Medical Question to a Doctor regarding Supplements.
Former Member
When competing last week in Hawaii, I read in the Honolulu Star Bulletin newspaper from Saturday May 18, in page A5, an advertisement promoting a product stimulating the release of the Human Growth Hormone by the body.
I read in it: "Practically EVERYONE over the age of 40 has a Growth Hormone deficiency.". I am age 43, and even though I trained more than ever for the past year, I swam slower in Hawaii in 100 free and 200 free than I did last year, which was slower than in 1998, which was slower than in 1996, which was slower than in 1994 when I peaked in yards competitions. Because of this, I kept reading:
by taking the product advertised in the newspaper "In the FIRST MONTH: You should expect: Improved stamina;...".
My question for a Medical Doctor familiar with competitions, regards one specific side effect of such a product, not approved by FDA. I remember reading in the Swimming World magazine in mid-90s, when Chinese Olympic swimmers were being caught on illegal products, that a possible side effect of Human Growth Hormone stimulants given to adults, was an increase of extremities like nose, hands, ears and forehead. A picture of the swimmer Massimiliano Rosolino (Ita.) who in the 2000SydneyOlympics won gold, silver and bronze medals, picture published in 2000 in www.nbcolympics.com, semmed to me to show the increase of the nose. www.nbcolympics.com didn't mean to imply anything like this, this is my interpretation of Rosolino's face. It is publicly documented now, that Rosolino took Human Growth Hormone stimulants before the Olympics.
My question is:
The product advertised in Honolulu Star Bulletin as being a Human Growth Hormone stimulant, does increase the nose?
If so, what safer supplements achieve "...improved stamina..."?
San Francisco Chronicle did mention once before the 2000Olympics, two Olympians who were achieving with legal supplements the outcome of illegal products.
Ion,
I've had the opportunity to interview some of the country's leading experts on steroids and OTC supplements for various magazines. One article I wrote for Men's Health-18 is still up on the web--you can check it out at:
www.mh18.com/.../0,3099,1-314,00.shtml
The bottomline for the vast majority of this stuff, from andro to HGH "promoters"--is that they are snake oil that don't give you the benefits they claim (though it's conceivable that a belief that they might do so could account for some placebo effect.) The only supplement for which there is even slight evidence of efficacy is creatine, and the "benefit" here is tiny at best.
For another magazine, Modern Maturity, I went on actual testosterone in the relatively new gel-delivery form. This is a medicinal drug available with a prescription only, and it can only (ethically) be prescribed for men with low levels. I took the stuff religiously for months, and it had absolutely no positive effects on my swimming performance or anything else that I could discern.
Weight lifters who abuse anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) can significantly boost muscle mass, but only by taking so-called supraphysiological doses, i.e., way more than your body is capable of producing. As your body registers this excess testosterone, it kicks back on its own production. As one researcher told me, the Arnold Swarzeneggers of the world are often afflicted with "shrunken nuts" and teeny-bopper-esque *** buds the size of golf balls. The price of vanity!
You can read my Androgel piece at www.aarp.org/.../manpower.html
Finally, for GQ magazine last year, I decided to test out a battery of over the counter products. For two months, I took hundreds of pills, HGH enhancing tic tacs, protein powders, andro, etc.--at the cost of hundreds of dollars (which, thank god, the magazine reimbursed me for because it was a total waste of money). GQ does not post its articles on the web, but if you e-mail me directly, I will e-mail you a copy of that piece.
The lure of "buff in a bottle" has been around forever--Aztec athletes, for instance, thought they could enhance strength by imbibing human blood. No doubt, there are researchers of the East German ilk secretly working on ergogenic drugs that will truly enhance performance for real (side effects and long term health consequences be damned.) But this is not what Masters swimming is about. This is not what sports is about.
This past swimming season has been, in many regards, the finest of my life. I did at age 49 a personal lifetime best time in the 200 free, and my second of lifetime best 100 fly. These swims occurred at least a year after all the various snake oil potions and Androgel were well flushed out of my system. The reason I believe I swam so well was 1) a great coach who really helped me with technique and conditioning 2) a major increase in weekly yardage, both in quantity and quality and 3) a lack of injuries. If I had actually found a drug that could simulate these effects without have to actually DO much (besides swallow the pill), the sense of personal accomplishment would have been nonexistent.
Ion,
I've had the opportunity to interview some of the country's leading experts on steroids and OTC supplements for various magazines. One article I wrote for Men's Health-18 is still up on the web--you can check it out at:
www.mh18.com/.../0,3099,1-314,00.shtml
The bottomline for the vast majority of this stuff, from andro to HGH "promoters"--is that they are snake oil that don't give you the benefits they claim (though it's conceivable that a belief that they might do so could account for some placebo effect.) The only supplement for which there is even slight evidence of efficacy is creatine, and the "benefit" here is tiny at best.
For another magazine, Modern Maturity, I went on actual testosterone in the relatively new gel-delivery form. This is a medicinal drug available with a prescription only, and it can only (ethically) be prescribed for men with low levels. I took the stuff religiously for months, and it had absolutely no positive effects on my swimming performance or anything else that I could discern.
Weight lifters who abuse anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) can significantly boost muscle mass, but only by taking so-called supraphysiological doses, i.e., way more than your body is capable of producing. As your body registers this excess testosterone, it kicks back on its own production. As one researcher told me, the Arnold Swarzeneggers of the world are often afflicted with "shrunken nuts" and teeny-bopper-esque *** buds the size of golf balls. The price of vanity!
You can read my Androgel piece at www.aarp.org/.../manpower.html
Finally, for GQ magazine last year, I decided to test out a battery of over the counter products. For two months, I took hundreds of pills, HGH enhancing tic tacs, protein powders, andro, etc.--at the cost of hundreds of dollars (which, thank god, the magazine reimbursed me for because it was a total waste of money). GQ does not post its articles on the web, but if you e-mail me directly, I will e-mail you a copy of that piece.
The lure of "buff in a bottle" has been around forever--Aztec athletes, for instance, thought they could enhance strength by imbibing human blood. No doubt, there are researchers of the East German ilk secretly working on ergogenic drugs that will truly enhance performance for real (side effects and long term health consequences be damned.) But this is not what Masters swimming is about. This is not what sports is about.
This past swimming season has been, in many regards, the finest of my life. I did at age 49 a personal lifetime best time in the 200 free, and my second of lifetime best 100 fly. These swims occurred at least a year after all the various snake oil potions and Androgel were well flushed out of my system. The reason I believe I swam so well was 1) a great coach who really helped me with technique and conditioning 2) a major increase in weekly yardage, both in quantity and quality and 3) a lack of injuries. If I had actually found a drug that could simulate these effects without have to actually DO much (besides swallow the pill), the sense of personal accomplishment would have been nonexistent.
