Steroids Blog

With the “waves of steroids” touching the borders of every country, South Africa was not an exception. The beautiful country is slowly but steadily showing signs of being grappled with steroids as more and more steroid cases are now being reported from it.

Every one knows that steroids have been in the worlds of professional sports and bodybuilding for a long period of time but South Africa and Steroids never seem to have a bonding, but not any more.

From SteroidTimes.Com:

So let me start by dispelling a popular myth or rumour that i often get asked about:  STEROIDS ARE NOT LEGAL IN SOUTH AFRICA! That said, steroid are not a highly policed area in the drug market, any ‘busts’ or the like generally come from bodybuilders or dealers that are involved in manufacturing or importing other illicit drugs such as cocaine, exstacy, khat or crystal meth. The reality is that there are just not enough resources in South Africa to control such a small segment of the drug trade, they have bigger fish to fry.

We have a range of anabolic products from black market to legitimate available to the athlete or bodybuilder. Many pharmacies are quite happy to sell drugs such a steroids, growth hormone, thyroid hormones and insulin ‘under the counter’ as long as cash is paid, the better you know the pharmacist, the better price you get. Those products that are not available from a pharmacy can be obtained relatively easily from your entrepreneurial gym dealer who will generally have at his disposal a range of imported or local underground brands.

The growing success of steroids has clearly suggested that all measures for inhibiting the promotion of steroids have landed up in a mess, with no result.

Patients who are significantly underweight or very severely obese before liver transplantation are at an enhanced risk of death following the transplantation surgery, as per a recent study by doctors at the University of Washington.

The findings were published in the August issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

From News-Medical.Net:

After transplantation, the very severely obese patients experienced higher rates of death due to infectious complications and cancer. The authors propose that one mechanism for this apparent immune deficiency is the presence of diabetes in patients with BMI > 40 kg/m2. Previous studies show that diabetic patients are at increased risk of infectious complications after surgical procedures, and supplemental immunosuppressive medication may further exacerbate this process. “An appropriate weight-based immunosuppressive regimen, careful management of severely obese patients’ co-morbidities (diabetes, hypertension) and aggressive facilitation of weight reduction can optimize the health of these patients and potentially improve patient outcomes,” suggest the researchers.

For patients who are severely obese, past protocol was to resolve their co-morbidities and help them achieve weight loss prior to transplantation. “A better approach might be to transplant these patients sooner by not requiring weight loss or working with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) for a policy change to assign additional Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) points for severe obesity, as is done for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma,” concluded the authors. “Aggressive management of the patients’ co-morbid factors and posttransplantation weight loss is a must.” The researchers also recommend a posttransplantation immunosuppressive regimen favoring less immunosuppressive medications without steroids and low dose tacrolimus based on the ideal body weight.

The doctors remarked that a more aggressive aggressive immunosuppressive regimen with higher doses of mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus is highly suggested.

According to a top league official last Thursday, NFL may give up control over its steroid testing program to an outside agency if it could not run the program effectively in cooperation with the player’s union.

This move would actually signify a great shift on their policy since the league has been running its own testing program for over two decades.

This decision came after the court rulings freeze the suspension of the two Minnesota Viking players. According to the court, a state court’s decision is needed regarding two issues related to Minnesota workplace laws.

The league viewed this move as something that could cause fragmentation of their steroid testing program. Wide-ranging laws could never serve anyone’s interest.

According to Jeff Pash, the league’s counsel and executive vice president of labor, if the program could not be administered by the league in cooperation with the player’s union, then it would be best to transfer its control to an outside agency such as the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).

He also mentioned that control of the steroid testing program could be placed under the control of a federal agency.

One thing they do not want to do is to stop the program, which has served everyone well.

According to The Washington Post:

The NFL might consider giving control of its steroid-testing program to an outside agency if it determines that it cannot continue to run the program effectively in cooperation with the players’ union, a top league official said Thursday. Such a move would represent a significant shift in policy for a league that has administered its testing policy in conjunction with the union for two decades.

After much controversy regarding Alex Rodriguez’s claims of steroids use, the commissioner’s office came into a decision last Friday.

The New York Yankees’ third baseman will not receive any disciplinary measures from Major League Baseball.

Last February, Rodriguez admitted to using steroids from 2001 to 2003 when he was still playing with the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez met with officials from Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations and Labor Relations Department the following month, as initial investigations started.

In late April, Sports illustrated writer Selena Roberts suggested in her book “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez”, that the baseball player continued to use steroids until 2004 when he was already with the Yankees.

This arose several speculations regarding A-Rod’s previous claims. The commissioner’s office conducted another investigation to determine if the player lied regarding his use of steroids.

However, the investigation proved to be difficult, as witnesses outside of MLB were not compelled to cooperate since the league had no authority over them.

Even investigations conducted by baseball officials on Dominican trainer Angel Presinal proved to be fruitless. No significant information was obtained from the trainer, who has been banned from MLB clubhouses.

From Miami Herald:

Major League Baseball will reportedly not discipline New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez after investigating whether or not he lied about his used of performance-enhancing drugs.

Luke Troy, the Australian club rugby prop, is in the limelight this time for wrong reasons due to the circumstances surrounding a steroid-related two-year ban.

It is worth noting here that the Newcastle Waratahs club prop ordered two separate types of steroid drugs (21 packets of testosterone-1 a mixture of Androstenes in February 2006 and 100 capsules of DHEA 200 containing 200 mg dehydropepiandrosterone per capsule in August 2006).

Though he was initially cleared by the Australian Rugby Union as he did not collected the drugs from the Australian Customs and it was not proven that the intercepted drug products were the same what the packaging was addressing, he has now been slapped with a 2-year ban.

From Brisbanetimes.com.au:

Troy had told ASADA: ”I acknowledge that I may have been naive to order [over the internet] but did so in good faith with no intention of using any prohibited substance. However at no time did I have possession of such items due to them being seized by Australian Customs.”

However the International Rugby Board appealed against the decision of the ARU and asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to decide the matter.

This week the CAS ruled Troy had committed an anti-doping violation by using or attempting to use a prohibited substance. The CAS found that Troy had searched the internet for products, deliberately ordered products believing they contained testosterone and DHEA and that he intended to use those substances personally for ”recovery and meal replacement”.

The CAS said it was not essential that the substances were in fact proven to be prohibited substances.

After the end of a lengthy appeal process, Troy was banned until May 5, 2011 from playing sports. It is considered by some sources that this test case will prove to be critical for other sports drugs tribunal hearings that involve non-analytical evidence.

In what can be termed as a victory for doping scientists, Don Catlin and his team of researchers have been able to crack down the chemical formula of a synthetic designer steroid that was previously unknown.

After a spent syringe was anonymously provided to the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), Catlin and his team started working on to identify this steroid so that steroid-taking sportsmen can very well understand that doping officials are doing their best to curb the use of steroids in sports.

From News-Medical.Net:

Urine samples were purposely spiked with the newly identified THG and various analyses carried out to determine how the substance could be detected. Although it is not detectable by standard doping control screening, THG was found to be easily detectable by alternate methods. Once detection methods were established, the substance was administered to a baboon both intravenously and intramuscularly, and its excreted urine collected for analysis. It was determined that THG is detectable in urine after both IV and IM administration.

The designer drug identified in this study is different from anabolic steroids previously found in athletes’ urine samples. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that its use could pose health risks, and it cannot be legally marketed without approval.

Lead researcher Catlin attributes this discovery to the provision of crucial inside information, and believes it to be a valuable contribution to doping control. He says, “Now that there’s a test for THG, anyone using it can get caught, and it’s unlikely to be found again in an athlete’s urine sample.”

THG is different from other forms of anabolic steroids that have been previously used by steroid-taking sportsmen and is detectable in urine after both IV and IM administration.

This discovery has surely brought a much-awaited relief to Catlin and many doping officials like him who have been trying their level best to ensure that sports and steroids do not get well at any juncture of time.

Shaun Loring, 45, former assistant football coach at Ventura College and his stepson, Travis Domm, 21 were charged of selling Ecstasy, the anabolic steroid Methandorstenolone and Hyrdocodone, an important  painkiller ingredient of drugs such as Vicodin and Norco. They were also charged of illegal possession of controlled substances such as Hyrdocodone and Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication.

The pair was arrested last May 2009 following discovery of steroids and several controlled pills during a search warrant served for Loring’s home and business. The illegal pills were found in a locked drawer with several business cards belonging to Travis Domm.

According to Adam Delgado, Ventura Police detective handling the case, their operation started in April when several undercover agents purchased anabolic steroids, Ecstasy and other controlled substances from Loring.

Delgado requested a bail of $750,000 for each but it was finally decided at $50,000 apiece. The bail is currently free from custody, as they have already posted bail.

Loring was additionally charged with possession of injection or ingestion device and carrying a switchblade knife.

If found guilty, the pair faces imprisonment of more than eight years in state prison. Loring and Domm, however, both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

From Ventura County Star:

A former volunteer assistant football coach at Ventura College and his stepson ran an illegal anabolic steroid and Ecstasy operation, importing large quantities of the controlled substances from outside the country, police alleged in court documents.