A recent study has found that administration of injectable teriparatide (foreto) results in improvement of bone mineral density (BMD) by as much as two percent when compared to oral alendronate (fosamax) in a head-to-head comparison.

It was remarked by Kenneth Saag, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and his colleagues, that teriparatide is better than alendronate for promoting improvements in the BMD level at the spine and hip.

From Medpagetoday.com:

“In our study, teriparatide was associated with greater increases in [BMD] at the spine and hip and with significantly fewer new vertebral fractures,” Dr. Saag’s group wrote. But the dropout rate for adverse effects was twice as high for those taking teriparatide.

Only one out of 171 evaluable patients receiving teriparatide had radiographic evidence of a vertebral fracture, while 10 of 165 evaluable patients on alendronate had such fractures (P=0.004).

Nonvertebral fractures occurred at similar rates with the two treatments (5.6% versus 3.7%, P=0.36). BMD in the total hip increased with both drugs, though less dramatically than in the lumbar spine. Teriparatide increased hip BMD by 3.8% while it rose 2.4% in the alendronate group. The advantage for teriparatide was significant (P<0.01). Significantly more patients in the teriparatide group had at least one elevated serum calcium measurement > 10.5 mg/dL (18% versus 5.7%, P<0.001) and there was a tendency toward more patients with at least one measurement > 11 mg/dL (3.8% versus 1%, P=0.06).

Teriparatide is a recombinant peptide drug, based on a portion of the parathyroid hormone protein. Earlier studies had indicated that it leads to increased BMD.

Philip N. Sambrook, M.D., of the University of Sydney, said that teriparatide can be considered as an effective form of treatment and may even be taken as a potential first-line therapy for steroid-Induced osteoporosis as per the findings of Saag and his colleagues.

The benefits of anabolic steroids have always impressed one and all but a paper presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA has suggested that athletes using steroids can suffer from kidney damage.

This complication was previously unrecognized and can happen when steroids are used on a habitual basis.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Reports of professional athletes who abuse anabolic steroids are increasingly common. Most people know that using steroids is not good for your health, but until now, their effects on the kidneys have not been known. Leal Herlitz, MD (Columbia University Medical Center) and her colleagues recently conducted the first study describing injury to the kidneys following long-term abuse of anabolic steroids. The investigators studied a group of 10 bodybuilders who used steroids for many years and developed protein leakage into the urine and severe reductions in kidney function. Kidney tests revealed that nine of the ten bodybuilders developed a condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a type of scarring within the kidneys. This disease typically occurs when the kidneys are overworked. The kidney damage in the bodybuilders has similarities to that seen in morbidly obese patients, but appears to be even more severe.

The study was conducted in the lab of Dr. Vivette D’Agati, MD at Columbia Univeristy Medical Center. Study co-authors included Glen Markowitz, MD, Joshua Schwimmer, MD, Michael Stokes, MD, Cheryl Kunis, MD, Vivette D’Agati, MD, (Columbia University Medical Center); Alton Farris, MD, and Robert Colvin, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital).

A type of Vitamin B1 has been identified by researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. This Vitamin B1 type may prove to be an effective treatment form for managing one of the leading causes of blindness in the world.

In a paper that appeared in an issue of the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, the researchers noted that dramatic results can be attained with a fat-soluble form of vitamin B1, benfotiamene.

Presently, the complication is treated with antibiotics or steroid eye drops.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“Benfotiamene strongly suppresses this eye-damaging condition and the biochemical markers we associate with it,” said UTMB associate professor Kota V. Ramana, senior author of the study. “We’re optimistic that this simple supplementation with vitamin B1 has great potential as a new therapy for this widespread eye disease.”

The researchers’ data shows benfotiamene works by suppressing the activation of a crucial signaling molecule called NF-kappa B, which is normally triggered by the stress caused by infection. Shutting down NF-kappa B, they said, prevents the runaway production of inflammatory proteins that generates uveitis.

Benfotiamene’s low cost, rapid absorption by the body and lack of negative side effects make it an ideal candidate for uveitis prevention, according to Ramana.

Benfotiamene is better than thiamine, which was suggested by clinical trials in this regard, and offers benefits such as improvements in terms of diabetic polyneuropathy in patients, as per Ramana.

Patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and administered with inhaled corticosteroids are at a lesser risk of mortality than COPD patients untreated with steroids.

This finding was noted in a new study that was published in an issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).

The involved researchers noted that COPD patients on corticosteroids within 30 days from hospital discharge displayed a 25 percent reduced all-cause mortality rate and those using steroids paired with beta-agonists displayed a fall in cardiovascular-related deaths by 38 percent.

From News-Medical.Net:

Researchers also found a 23 percent reduced risk of death when comparing the effects of inhaled steroids with bronchodilators in patients in the 65+ group. In all cases, the most significant results were found when inhaled corticosteroids were administered within the first 30 days following hospital discharge.

“Our results indicate that the effect of inhaled corticosteroids is relatively short-term and that those currently using it are relatively better protected, ” said Dr. Macie. “Inhaled corticosteroids should be prescribed as soon as clinically indicated. By treating COPD with inhaled corticosteroids, we have the potential to reduce the effect and prolong life.”

“The findings from this study are intriguing for clinicians and point to the need for further research to define the role and mechanisms of the effect of inhaled corticosteroids on both cardiovascular and respiratory mortality,” said W. Michael Alberts, MD, FCCP, President of the ACCP.

Author Christine Macie, MD, FCCP, Cambridge Hospital, Ontario, Canada, remarked that COPD often remains an underrated lung ailment that has associated lung disease.

Rituximab, an effective treatment option for autoimmune diseases, has been found to be effective for Graves’ eye disease after steroids have failed to deliver expected results.

This finding was revealed in a recent study.

Raymond S. Douglas, M.D., Ph.D., an oculoplastics specialist who recently joined the faculty of the U-M Kellogg Eye Center, noted on the drug potential in the online October issue of Ophthalmology.

From News-Medical.Net:

In the current study, Douglas observed improvement among the patients, four of whom were women, as early as four weeks following the first infusion of rituximab. Researchers also observed that the positive results were sustained 4 to 6 months after treatment.

“Treatment of the inflammatory component of Graves’ eye disease has not advanced appreciably over several decades,” says Douglas. High-dose steroids, sometimes in combination with orbital radiation, are still the first line treatment. But, says Douglas, “These are imperfect options because inflammation often recurs when the treatment ends.” He is hopeful that rituximab can offer sustained improvement. Douglas observes that the results from a small case series must be viewed with some caution. But given the substantial benefits for patients treated with rituximab, he sees good reason to proceed with a large-scale clinical trial to test this promising new drug.

The study suggested that rituximab can easily be termed as an effective treatment option for treating patients suffering from the most severe forms of Graves’ eye disease.

Mark McGwire admitted during the last week that he did used steroids during his career that was highlighted by 583 home runs but now wants every one to forget the tales of steroids to move ahead.

This admission has once again reaffirmed the fact that there is a relationship between steroids and sports. It is believed that baseball fans would find it difficult to forget the steroid tales that were once related to their favorite stars.

From Freep.com:

“I hope you all can accept this,” McGwire said. “Let’s all move on from this. Baseball is great right now, baseball is better.”

McGwire, the new Cardinals hitting coach, is getting support from his boss, manager Tony La Russa, and St. Louis‘ best player, Albert Pujols.

“Go talk to Mark, I think he cleared up everything, he closed the doors,” Pujols told reporters at the team’s Winter Warm-Up. “If you want to reopen those doors I know the right guy. Go talk to Mark about it. … There’s 300,000 people that just died in Haiti and you guys just want to concentrate on Mark McGwire. Come on, give me a break.”

The admission by McGwire has also blasted the claims of anti-doping and government officials that have been long in place for curbing the use of anabolic steroids in sports.

Steroids can prove to be an effective option with antibiotics when it comes to reducing recovery time associated with pneumonia, according to a study by researchers from the UT Southwestern Medical Center.

The study suggested that health of a patient suffering from pneumonia can be restored easily if steroids are administered in a combination with antibiotics as compared to the use of antibiotics alone.

From News-medical.net:

Adding corticosteroids to traditional antimicrobial therapy might help people with pneumonia recover more quickly than with antibiotics alone, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have found.

Unlike the anabolic steroids used to bulk up muscle, corticosteroids are often used to treat inflammation related to infectious diseases, such as bacterial meningitis. Used against other infectious diseases, however, steroid therapy has been shown to be ineffective or even harmful.

In a study available online and in a future issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers at UT Southwestern show that mice infected with a type of severe bacterial pneumonia and subsequently treated with steroids and antibiotics recovered faster and had far less inflammation in their lungs than mice treated with antibiotics alone.

The study led by Dr. Robert Hardy, Study’s Senior Author & Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, also suggested that steroids are good for treating inflammation of the lungs while antibiotics prove effective for killing the bug.

Luke Troy, the Australian club rugby prop, is in limelight but for wrong reasons this time after a two-year ban was imposed on him for steroid orders.

It was reported that Troy, Newcastle Waratahs club prop, ordered two separate types of steroid drugs (21 packets of testosterone-1 a mixture of Androstenes in February 2006 and 100 capsules of DHEA 200 containing 200 mg dehydropepiandrosterone per capsule in August 2006).

The Australian Rugby Union cleared him at the initial stage because the intercepted drugs were not proven to what the packaging revealed and were not collected from the customs in person.

From Brisbanetimes.com.au:

Troy had told ASADA: ”I acknowledge that I may have been naive to order [over the internet] but did so in good faith with no intention of using any prohibited substance. However at no time did I have possession of such items due to them being seized by Australian Customs.”

However the International Rugby Board appealed against the decision of the ARU and asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to decide the matter.

This week the CAS ruled Troy had committed an anti-doping violation by using or attempting to use a prohibited substance. The CAS found that Troy had searched the internet for products, deliberately ordered products believing they contained testosterone and DHEA and that he intended to use those substances personally for ”recovery and meal replacement”.

The CAS said it was not essential that the substances were in fact proven to be prohibited substances.

Troy was banned until May 5, 2011 from playing sports on the accusations of ordering steroids.

The incident is expected to influence other sports drugs tribunal hearings that involve non-analytical evidence.

Steroid hormones‘ intermittent signaling can affect gene expression in rodents according to a research by scientists at the University of Bristol and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA.

The finding is believed to provide invaluable insight to understand as to why steroids work along with creating novel avenues for new therapies.

The findings of this study are published online and expected to appear in the September 2009 issue of Nature Cell Biology.

From News-Medical.Net:

Glucocorticoid hormones, which were investigated in this study, are steroid hormones secreted by the adrenal glands that are involved in a large variety of animal and human physiological responses.

Glucocorticoids act through the glucocorticoid receptor, which is expressed in almost every cell in the body and regulates genes controlling development, metabolism, and immune response.

Studies of the glucocorticoid receptor typically assess gene responses after long-term stimulation with synthetic hormones. However, such treatments may not fully replicate the actual situation in living animals because, in addition to being released from the adrenal glands in a 24-hour circadian pattern, these hormones are also released in a pulsing mode, cycling approximately every hour, in what is referred to as ultradian cycling.

In this new study, the researchers demonstrate that ultradian hormone stimulation induces the pulsed expression of genes (known as gene pulsing) over the same period, both in cultured cells and in animal models. Initially, the researchers administered corticosterone, a naturally occurring glucocorticoid hormone in rodents, in a pulsed manner to cultured mouse cells and then observed that the levels of newly synthesized RNA from glucocorticoid receptor-regulated genes tracked precisely with the hormone pulses.

Professor Stafford Lightman, head of the Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience and Endocrinology, at the University of Bristol, remarked that cortisol gets gradually released in pulses in rodents and humans. It was also remarked that the study suggests this hormonal pattern release is important for sound health and providing a novel concept for new drug design.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an approval for use of Temodar (temozolomide) capsules in combination with radiotherapy to treat adult patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a form of malignant brain cancer. This announcement was made by Schering-Plough Corporation to whom the approval was granted.

Dr. Henry Friedman, co-director, Clinical Neuro-Oncology Program, The Brain Tumor Center at Duke, said that Temodar is a significant advancement in battling GBM.

From News-Medical.Net:

The approval of Temodar for newly diagnosed GBM was based on efficacy and safety data from a landmark Phase III study conducted by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)(1) in patients with newly diagnosed GBM. These data were published in the March 10, 2005 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.(2) In this multicenter trial of 573 patients, significant improvements in overall survival were observed in patients who were treated with Temodar in combination with radiotherapy. Myelosuppression was the dose-limiting adverse event. The most common adverse events across the cumulative Temodar experience were alopecia, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, headache, and constipation. Forty-nine percent of patients treated with Temodar reported one or more severe or life-threatening events, most commonly fatigue (13%), convulsions (6%), headache (5%) and thrombocytopenia (5%). There may be a higher occurrence of opportunistic infections such as pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) when Temodar is administered during a longer dosing regimen. However, all patients receiving Temodar, particularly patients receiving steroids, should be observed closely for the development of PCP regardless of the regimen.

It was remarked that Temodar has the unique potential of representing an important physicians and patients for fighting against GBM along with the ability to promote the true benefits of chemotherapy in treating this complication.

Vitamin D may slow the progressive decline in the breathing ability that may happen in some asthmatic people due to human airway smooth muscle (HASM) proliferation, as per researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

Calcitriol, which is a form of vitamin D synthesized within the body, reduces growth-factor-induced HASM proliferation in cells that are isolated from asthmatic people and even those unaffected by it.

From Sciencedaily.com:

The experiments were conducted with cells from 12 subjects, and the researchers compared calcitriol with dexmethasone, a corticosteroid prescribed widely for the treatment of asthma. Although, dexmethasone is also a powerful anti-inflammatory agent, the researchers found that it had little effect on HASM growth.

Dr. Damera and his colleagues found calcitriol inhibits HASM in a dose-dependent manner, with a maximum inhibitory effect of 60 percent ± 3 percent at 100nM.

As part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Airway Biology Initiative, the researchers are planning a randomized control trial of calcitriol in patients with severe asthma and expect to have data from the trial in about a year’s time.

Gautam Damera, Ph.D., who will present the research at the American Thoracic Society’s 105th International Conference in San Diego, said that the drug has the unique potential of delivering amazing results due to its anti-inflammatory characteristics.

According to a report in the December issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, administration of triamcinolone (a corticosteroid) in injectable form into the eye may slowdown the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy can be classified as a condition of diabetes that can result in vision loss and blindness.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Corticosteroids have been shown to interfere with the creation of new blood vessels, possibly by reducing the production of compounds that spur their growth, the authors note. However, steroids are also associated with other eye diseases.

“Use of this intravitreal [injected into the eye] corticosteroid preparation to reduce the likelihood of progression of retinopathy is not warranted at this time because of the increased risk of glaucoma and cataract associated with intravitreal steroid use,” the authors write. “Any treatment to be used routinely to prevent proliferative diabetic retinopathy likely needs to be relatively safe because the condition already can be treated successfully and safely with panretinal photocoagulation. Nevertheless, further investigation with regard to the role of pharmacotherapy for reduction of the incidence of progression of retinopathy appears to be warranted.”

The study was conducted by Neil M. Bressler, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues in the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network.

A spent syringe that had an undetectable anabolic steroid and was provided to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and the contents delivered to the research team in Los Angeles has been identified as tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).

The details of this research were published in an issue of Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.

From News-Medical.Net:

Urine samples were purposely spiked with the newly identified THG and various analyses carried out to determine how the substance could be detected. Although it is not detectable by standard doping control screening, THG was found to be easily detectable by alternate methods. Once detection methods were established, the substance was administered to a baboon both intravenously and intramuscularly, and its excreted urine collected for analysis. It was determined that THG is detectable in urine after both IV and IM administration.

The designer drug identified in this study is different from anabolic steroids previously found in athletes’ urine samples. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that its use could pose health risks, and it cannot be legally marketed without approval.

It was remarked by Catlin that no one will be using this drug from now on as tests to identify have will feature in doping tests. It is worth noting here that THG is detectable in urine after both IV and IM administration.

Pharmacists can considerably reduce worries of patients in relation to the use of steroids by as much as 50 percent through intervening to address patients’ concerns, as per a new research launched at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester.

The study, which was undertaken by Pharmacy Alliance, the Medicines Management Division of UniChem, investigated the inputs of community pharmacists in collaboration with general physicians for meeting the needs of patients with atomic eczema.

From News-Medical.Net:

The results showed that, following help and advice from a pharmacist, or pharmacy staff:

* Steroid concerns reduced from 68% to 30%

* Poor understanding of atopic eczema fell from 43% to 6%

* The need for lifestyle advice dropped from 51% to 20%

The research also found that:

Community pharmacists identified a total of 1,597 problems. Of these:

* 20% involved steroid concerns

* 15% required lifestyle advice

* 12% of patients had unmet treatment goals

* 11% of patients had poor understanding of atopic eczema

Pharmacist Caroline Tinkler who led the study remarked that it is important for the patients to be appropriately educated about eczema and treatment to derive optimum benefits and relief.

It was suggested that a pharmacist advice can relieve worries of patients who are about to use topical corticosteroids, to a great extent.

A new discovery by scientists at the University of Edinburgh as part of a study that was published in Nature Medicine journal, patients struggling with inflammatory conditions such as chronic diseases of the lung, joints and other organs can now expect great relief.

This study suggested how certain drugs, already tested as cancer treatment options may reduce the level of tissue inflammation.

From News-Medical.Net:

Professor Chris Haslett, Head of the Queen’s Medical Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh, expects the study to lead to trials of these drugs in human inflammatory diseases. Professors Adriano Rossi and Haslett, who have led this new study with other colleagues from the QMRI, said: “This study offers new hope for patients with severe inflammatory diseases. Specific treatment for such conditions is poor, and the use of steroids is fraught with potential difficulties. We have adopted a different strategy by using non-biological treatments, but this study needs urgently to be translated into trials and we are now seeking major funding to research further how these drugs work.”

It is worthwhile to note here that lab tests have highlighted the fact that CDK inhibitors, like Roscovitine, can significantly minimize the inflammation level in models of rheumatoid arthritis and the fatal ailment called fibrosing alveolitis.

Estrogen can stop the damage caused by stroke by inactivating P53, a tumor-suppressing protein, which is known for preventing many cancer forms, according to Medical College of Georgia researchers.

Limor Raz, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the MCG School of Graduate Studies, said that this research clearly suggests that estrogen surpasses P53 after a stroke for curbing the damage.

From News-Medical.Net:

P53, the protein in the mitochondria, or powerhouse, of the cell, is known as “the guardian of the genome” because it regulates the cell cycle and prevents genome mutation. It also can prevent cancer by suppressing tumor growth.

It is known that stressful conditions such as a stroke activate p53, triggering unfavorable changes in the cell. One change is the activation of another protein called PUMA, which signals a cascading effect that destroys the mitochondria and causes cell death, or apoptosis.

Ms. Raz further said that estrogen has the potential to alter p53 chemically besides attenuating the cascade to result in minimized stroke damage.

Raz has been working with Dr. Darrell Brann, chief of developmental neurobiology and associate director of the MCG Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics and presented her findings at the American Physiological Society conference aimed at the cardiovascular effects of sex steroids and gender.

According to researchers from the German Sport University Cologne in Germany, non-steroidal and tissue-selective anabolic agents like Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) are being openly sold on the black market due to their performance enhancing properties.

The finding was revealed after detection of the drug candidate Andarine in a product sold via the Internet, which one again highlighted the fact that availability of authentic SARMs draws people to them.

From Sciencedaily.com:

In 2008, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited the use of SARMs in sports due to their potential for misuse. WADA closely cooperates with pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies, as well as medicine agencies and drug evaluation bodies on the issue of therapeutics being misused in sports. WADA’s preventive approach was validated with the recent finding of a commercially available, non-approved arylpropionamide-derived SARM termed Andarine. This product, declared as green tea extracts and face moisturizer to pass customs, was available on the Internet at a discount price of $100 USD.

To prove that SARMs lacking clinical approval are distributed and potentially misused in sports, Mario Thevis, Ph.D., and colleagues, analyzed the advertised substance using state-of-the-art mass spectrometric approaches with high resolution/high accuracy (tandem) mass spectrometry. “One unit (30 mL) was purchased online and delivered in a box labeled to contain face moisturizer and green tea extract. The sealed bottle did not declare any content and no further documents accompanied package,” said Dr. Thevis.

Mario Thevis, Ph.D., and colleagues, said that SARMs coming with significant anabolic properties are nowadays easily available without sufficient research on their undesirable effects.

This matter was recently addressed at the Conference of Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport, held October 26-28, 2009 at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris.

A peer-led and sport team-centered program can help in reducing eating disordered behavior and body-shaping drug use in female high school athletes, according to an article in issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The article revealed that about half of high school students (male and female) participate in school sports and the pressure to win often influence young women to come in close proximity to disordered eating behaviors, drug use (tobacco, diet pills, diuretics, laxatives, amphetamines, and anabolic steroids).

From News-Medical.Net:

The researchers found that athletes participating in the ATHENA program reported significantly less ongoing and new use of diet pills, and less use of amphetamines, anabolic steroids, and sport supplements. These athletes also reported more seatbelt use and less new sexual activity. The ATHENA athletes also had positive changes in healthy eating behaviors, and reductions in intent to use diet pills in the future, vomiting to lose weight and tobacco use.

“The ATHENA curriculum succeeded in most of its prevention and health promotion goals,” the authors write. “Following their sport season, intervention students reported less ongoing and new diet pill use and less new use of athletic-enhancing, body-shaping substances (amphetamines, anabolic steroids, and muscle-building supplements). Experimental participants understood more about the presented topics, had improved self-reported dietary habits, and indicated greater self-efficacy for exercise training,” write the researchers.

The topics in the ATHENA program were gender specific and consisted of information on effective exercise training, drug use, depression prevention, media images of women, and healthy sport nutrition.

According to a new study, nitric oxide level in an asthmatic patient’s exhaled breath can portend worsening of asthma symptoms to some extent along with signifying an imminent attack linked to underlying airway inflammation.

These facts have raised the interest of clinicians apart from providing a potential breakthrough for formulating medications and enhance the results of treatment methodologies when it comes to monitoring nitric oxide levels.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Still, in light of these findings, it is clear that FENO monitoring should only be applied to those who stand to gain the most. “There can be no doubt that adding frequent assessments of FENO to management plans of most children and adults with asthma will add unjustifiable costs without providing clinical benefit. Whether there is a role for monitoring FENO to aid management of severe asthma is untested,” wrote Stephen Stick, Ph.D., of the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, Australia and Peter Franklin, Ph.D., of the Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Research at the University of Western Australia in Perth in an editorial that accompanied the article.

“We did not address other possible applications of frequent FENO monitoring, such as prediction of steroid effect. Loss of control, prediction and prevention of exacerbations, and tapering of steroids in symptom-free children who wheezed in the past,” noted Dr. de Jongste. “We think there is good reason to study these potential applications.”

It was remarked by Johan C. de Jongste, M.D., Ph.D., at the Erasmus University Medical Center-Sophia Children’s Hospital in the Netherlands, and colleagues, that there is more than just a reason to go further to study about these potential applications in the near future.

More and more sportsmen are using anabolic steroids these days to gain a competitive edge and stay ahead of the peers, as evident from the growing number of sportsmen opting for anabolic steroids on the Internet.

However, what many people forget is the fact that steroids do not pose any harm to the users if used under medical advice and help sportsmen delivers dramatic performance on a continuing basis.

From Entertainment.howstuffworks.com:

Anabolic Steroids

A steroid is a chemical substance derived from cholesterol. The body has several major steroid hormones — cortisol and testosterone in the male, estrogen and progesterone in the female. Catabolic steroids break down tissue, and anabolic steroids build up tissue. Anabolic steroids build muscle and bone mass primarily by stimulating the muscle and bone cells to make new protein.

Athletes use anabolic steroids because they increase muscle strength by encouraging new muscle growth. Anabolic steroids are similar in structure to the male sex hormone, testosterone, so they enhance male reproductive and secondary sex characteristics (testicle development, hair growth, thickening of the vocal cords). They allow the athlete to train harder and longer at any given period.

Anabolic steroids are mostly testosterone (male sex hormone) and its derivatives. Examples of anabolic steroids include:

* Testosterone

* Dihydrotestosterone

* Androstenedione (Andro)

* Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)

* Clostebol

* Nandrolone

It is, however, of great mention that steroid abuse and sub-standard steroids can result in side effects and must be avoided at all stages.

According to a new review of recently concluded studies comparing inhaled corticosteroids and the medicine cromolyn, asthmatic patients, including children and adults, can exercise a better control over their asthma and breathe deeper with inhaled corticosteroids.

James Guevara, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues said that asthmatic patients treated with steroids have an advantage of scoring higher in lung function tests. It was also remarked by them that the usage of corticosteroids allow patients to make lesser use of inhalers than patients who makes use of cromolyn.

From News-Medical.Net:

“To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review comparing the effects of cromolyn to the gold standard, inhaled steroids,” Guevara said.

The review appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

The consensus still leaves room for cromolyn treatment, according to William Storms, M.D., an allergist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and director of the William Storms Allergy Clinic in Colorado Springs.

“Any expert would agree that inhaled corticosteroids are preferred first-line therapy for treatment of persistent asthma, which requires daily therapy. But we also will agree with the NIH [National Institutes of Health] asthma guidelines, which state that cromolyn and other drugs are alternative therapies,” Storms said.

Cromolyn, or sodium cromoglycate, and inhaled corticosteroids both block the action of certain inflammatory cells in the lungs. Physicians recommend both types of medication for persistent asthma, but individual studies disagree about which type of medication works best, the reviewers found.

Guevara and colleagues said that inhaled corticosteroids are superior to cromolyn irrespective of asthma severity level and also said that the attained results are so decisive that there is no need for any future study on this matter.

Steroids are found to cause health risks especially if taken for prolonged periods of time. It can cause acute liver injuries, kidney problems, heart diseases and stroke.

It comes in liquid form, which is administered through injection or in pill form. However, the pill form is said to cause the greatest injury to the kidneys due to its amount of absorption when ingested.

Injectable steroids are said to be the most dangerous because many people do not know how to properly administer the drug through this method.

Jason E. Buttimer, 26, a resident of 106 East St. in Foxboro was arraigned last November 19 due to drug possession charges. Last month, Buttimer’s home was raided and several containers of steroids were found in Mansfield home.

Buttimer appeared in Attleboro District Court on summon. He pleaded not guilty to counts of steroid possession, according to court records.

Sergeants Sam Thompson and Frank Archer, two Mansfield detectives handling the case, filed the charges. The two assisted an agent from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to police records, authorities executed a search warrant in the Fairfield Park home of Buttimer. They were able to confiscate steroids in liquid and pill form in September.

Buttimer is currently free without any bail. He is set to return to court on January 12, 2010.

From The Sun Chronicle:

ATTLEBORO – A Foxboro man was arraigned Thursday on drug possession charges related to the seizure of steroids from his former home in Mansfield last month.

Steroids are not effective when it comes to treating infants with bronchiolitis, a common and potentially fatal viral lower respiratory infection, as per a new study co-authored by Dr. Joan Bregstein of the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center.

The multicenter study that was conducted by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) was able to found out that steroid treatment is unable to prevent hospitalization or improve respiratory symptoms for bronchiolitis.

Some of the possible symptoms of bronchiolitis are coughing, runny nose, wheezing, and fever.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Our study shows that treating bronchiolitis with steroids doesn’t work. We hope this study will resolve some of the uncertainty for physicians and families, as we move forward in developing better means of preventing and treating the infection,” says Dr. Bregstein, site principal investigator and emergency medicine pediatrician at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Current recommendations suggest that simple supportive care is the best available treatment for bronchiolitis. Researchers note that steroid-based medications still play an important role in other respiratory illnesses of childhood such as asthma and croup. They point out these medications are not the androgenic steroids sometimes abused by athletes, and that the side effects seen with long-term steroid use are not a risk in the short-course treatments used for croup and asthma attacks.

The study on bronchiolitis was led for PECARN by the University of Utah’s Department of Pediatrics and Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

According to authorities, hundreds of dollars worth of anabolic steroids were found in Richard Thomas’ home in Stoney Creek Drive. Last May, deputies and federal agents set up an entrapment delivery of a package with contraband sent from overseas.

He confessed to selling anabolic steroids to professional athletes. He pleaded guilty to federal charges last Tuesday.

Records show that the packages came from various countries such as China, Russia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries.

Federal agents initially intercepted a suspicious package in May 21. The package came from Slovakia. It was addressed to a certain “Mahlon” Thomas in Lakeland.

Polk County Sheriffs wired the package with an electronic beacon so they would know if the package was opened.

Thomas admitted to being the biggest steroids provider in Central Florida. He even claimed to have supplied players from Washington Capitals Hockey team and Washington Capitals baseball team.

Books about steroids, blister packs of Valium, packaging labels, firearms, a digital scale, and bodybuilding photos and trophies were also found in Thomas’ home during the search.

According to NY Daily News, MLB is also conducting their own investigation regarding Thomas’ claims.

From TBO:

TAMPA – A Lakeland man who told authorities he sold steroids to professional athletes pleaded guilty today to a federal steroids charge.

Richard Thomas, 36, faces up to five years in prison on a charge of possession of steroids with intent to distribute.

After federal officials raided the company’s headquarters and their warehouse in Boise, Idaho, chief executive officer of Meridian, Ryan de Luca, said they decided to recall 65 of their products that matched the list in the FDA’s search warrant.

There was no bargain or agreement between the company and the US Food and Drug Administration. De Luca made it clear that the recall has nothing to do with any agreement or with FDA’s suspicions that Bodybuilding.com sells and distributes steroids.

According to de Luca, the company was not aware of the products containing prohibited ingredients. Manufacturers assured them that the products were properly classified as dietary supplements in compliance with federal law.

The company’s main objective was to distribute and sell safe and effective products.

Steroids can cause a list of long-term side effects such as liver damage, kidney abnormalities, cardiovascular problems and even death.

De Luca is proud to say that the company did not suffer much from the recall since Bodybuilding.com sells more than 12,000 products online aside from those recalled products. They also sell protein powder and multivitamins.

According to the company, instructions on how to return products can be seen on their website, Bodybuilding.com. Customers can also contact the company through email at service@bodybuilding.com or through phone by calling 1-866-236-8417.

From Idaho Statesman:

The Meridian online retailer decided to recall 65 products listed in federal search warrants a few days after federal officials raided the company’s headquarters and Boise warehouse, the chief executive officer said Tuesday.

Adam Longer, 28, a previous state trooper acknowledged to court last Tuesday to possessing anabolic steroids. A judge asked Longo what his plead was, and he responded that he was guilty of the charges. He was defended by his attorney, Michael Krampner.

Longo’s name was connected to former Wyoming state trooper, Franklin Ryle Jr.’s case who was charged of abducting a Wal-mart truck driver.  According to police investigations, anabolic steroids were found inside Ryle’s desk.

He will be sentenced in Natrona County for the next week or so for the felony. His maximum penalty could have been five years in prison, but since his legal counsel bargained a deal with the prosecutors, he only has to face five years probation.

Since Longo had no criminal record and the anabolic steroid he owned was initially for individual consumption, prosecutors well concurred to the plea arrangement. One prosecutor even said Longo’s cooperation was remarkable.

Longo admitted to Col. Sam Powell, head of Wyoming Highway Patrol that he had used steroids during the last 18 months and that had given some to Ryle. Longo further added that he purchased the steroids locally from a Casper gym.

From Trib:

A former state trooper will likely avoid jail time after admitting in court Tuesday to possessing anabolic steroids.

The larger body size of professional soccer players does not mean that the risk of catching atherosclerosis or cardiovascular disease is enhanced after they retire, as per a research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008.

It was remarked by Benjamin D. Levine, M.D., senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, that active players tend to easily prevent the progression of pre-diabetes from becoming real diabetes by following an active lifestyle.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Perhaps by remaining fit, the players were able to prevent the progression of pre-diabetes from becoming real diabetes,” said Benjamin D. Levine, M.D., senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. “The prevalence of obesity, using normal criteria, is really high when you look at NFL players.

“But the BMI is only a crude measure of fatness. For the athletic community it may be biased against very dense, muscular people who may have a high BMI but not as much fat. The BMI might not tell the whole story.”

This study was based on retired players from another era. The football players today are about 50 percent larger than they were a quarter of a century ago, said Levine, who is also professor of internal medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UT Southwestern. “Today, there is a lot of incentive for football players to get as big as possible through eating, extensive training or by using anabolic steroids and growth hormones. The criterion for success is that bigger is better.”

Whether current or recently retired players are at greater risk for cardiovascular events or death merits further study, given the larger body sizes of today’s NFL player, he said.

It was also found during the study that the retired National Football League (NFL) players had a significantly lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, and sedentary lifestyle when compared to other men.

A clinical study of cardiac patients revealed that allergic symptoms after the use of Plavix can be alleviated with a combination of steroids and antihistamines. These patients experienced allergic reactions after using the widely-prescribed drug clopidogrel, also known by the pharmaceutical name Plavix.

It was suggested by doctors from the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital that this kind of a combination treatment can prove to be an effective option for allowing the patients to remain on the drug.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Eighty-eight percent (21 of 24) were able to stay on Plavix uninterrupted after being treated with the antihistamines and a short course of steroids. Primary Investigator Michael P. Savage, M.D., director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Kimberly L. Campbell, M.D., cardiology fellow and lead author, presented their findings at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session on March 30 2009.

“This is a very important study for many cardiac patients but especially those with stents,” said Savage. “Every patient who receives a stent must take Plavix to help prevent stent thrombosis which is clotting of the stent. This obviously poses major problems if the patient suffers an allergic reaction to the medication. To discontinue taking the drug can lead to a heart attack which may be fatal. Those with a drug eluting stent are required to be on the drug for at least one year. Our patients with drug eluting stents actually averaged 17 months on Plavix versus the minimum of one year. That’s a very long time to not be on a medication that may save your life.”

It is noteworthy to remember here that Plavix is considered to be one of the most widely prescribed drugs worldwide. It is estimated that around 6 percent of its users tend to experience allergic reaction(s).

This first-of-its-kind systematic study demonstrated that drug allergy is treatable without discontinuing the usage after experiencing the allergic symptoms.

Although steroids can be utilized in legal medical uses, it is still banned to administer the drug for the exclusive intention of working up muscles.

Sometimes, doctors may administer steroids in patients with serious anemia. They may also prescribe the drug in men not creating enough testosterone.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, physicians never prescribe anabolic-androgenic steroids to young, healthy people to aid them in working up their muscles.

Steroids use, particularly for extended periods, could bring about unfavorable results unique to each sex and age group.

In males, it could bring about shriveling of the testicles, low sperm count, sterility, male pattern baldness, breast development or gynecomastia and an elevated risk for prostate cancer.

In females, it could result to noticeable development of facial hair, baldness, shifts or irregularity in the menstrual cycle resulting to total cessation, enlargement of the clitoris and thickening of the voice.

Teenagers may run the danger of sustaining stunted maturation due to early maturation of their skeletal body structures. Puberty changes are rapid, and they may not achieve their utmost stature if they take anabolic steroids before or during their growth spurt.

Taking steroids is never brilliant or sound. It may abbreviate your lives instead of extending it. It could bring about troubles that could injure you for the remainder of your life.

From The Cypress Times:

Steroids do make users bulk up, but the health risks are high. It’s true, on steroids biceps bulge; abs ripple; and quads balloon. But that’s just on the outside. Steroid users may be very pleased when they flex in the mirror, but they may create problems on the inside.

The first-ever international guidelines for treating psoriatic arthritis have been presented by the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

These guidelines were presented after some of the most eminent names in the worlds of rheumatologists, dermatologists, and patient advocates came together for publishing guidelines on curing psoriatic arthritis, a disease that primarily affects individuals with psoriasis as well as those untouched by it.

The involved group was headed by Christopher Ritchlin, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

From News-Medical.Net:

“In the past few years, new medications have become available that are incredibly effective for the various manifestations of psoriatic arthritis,” said Ritchlin, who treats about 250 patients with the disease. “Many patients’ find their lives changed for the better within just a couple of weeks. These guidelines are designed as a platform to make sure physicians around the world are aware of what’s available for their patients and to help them make sound treatment decisions.”

Psoriatic arthritis is an oft-forgotten cousin to its better known counterparts, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Doctors estimate that somewhere between 500,000 to 1 million people in the United States have psoriatic arthritis. Doctors say that about one out of four patients with psoriasis also gets psoriatic arthritis, and that conversely, about 15 percent of people who get the disease don’t have psoriasis.

Presently, treatment options for psoriatic arthritis include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and steroids injected into joints or tendons.

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