Sports N Health

The list of baseball players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the supposedly anonymous steroids survey of 2003 is now down to 97 with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez being ousted as part of the Gang of 104. It is now considered that some more names will come out, in bunches or individually, to clear their names from the dark clouds of steroid controversy surrounding the spirit of the game of baseball.

From TimesUnion.com:

The remaining 97 positives, active or not, should be running to the nearest podium to call a news conference and admit guilt. Coming clean rather than being exposed is the best route to navigate the court of public opinion. See: Pettitte, Andy – or, conversely, Clemens, Roger.

Sure, they could gamble that their names would remain private, as the athletes were guaranteed six years ago. But that’s not going to happen, is it? So here’s a cheat sheet (apt phrase) that players can use to cop a plea in an attempt to get ahead of this slowly chugging freight train of a story.

Sporting bodies and fans are now having a big sigh of relief after it was found that the number of accused baseball players is on a reducing spree. It is worthwhile to note that steroid controversy had damaged the spirit of baseball, especially after the steroids survey of 2003.

Jareem Gunter, a college baseball player with dreams of making it big in the world of professional sports, communicated to the Congress on this Tuesday that his dreams were crushed after he discovered that was used by him as a safe and legal dietary supplement brought liver failure.

From TimesUnion.com:

“A key principle of the (’94) law is that supplements were not subject to pre-market approval, since the cost and time alone required to see a product through FDA approval would sound the death knell for this industry,” Hatch said. As for products that contain steroids, he said, “Simply put, under current law, these products are not allowed to be marketed.”

Michael Levy, director of the FDA’s division of new drugs and labeling compliance, told the panel his agency has a limited ability to keep dietary supplements with steroids from being marketed.

“FDA generally cannot identify violative products before they enter the marketplace,” Levy said. “After products enter the market, we must undertake a painstaking investigative and analytical process” to show the products violate the law.

Daniel Fabricant, interim executive director and CEO of the Natural Products Association, which represents retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of health foods and dietary supplements, said, “The barriers to enforcement are simple: money, manpower and will.”

Like many stories in the past, the story of Jareem is equally disturbing. But one thing that cannot be possibly denied is the fact that steroid users often neglect the usefulness of qualified medical advice before consuming steroids and supplements. Steroid abuse is fatal and steroid users need to realize this fact.

In the world of professional sports where expectations are very high and a replacement more than ready to grab the “lucrative position”, sportsmen are using steroids more than ever to not only their hold their position but to stay ahead of one and all.

The fact that anabolic steroids are easily available, even without a prescription, from the Internet adds to the success and popularity of steroids in sporting events. In addition to that, the fact that some of the most eminent names in spots have confessed using steroids to gain advantage over their peers is somewhat “encouraging” for prospective players, who are not shying to make use of steroids.

Steroids have influencing and addictive benefits for players. They allow sportsmen to deliver dramatic performance on a continuing period so that the invincibility factor remains unchallenged. Some sportsmen are even using steroids to reduce the level of fatigue and muscle burnout during strenuous workouts for that extra bit of spark while delivering performances.

While doping officials are trying their level best to control doping, steroid manufacturers and sellers are always one step ahead of them so that they have a way-out before the existing usage is identified and banned. Such smartness has also been an influencing factor behind the use of steroids by sportsmen as they are aware that they cannot be caught.

In short, the best thing before government and doping officials will be to regularize steroids in sports or the web of steroids will be bigger than ever.

The use of steroids by a Major League baseball slugger may result in considerable improvements in the count of home run along with modest improvements in bat-and-ball speed and muscle mass, as per a study by Roger Tobin, Tufts University physicist.

From News-Medical.Net:

“A change of only a few percent in the average speed of the batted ball, which can reasonably be expected from steroid use, is enough to increase home run production by at least 50 percent,” he says. This disproportionate effect arises because home runs are relatively rare events that occur on the “tail of the range distribution” of batted balls.

“In most any statistical distribution — of people’s heights, SAT scores, or how far baseballs are hit — there’s a large bump where most of the values fall, with the graph falling rapidly as you move away from that region in either direction toward the rarer values,” explains Tobin. “It’s a well-known statistical property of such distributions that a relatively small shift in the center point of the distribution can produce a much larger proportional change in the number of values well above or below the center. Because the distribution’s ‘tail’ is particularly sensitive to small changes in the peak and/or width, home run records can be more strongly affected by steroid use than other athletic accomplishments.”

It was quickly acknowledged by Tobin that modern-day athletes seem to achieve more than athletes of the past but that does not, in any way, suggest that they are cheating with steroids. He remarked that Physics is unable to provide any evidence whether or not a particular home run is assisted by steroids but a combination of Physics and Physiology may prove effective in establishing a relationship between the use of steroids and improved home run production.

The findings of this study are expected to be of importance as the game of baseball has been troubled by accusation of steroids in the recent past.

According to a study by Roger Tobin, Tufts University physicist, the use of steroids by a Major League baseball slugger can easily result in significant improvements in terms of home run production along with modest enhancements in the bat-and-ball speed and muscle mass. It was remarked that the production of home runs can be enhanced by as much as 50 percent or more with the use of steroids.

From News-Medical.Net:

“A change of only a few percent in the average speed of the batted ball, which can reasonably be expected from steroid use, is enough to increase home run production by at least 50 percent,” he says. This disproportionate effect arises because home runs are relatively rare events that occur on the “tail of the range distribution” of batted balls.

“In most any statistical distribution — of people’s heights, SAT scores, or how far baseballs are hit — there’s a large bump where most of the values fall, with the graph falling rapidly as you move away from that region in either direction toward the rarer values,” explains Tobin. “It’s a well-known statistical property of such distributions that a relatively small shift in the center point of the distribution can produce a much larger proportional change in the number of values well above or below the center. Because the distribution’s ‘tail’ is particularly sensitive to small changes in the peak and/or width, home run records can be more strongly affected by steroid use than other athletic accomplishments.”

Tobin was quick to acknowledge the fact that modern-day athletes achieve more than athletes of the past but this improved trend cannot be only due to cheating. He further remarked that Physics is unable to determine whether or not a specific home run is assisted by steroid nor can it indicate if an extraordinary performance is all about the use of steroids. But Physics and Physiology can reveal some untold truths about the use of steroids and improved home run production.

The findings of this study are expected to be of utmost importance as the game of baseball has often been troubled by accusation of steroids.

Jareem Gunter, a college baseball player with dreams of making it big in the world of professional sports, told Congress this Tuesday that his dreams were shattered after he discovered that what was considered by him as a safe and legal dietary supplement resulted in liver failure.

From TimesUnion.com:

“A key principle of the (’94) law is that supplements were not subject to pre-market approval, since the cost and time alone required to see a product through FDA approval would sound the death knell for this industry,” Hatch said. As for products that contain steroids, he said, “Simply put, under current law, these products are not allowed to be marketed.”

Michael Levy, director of the FDA’s division of new drugs and labeling compliance, told the panel his agency has a limited ability to keep dietary supplements with steroids from being marketed.

“FDA generally cannot identify violative products before they enter the marketplace,” Levy said. “After products enter the market, we must undertake a painstaking investigative and analytical process” to show the products violate the law.

Daniel Fabricant, interim executive director and CEO of the Natural Products Association, which represents retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of health foods and dietary supplements, said, “The barriers to enforcement are simple: money, manpower and will.”

It is really sad to know about one more possibly new episode of steroidabuse. One thing that people tend to forget while using steroids or supplements is the fact that both of them need to be used as per qualified medical advice and as per the instructions. Steroid abuse can only lead to side effects like what Jareem faced.

The list of unknown baseball players who tested positive in the supposedly anonymous steroids survey of 2003 is now down to 97 with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez being ousted as part of the Gang of 104. It is believed that almost all of the remaining “gang members” will come out, in bunches or individually, to clear the dark clouds surrounding the spirit of the game of baseball.

From TimesUnion.com:

The remaining 97 positives, active or not, should be running to the nearest podium to call a news conference and admit guilt. Coming clean rather than being exposed is the best route to navigate the court of public opinion. See: Pettitte, Andy – or, conversely, Clemens, Roger.

Sure, they could gamble that their names would remain private, as the athletes were guaranteed six years ago. But that’s not going to happen, is it? So here’s a cheat sheet (apt phrase) that players can use to cop a plea in an attempt to get ahead of this slowly chugging freight train of a story.

Now that the number of steroid-accused baseball players is reducing with almost every passing day, sporting bodies and fans must surely be enjoying a big sigh of relief. After all, steroids and baseball have long being co-related with each other, especially after the steroids survey of 2003.

The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) has suspended Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio for a period of 30 days, starting from September 2, 2009. The suspension was the result of a violation of WWE’s wellness policy.

It has been speculated that steroid use can be the reason behind Mysterio’s suspension. However, the speculations relating to drug testing by WWE on Mysterio has been turned down by some sources.

From US.WWE.COM:

In accordance with WWE’s Wellness Program, effective Wednesday, September 2, Oscar Gutierrez (Rey Mysterio) is suspended for 30 days for a violation of the company’s policy.

Rey Mysterio, whose real name is Oscar Guiterrez, has however denied using steroids to gain an advantage in the fierce competition. However, the fact that he was identified as a customer of the tainted Dr. Phil Astin III has led to beliefs that he may be tried for using steroids in the WWE. It is noteworthy to note here that Mysterio’s name was also highlighted in a SI report in 2007 when he was accused of allegedly receiving steroid prescriptions for Nandrolone and Stanozolol.

The suspension can ruin the career of Rey, if the WWE decides to strip him off his intercontinental championship belt. Ray is expected to defend his title against Dolph Ziggler at Breaking Point pay-per-view in next month. But if the current events are to be considered then he may end up giving it to Ziggler.

Mysterio’s fans are just hoping that their favorite hero does not add to the list of professional wrestlers who used anabolic steroids or performance enhancing drugs for staying ahead in the competition.

Alex Rodriguez has come clean about his use of performance enhancing drugs during his press conference. Alex said that he preferred to sleep after delivering one of the most memorable home runs of his entire career to end a 15-inning marathon on the Friday night and did not saw David Ortiz’s news conference Saturday.

From TimesUnion.com:

While Ortiz denied ever using steroids and blamed his positive test in 2003 on over-the-counter supplements, A-Rod came clean about his use of PEDs during his press conference, a decision that unburdened the three-time AL MVP.

“I’m so proud of the way things came out,” Rodriguez said. “I took a lot of things off my chest, and since that press conference, I feel like a new man. I feel like I’ve been embraced by not only the city of New York, but my teammates, my coaches and my manager. I feel liberated by the way I came out and did things.”

The fact that A-Rod disappeared for a month during spring training to rehab his surgically repaired hip also helped him move past the steroid controversy, his month in Colorado serving as what he called “a blessing in disguise. It gave me a chance to refocus, rethink things and basically take a time out from all the white noise I created for myself over the last year and a half.”

It is surprising to note here that Rodriguez has remained free from all types of controversies this season, from the steroid controversy to his public relationship with Madonna to his pending divorce, to put an end to all the drama after his steroid admission during the spring training times.

According to a new dissertation from the Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University in Sweden, injecting growth hormone (GH) is not effective at all if the GH user wants to build muscle mass or enhance physical performance.

It is worthwhile to note here that doping in sports using the growth hormone traces back to the mid 1980s. However, GH does not bring the same benefits or aggressive behavior as anabolic steroids. On the other hand, growth hormone can cause severe side effects such as damage to the blood vessels and heart.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Many of those who abuse anabolic steroids regard growth hormone as the Rolls Royce of doping agents: it is significantly more expensive to use than anabolic steroids. There is, however, no scientific evidence that it increases performance when used alone as a doping agent”, says Dr. Christer Ehrnborg.

Christer Ehrnborg has studied 30 well-trained people living in Göteborg. Twenty of these injected large doses of growth hormone each day for a month, while the other 10 believed that they also were receiving growth hormone but received injections of harmless saline solution instead. Tests of the participants’ physical performance on an exercise cycle showed that the participants receiving growth hormone did not perform better than those receiving saline solution.

“It has been a matter of controversy whether growth hormone actually causes an effect or whether it is a matter involving mass psychology. Both our study and studies carried out by others suggest that taking growth hormone will not make you a better athlete”, says Christer Ehrnborg.

It was remarked by Christer Ehrnborg that athletes injecting growth hormones tend to experience immediate effect in the body and believe that GH must improve their physical performance. But that’s not the case as there is no effect of increased muscle mass from the growth hormone as per the conducted experiments.