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.
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by Rain Man
...
At our level of swimming, dropping two seconds means you get to swim in heat 6 instead of heat 5 - and the top 4 heats are still going to crush you!
...
At the top level, there is so much more to gain by improving 2 seconds. National/World championship titles, sponsors, press recognition, fame, money... Let them have it. Enjoy our level of swimming and keep it clean. Their level is dirty, money-driven, under suspicion, political... that's not (at least I hope) what we are involved in swimming for.
Respectfully,
Rain Man
Something that I don't seem to have conveyed accross yet, Rain Man and Matt, is that I swim for the inner power of personal performance, not the outer power of social rewards.
From this point of view, I am jealous of the lucky young man I used to be, when from 1984 when I was learning to swim, until mid-1996 when I last competed well, I was conquering, through progress, new heights of achievement. A song I am listening to, 'Conquistador', that's my cockiness.
Swimming slower is boring, and swimming faster is fun.
Achieving progress against decline from aging, that should be feasible, I haven't tried it, but from newspapers it is reportedly working.
I speculate that many of today's supplements will be adopted in people's diets in say the year 2060, like vitamin C is now.
Not knowing which ones will be that good, and after considering posts in this thread recommending caution and a safer healthy lifestyle, I decide that I am not willing to make my own body a stranger to myself by experimenting alterations.
I decide in favor of living like I am now, decline be damned, while seeing what products FDA will approve as positive products without side effects.
Originally posted by Rain Man
...
At our level of swimming, dropping two seconds means you get to swim in heat 6 instead of heat 5 - and the top 4 heats are still going to crush you!
...
At the top level, there is so much more to gain by improving 2 seconds. National/World championship titles, sponsors, press recognition, fame, money... Let them have it. Enjoy our level of swimming and keep it clean. Their level is dirty, money-driven, under suspicion, political... that's not (at least I hope) what we are involved in swimming for.
Respectfully,
Rain Man
Something that I don't seem to have conveyed accross yet, Rain Man and Matt, is that I swim for the inner power of personal performance, not the outer power of social rewards.
From this point of view, I am jealous of the lucky young man I used to be, when from 1984 when I was learning to swim, until mid-1996 when I last competed well, I was conquering, through progress, new heights of achievement. A song I am listening to, 'Conquistador', that's my cockiness.
Swimming slower is boring, and swimming faster is fun.
Achieving progress against decline from aging, that should be feasible, I haven't tried it, but from newspapers it is reportedly working.
I speculate that many of today's supplements will be adopted in people's diets in say the year 2060, like vitamin C is now.
Not knowing which ones will be that good, and after considering posts in this thread recommending caution and a safer healthy lifestyle, I decide that I am not willing to make my own body a stranger to myself by experimenting alterations.
I decide in favor of living like I am now, decline be damned, while seeing what products FDA will approve as positive products without side effects.
