HEALTH PUBLICATIONS

Doping in sports..

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Introduction.

Doping is defined by the IOC as the use of any method or substance that might harm the athlete, in a quest to gain an unfair advantage, over his or her fellow competitors.

Hence, training at altitude to increase the bloods ability to carry oxygen is allowed, but the use of drugs such as EPO, to achieve the same result isn’t.

Recent controversy in Le Tour de France, and the Atlanta games of 1996, have shown the use of doping to be wide spread. However, doping isn’t a new trend bought on by the advent of modern pharmaceutical agents. History shows that athletes in the ancient Olympic games, were willing to take plant extracts in a bid to better their competitors.

Rigorous testing procedures have shown many notable athletes to be trying to “beat the system” by taking such drugs, most notably, Ben Johnson, in 1988 who won the 100m sprint in a new world record time of 9.79s, only to test positive for steroids, and lose his gold medal and world record.

Types of Doping.

Doping can be split up into physical methods, such as blood doping and the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Performance enhancing drugs can be catorized into the following types;

1. Stimulants, such as amphetamines,

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Sport latest threat: Form-fitting Genes

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Sometime in the near future, an athlete might walk into a lab and ask for an injection that will bring a world of possibility. Take this and hit home runs like Barry Bonds, the athlete would be told. Take it and fly around the track like Marion Jones. This might sound like another story about steroids, but it’s not. The topic is genetic doping.

Because it uses DNA to stimulate or block natural chemicals, it won’t show up in a blood or urine test. With billions of dollars at stake every year in sports and the lure of fame stronger than ever, gene doping is expected to be the next big issue for sport.

Experts in the field of genetic research predict it could happen in five or 10 years. Or sooner. I don’t think it would surprise any of us if tomorrow we picked up a newspaper and saw that (an athlete) had died of a stroke after getting involved with gene therapy, said Dr. Theodore Friedmann, director of the gene therapy program at the University of California at San Diego and considered to be the worlds top authority in the field.

Genetic doping has the potential to make a mockery of what is currently considered fair athletic competition. The World Anti-Doping Agency has formed a panel, led by Friedmann and it will meet next month, to study the issue and come up with methods for detection. There is no firm evidence right now that people are using genetic manipulation to enhance performance, he said, but there have been a number of studies done with mice and rats that suggest such a thing can be done.

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TOP-DOG THIGHS

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Amidst brambly weeds in the sweltering Texas heat is a kennel, and in the lead pen–reinforced with steel bars so the occupant can’t tear through the chain-link door and kill one of its coworkers again–is a pit bull named Max.

Max is the “muscle” that delivers the crippling bites when he and his expertly trained kennel mates hunt wild boars in the dark. On all but the hottest nights, the dogs wear Kevlar, and even then the tusks of a 400-pound razorback can end a dog’s days.

Max has bucked the odds and thrived as the leader of the pack for more than seven years. Despite all challengers, so has the man who toils just a few feet away, on the other side of a crumbling gym wall: bodybuilding’s undisputed top dog, Ronnie Coleman.

GETTING SMALL

It’s 98 degrees and exactly four weeks before the 2005 Mr. Olympia when photographer Kevin “Hardcore” Horton and I cruise down the craggy lane, past auto repair garages and junked autos, to MetroFlex Gym. “Home again,” Horton exhales. We love this place! We’re in Arlington, at the country’s most hardcore gym, where the world’s top bodybuilder trains alone. This is what I journeyed halfway across the country and Englishman Horton journeyed halfway across the world to capture. This is what bodybuilding is all about.

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Anabolic Steroids Help HIV Patients To Gain Weight

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People with HIV who are treated with anabolic steroids to prevent AIDS wasting may realize modest gains in weight and muscle mass, a new review shows.

The review covered 13 studies of adults age 24 to 42 with HIV, 294 of whom received anabolic steroids for at least 6 weeks and 238 of whom received placebo. The average weight increase in those taking anabolic steroids was nearly three pounds.

“The magnitude of weight gain observed may be considered clinically relevant,” said lead author Karen Johns, a medical assessment officer from the agency Health Canada. “One hopes there would be greater weight gain with the long-term use of anabolic steroids; however, this has not been proven to date in clinical trials.”

The review appears in the most recent issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

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Protein complexes

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Proteins appear to be basic material for cell construction. The name ‘proteins’ (from Greek Protos – main, the most important) reflect the initial idea of this substance class very precisely.

Proteins

– appear to be the main structural cell component;

– are used for development, ‘reconstruction’ and preservation of body tissues;

– appear to be an energy source.

An actively training athlete should take 1-2 gr of proteins per pound of body weight a day. The processes of muscle recovery and growth take place during two-three after-training days; that’s why it’s extremely important to provide uninterrupted and even delivery of amino acids to muscle cells.

You shouldn’t forget to take a lot of proteins (quickly-assimilated serum proteins) within 1 hour right after a training session: a protein-carbohydrate cocktail (see the section ‘Energy drinks’) – within the first half an hour and a protein cocktail – in 40-60 minutes.

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Positive Nitrogen Balance

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Positive nitrogen balance is a symptom of anabolism and muscle growth. You’ll hear about it in the future very often; so, let’s find out what it is.

Nitrogen balance is the ratio of the quantity of nitrogen coming to our organism with the food we eat and to the quantity of nitrogen excreted from it. Since proteins appear to be the main nitrogen source of our organism, it’s possible to consider the ratio of proteins that our organism gains and destroys in accordance with its nitrogen balance; and this information is necessary to know whether muscle growth takes place.

There is a certain connection between the amount of nitrogen that our organism consumes with food proteins and the amount of nitrogen that our organism excretes. Increase of protein intake automatically increases the quantity of excreted nitrogen. In case of correct nutrition, an adult’s organism, as a rule, excretes the same amount of nitrogen it gains. This state got the name of nitrogen balance. You should remember: we mentioned before that our organism always strives for constancy (homeostasis). That’s why this kind of balance is a normal state for most people. If you increase the amount of food proteins nitrogen balance will soon be recovered but at a higher level. So, the actual result of nitrogen balance lies in the fact that our body always strives for such a sate when nothing happens: we neither grow nor lose weight.

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NEW HARVARD STUDY: Red Meat Does Not Cause Heart Disease

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A Guilt-Free Hamburger

Maybe that juicy steak you ordered isn’t a heart-attack-on-a-plate after all.
A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that the heart risk long associated with red meat comes mostly from processed varieties such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and cold cuts and not from steak, hamburgers and other non-processed cuts.

The finding is surprising because both types of red meat are high in saturated fat, a substance believed to be partly responsible for the increased risk of heart disease. But the new study raises the possibility that when it comes to meat, at least, the real bad actor may be salt. Processed meats generally have about four times the amount of salt as unprocessed meats.

Processed meats such as bacon and sausage have four times the amount of salt as steak and hamburgers.

In a report that pooled data from 20 different studies from around the world, the researchers found that daily consumption of about two ounces of processed meat was associated with a 42% increased risk of heart disease and a 19% heightened chance of diabetes. By contrast, a four-ounce daily serving of red meat from beef, hamburger, pork, lamb or game wasn’t linked to any increased risk of heart disease. There was, however, a small, but statistically insignificant risk of diabetes.
While the study is far from definitive, researchers said the findings suggest that people, especially those already at risk of heart problems or with high blood pressure, should consider reducing consumption of bacon, processed ham, hot dogs and other packaged meats that have a high salt content. Salt increases blood pressure, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

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Belly Fat Or Hip Fat – It Really Is All in Your Genes

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The age-old question of why men store fat in their bellies and women store it in their hips may have finally been answered: Genetically speaking, the fat tissue is almost completely different.

“We found that out of about 40,000 mouse genes, only 138 are commonly found in both male and female fat cells,” said Dr. Deborah Clegg, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and senior author of the study appearing in the International Journal of Obesity. “This was completely unexpected. We expected the exact opposite – that 138 would be different and the rest would be the same between the sexes.”

The study involved mice, which distribute their fat in a sexually dimorphic pattern similar to humans.

“Given the difference in gene expression profiles, a female fat tissue won’t behave anything like a male fat tissue and vice versa,” Dr. Clegg said. “The notion that fat cells between males and females are alike is inconsistent with our findings.”

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Facts about Fish

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Whenever the best bodybuilding foods are listed, chicken and beef are usually ranked ahead of fish. Not that fish is a forgotten protein source among bodybuilders, but, other than canned tuna, it’s simply not as highly regarded. Fish, though, should get its due, as it not only helps you build muscle but helps protect your health as well.

You can choose among virtually fat-free forms, such as flounder and sole, or higher-fat versions, such as salmon few foods on Earth are as good a source of health-enhancing omega- 3 fatty acids as salmon is.

Were not saying that chicken and beef shouldn’t remain in your bodybuilding nutrition plan they definitely should but fish should play an important role too, because it offers certain advantages over other sources of protein. Here are five reasons to make fish and other types of seafood a significant part of your diet.

1. Fish is lean.

When you’re dieting to shed bodyfat, you have to balance different objectives cutting total calories, reducing fats and carbs, and simultaneously increasing protein consumption. Rely on lean fish as a staple of your diet because it meets all these objectives. Fish is also a great food to turn to during a diet when

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Sex for bodybuilder: necessity or hindrance?

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Among bodybuilders broad different opinions about the influence of sex in the life of an athlete, on his power rates and the rate of progression. Some argue that having sex interfere on the normal recovery between workouts, others believe sex useful to progress in strength and endurance.

So how does sex actually affect bodybuilding? First, we will understand the arguments of each side.

What wrong see fans of dumbbells and weights in frequent sex? First, the process of recovery, so necessary for normal development and progression of bodybuilding is unthinkable without rest and healthy sleep. And it was in a dream and that is the desired recovery and super compensation of muscle fibers, which are so eager sportsmen. Opponents of sex in the period of training argue that too often, her personal life interfere with normal sleep and rest, because of what the muscles do not have time to recover and progress is minimized, or else non-existent.

In addition, semen contains a large amount of protein, so necessary for recovery and growth of muscle tissue. And its losss, especially before bedtime seems to be very painful. Of what will build muscle? Moreover, now the body has to expend energy and the same protein to create a new sperm – and this again happens at night, when the much needed energy for muscle growth.

As for those fans of weights, which argue for the existence of a regular sex life, they are also very reasoned. And their main argument is the quantitative content of testosterone (male hormone) in the body bodybuilder.

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Training and alcohol

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First you quit smoking, then think about what you eat and how much you sleep, even after buy a beautiful jars of various sports supplements. All this you do in order to make your body attractive. For the beauty you have to change your lifestyles but from cake are easy to give up, then what about alcohol?

Birthdays, parties … Sometimes you just can not resist and not refuse, and of course, hurts the question – how it affect the results of training? Will it fall endurance or appear fat? How much alcohol can you drink without serious consequences for the organism? To answer these and other questions let us try to understand what alcohol is and how it acts on the body.

Alcohol (ethanol) – does not contain proteins, carbohydrates, fats, but has an energy value of 7 calories / g. According to its properties, it is more like carbohydrates, but unlike them, can not be converted into glycogen in the muscles and delayed for later use. For our body alcohol is toxic and at the first ingestion begins to be processed at a speed of about 10 grams / hour. For example, if you drink 200 grams of vodka, then only 8 hours the body gets rid of excess alcohol. During this time, in the body can occur interesting changes, which can not be avoided, but you can try to compensate. You can easily find a lot of information about the dangers of alcohol, but we are more interested in its effects on an athlete.

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Oxandrolone metabolic and hormonal changes

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Metabolic and hormonal changes of severely burned children receiving long-term oxandrolone treatment.
Przkora R, Jeschke MG, Barrow RE, Suman OE, Meyer WJ, Finnerty CC, Sanford AP, Lee J, Chinkes DL, Mlcak RP, Herndon DN. Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Galveston, TX 77550, USA.

OBJECTIVE:
When given to children for 1 year after a severe burn, oxandrolone significantly improves lean body mass, bone mineral content, and muscle strength. The beneficial effects of oxandrolone on height and weight were observed 1 year after treatment was discontinued. To study the efficacy of oxandrolone in severely burned children for 12 months after burn and 12 months after the drug was discontinued.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA:
Oxandrolone attenuates body catabolism during the acute phase after burn. It is unclear whether oxandrolone would have any beneficial effects during long-term treatment or if there were any effects after the drug was stopped.

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