Steroids

Interesting column from the San Francisco Chronicle about steroid use among the East German swimmers: sfgate.com/.../article.cgi

Originally posted by ande Wonder if steriods and such were a contributing factor to Flo Jo's death at such a young age. Her times in the 100 m and 200 m dashs from 1988 are still womens world records. Was she just not caught? Ande Last night on The Family guy rerun, Death came after Peter. When Death is chasing Peter, he says somehting like "What you think you can outrun me. Hey, I caught Flo Jo." Truly a great line. I just read an article on steriods in a very old Lancet. It remarked that repeative injuries in certain sports appear to be related to form but it needs to be relooked at becasue "strength" from steroids covers up bad form.

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com But soemtimes just being inthe sport has long term negative health effects. Most swimmers have at least soem problems with their shoulders and wha about some *** strokeers who have really messed up knees & backs?Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com Exactly! Swimming can cause enough harm without compounding the effect.

I read an article about a hocky player who took steroids to bulk up so he could get on the team. Apparently he wasn't big enough to begin with...? Anyway, he said the steroids didn't make him any stronger and cause everything to get really big. Like his fingers, he could hardly grip the hocky stick to play. Ooops, big mistake.

Originally posted by geochuck FindingMyInnerFish Do you have the runners kick problem? Runners generally have a bit of a problem with their kick when they start to swim. No ankle flexibility, bend too much at the knee... I might very well, George! My coach does keep reminding me to kick from the hips, not from the knees, and I occasionally get foot cramps. I'm not sure if that's related. I have a history of foot problems, so the swimming is a great way to add training w/out the impact!

The problem with steroids is not only that athletes who use them might have an unfair advantage over others (not always tho. as the case of the hockey player shows), but that once use reaches critical mass, others who might not want to use them could feel pressured to do so b/c of trying to keep up. And as in the case of East Germany, athletes were expected by coaches to use them--even kids, who were given "vitamins" and not told what they were really taking. But enforcement seems to be so elusive. All the testing, yet still ppl manage to use--and find drugs easier to mask. So how to eradicate their use? I wonder if, along with the constant vigilance and testing, there needs to be sufficient consciousness raising across sports about the longterm effects of steroids--and closing down the big labs like Balco that market them so aggressively. When I've had plantar fascitis (a running injury), I could not take NSAIDs b/c I'm allergic to them, so I have occasionally had to take cortisone by injection or by mouth. During one year, I had three shots, and later that year developed a monster case of the flu, one that lasted about a month and spawned sinus infections that lingered all during the winter. Since then, I've been very leery about taking cortisone in any form. There might have been no connection, but that was a case of the flu I never want to repeat. So I've been looking at alternative forms of inflammation control--have had success w/ glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM and massage. I think my allergy to NSAIDs (once I got past the idea that the only other alternative was cortisone) was a blessing in disguise, b/c I have found ways to deal w/ inflammation w/out dangerous side effects. I think sometimes steroids are needed for some medical conditions. But even there, they need to be used w/ caution. This is strong medicine and should be treated w/ respect.

FindingMyInnerFish Do you have the runners kick problem? Runners generally have a bit of a problem with their kick when they start to swim. No ankle flexibility, bend too much at the knee...

Put another way, I know of NO STUDIES that indicate jumping off a 15 story building will cause harmful effects....then again, common sense dictates that IF you do that, your going to go splat on Broadway.....

So jumping out of the office window to escape my job is a bad idea? DARN IT!

I guess the relevant issue there Heather is, "What floor you're on!