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.
I wish that I could agree with Jim Thornton about the steroids or other "additives", but I can't. I'm not sure that buying HGH or some other product mail order without knowledgeable assistance will improve performance, but with knowledgeable assitance regarding doses, and so on, the lesson of sports over the last 20 years is that there are substances that improve athletic performance. Look at Ben Johnson, the East Germans, the Chinese women, Michelle Smith(allegedly and denied by her), and so on.
Is the price too high for that form of success.? I think so, and there is a big difference between drinking coffee before a workout for a caffeine boost, and the East German swimming machine. But I think its wishful thinking to claim that there are no performance benefits. It is possible that what is being sold is not always what is being claimed, but track athletes and some swmmers on the international level are cheating because it works. If it didn't work, there wouldn't be the problems that exist. For information about the East German experience, with an emphasis on the resulting problems, see Fast's Gold. I've forgotten the author. But that was a scientifically run program that found that steroids improved performance. To be blunt, ask Shirly Babashoff if it helps make swimmers faster.
I don't think any masters swimmer should use products that are banned in other sports, and I hope none do. I'd like to swim faster but not that badly, and not that way. And I hope others agree with me. But I can't honestly say that what I view as cheating doesn't help people swim faster even if I wished it didn't.
I wish that I could agree with Jim Thornton about the steroids or other "additives", but I can't. I'm not sure that buying HGH or some other product mail order without knowledgeable assistance will improve performance, but with knowledgeable assitance regarding doses, and so on, the lesson of sports over the last 20 years is that there are substances that improve athletic performance. Look at Ben Johnson, the East Germans, the Chinese women, Michelle Smith(allegedly and denied by her), and so on.
Is the price too high for that form of success.? I think so, and there is a big difference between drinking coffee before a workout for a caffeine boost, and the East German swimming machine. But I think its wishful thinking to claim that there are no performance benefits. It is possible that what is being sold is not always what is being claimed, but track athletes and some swmmers on the international level are cheating because it works. If it didn't work, there wouldn't be the problems that exist. For information about the East German experience, with an emphasis on the resulting problems, see Fast's Gold. I've forgotten the author. But that was a scientifically run program that found that steroids improved performance. To be blunt, ask Shirly Babashoff if it helps make swimmers faster.
I don't think any masters swimmer should use products that are banned in other sports, and I hope none do. I'd like to swim faster but not that badly, and not that way. And I hope others agree with me. But I can't honestly say that what I view as cheating doesn't help people swim faster even if I wished it didn't.