions around these medicines.
Nandrolone decanoate is still available [link removed] from a few compounding pharmacies. However, under extreme federal pressure resulting from the steroids in sports scandals, fewer and fewer compounding pharmacies are willing produce nandrolone medications. As a result, compounding pharmacies are quickly dropping nandrolone decanoate.
Applied Pharmacy stopped all production due to DEA pressure. Some compounders are making doctors sign a waiver to say they will not prescribe nandrolone for non medical uses. Some doctors feel this represents extra liability.
Applied Pharmacy is a compounding pharmacy that provided pharmaceutical quality anabolic steroid and hormone preparations to customers with medical prescriptions. They became the target of a federal probe resulting from prosecutor and political opportunist David Soares’ far reaching steroid scandal investigation. They stopped production of all anabolic steroids as a result.
Reporters from around the country have descended upon Houston, Texas pursuing their steroid witch hunt against anyone who may have used steroids or could have potentially provided anabolic steroids to Major League Baseball players e.g. Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. The targets in their steroid investigation have expanded from fitness professionals Kelly Blair (of 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness) and Shaun Kelley (of Shaun Kelley Weight Control) to at least one Houston-area physician.
While the New York Daily News admits they have no evidence that Shaun Kelley provided steroids to Roger Clemens, they do not hesitate to point the finger at Lisa Routh, M.D. of Brainwaves Neuroimaging Clinic in Houston who worked with Shaun Kelley.
Neither does the Daily News have evidence that Dr. Routh prescribed steroids to Roger Clemens or any major league baseball player for that matter. But they seem content to demonize her because she was outspoken in her defense of the use of anabolic steroids in medicine. She admits to prescribing testosterone and growth hormone to policemen, professional wrestlers, and people who work out in an effort to improve their quality of life. Furthermore, Dr. Routh proposed that professional athletes be permitted to use performance enhancing drugs under a doctor’s supervision (”Houston-area gyms part of drug culture beyond sports scope,” March 16).
Interviews with Routh, of the Brainwaves Medical Center in Houston, and with eight former and current employees of Kelley, reveal a corner of the fitness industry where the same drugs that are stigmatizing professional sports are seen simply as a lifestyle choice for others.
Routh told The News that she regularly prescribed testosterone and human growth hormone for a large number of Boston policemen, who “get on a frickin’ plane and come down here twice a year, for frickin’ growth hormone and testosterone.”
She said she prescribes other hormones for menopausal women and professional wrestlers - all in the name of quality of life. Furthermore she argued for legalizing such drugs in professional sports, provided athletes have medical care.
“We pay them ridiculously, because we expect performance, and I think the bottom line is safety,” says Routh, who proposes allowing big-league baseball clubs to contract with five or 10 doctors in every city who would be the only league-approved providers of drugs. Players caught going elsewhere for their ‘roids would get hit with a fine.
“If someone wants to use human growth hormone or a testosterone product, they need to be under a physician’s supervision,” says Routh. “If they buy stuff off the black market or off some gym rat and they’re not under a doctor’s supervision, they should pay a penalty, and they should get the penalty that hurts, in the wallet.”
The Daily News also persists in its efforts to tarnish and incriminate fitness professionals in Houston. They continued their attack on 1-on -1 Elite Personal Fitness (even though Kelly Blair categorically denied their allegations) by reporting that co-owner Kevin Schexnider was prescribed testosterone cypionate and Anadrol by Revolution Medical Center in Phoenix several years ago; further Schexnider knew former bodybuilder Craig Titus who is awaiting trial on murder charges.
Elitefitness.com interviewed cosmetic surgeon Dr. Mordcai Blau, M.D. about his expertise with gynecomastia surgery; “gyno” is a potential side effect of anabolic steroid use. Dave Palumbo was the first bodybuilder on which Dr. Blau performed the gynecomastia procedure. Palumbo was a student in Dr. Blau’s class during medical school. Since the successful operation with Dave, many top professional bodybuilders and top amateur bodybuilders from around the world have gone to Dr. Blau. With 20 years experience with bodybuilders, he is in great demand by athletes in the sport of bodybuilding.
Dr. Blau explains why it is important that the surgeon performing the gynecomastia procedure is familiar with the goals of the bodybuilder.
Yes there is, every operation and patient is different. When I perform a correction on a very lean person, I have to go about the procedure a bit differently. The bodybuilders are doing the operation to shape their chest and gain more definition of their pectoral muscle. Gynecomastia is not just the tissue you see beneath the areola, there is also what I call a “tail” an a “head”. The head spreads towards the middle of the chest, the tail grows towards the arm pit, the glandular tissue spreads over the Pectoral muscles and blurs definition. You must remove the tail and head to gain more definition in the pectoral muscle and to prevent the condition from coming back. This is especially important for a Bodybuilder who’s chest will be displayed and judged constantly by discerning eyes. It must look like there was never any Gyno to begin with.
Dr. Mordcai Blau’s website lists additional bodybuilders with whom he has worked along with additional information about gynecomastia.
