If a lot of adults are ignorant about the difference between cortisone and other steroids, it’s primarily the fault of the doctors who tell them “I’m going to prescribe a steroid”.
I agree the andro in baseball controversy was all about pushing an agenda while hiding other problems that are more severe.
For example we never saw hearings on tv about the estimated 5-7 million children in America who have been prescribed methylphenidate.
We heard all about the handful of people who died while using ephedrine, but we never heard about the 300 healthy children who have had heart attacks and died because of methylphenidate.
We saw Mark Maguire all over the news talking about steroids and baseball. Yet when Dr. Fred Baughman testified before congress about the millions of children who have been poisoned with methylphenidate it didn’t get covered.
Both studies being discussed here were pretty awful excuses for science. Like the man said, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
I have no idea what Congress is up to - other than trying to get reelected, of course. I will say it’s sad for athletes if we get to a situation where you have to juice or take andro in order to be competitive. A situation like that is worth a look or two, especially when the sanctioning organizations have fallen down in front of the problem.
I don’t think andro is a public health problem per se, or at any rate it’s not out of line with the hazards presented by so many other freely sold health supplements.
Bah! I knew the study was flawed from the start. And like Chris said, thanks to the media hype only the results of the first study will be remembered?
Why don’t they do a survey on how many people pop Tylenol, which has been shown to cause liver and kidney damage?
It’s just amazing the lengths some will go to villianize anabolics,when there are other substances out there readily available and just as dangerous if not more.
And the hypocrisy of the public annoys me as well. They want their favorite sports figures to winners, but how do they expect them to maintain a winning edge in an ever-more competitive playing field?
My daily rant is over.
[quote]Todd S. wrote:
I have to admit there was a time I thought anabolic meant it was a steroid, I was young and completly clueless about anything. Way before the whole internet boom we have now. [/quote]
This confusion was largely caused by supplement manufacturers, who wanted the word ‘anabolic’ to be included in their advertising for anything (even creatine).
A lot of these guys go out of their way to pick product names that sound like well known anabolic steroids. The confusion is quite purposeful.