Human growth hormone, also known as HGH to the world, has been hailed as one of the safest and effective drugs when used in accordance with medical advice. But, it can lead to serious health risks when abused by its users.

Dr. Alan Rogol, while testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Government Reform Committee on behalf of The Endocrine Society, summarized the legitimate medical use of HGH and its probable health risks when abused by sportsmen, individuals, and celebrities to prevent aging.

From News-Medical.Net:

“There are a number of safe and legitimate FDA-approved uses of growth hormone in adults and children,” said Dr. Rogol. “The off-label use of growth hormone, which primarily is in the anti-aging and body image or athletic market, comes with increased risks.”

One risk factor is that most off-label users are usually unaware of the correct doses. “One can assume that the dose administered would be much greater than that given for legitimate purposes,” said Dr. Rogol.

At higher HGH dosages, it is possible to achieve levels similar to those found in the endocrine disease acromegaly, which is caused by too much growth hormone in the body. This condition can lead to severe muscle weakness and even heart disease.

According to Dr. Rogol, perhaps the most insidious off-label use is by athletes and others who believe they are using actual growth hormone, when in fact they may be receiving an entirely different substance.

“Magazines and the internet are replete with advertisements for substances marketed as ‘growth hormone’,” said Dr. Rogol. “Growth hormone, however, can only work if injected, and many of these preparations are taken orally, so they cannot possibly be HGH.”

It was also remarked that growth hormone, made from human tissue, has already been removed from the drug market due to rare but fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

According to a recently concluded medical review, the long belief that humid air can alleviate croup patients from noisy croup breathing and barking cough is nothing but a complete myth.

Lead reviewer Michael Moore, a family doctor at Three Swans Surgery in Salisbury, England, remarked that it is usually very common for patients’ families and doctors to get them have hot water in the corner of room or near a hot bath.

It was observed by Moore that studies do not suggest any benefits accruing from humid air or use of moisturized air in the emergency department. However, there might be some chances that some benefits may not have been picked up during these studies and researchers need to spend more time in continuing research in community settings.

From News-Medical.Net:

Croup is a set of symptoms that causes swelling in the upper part of the airway and affects the voice box. The condition usually is caused by a viral infection. Young children are especially susceptible to croup because the infants and toddlers have narrower airways than older children and adults.

Physicians rate the severity of croup by noting signs of labored breathing and poor oxygen intake. The croup score and health outcomes for the children treated with moist air were not significantly different than the scores for the patients who received no treatment, the review found.

“I think that probably the successes that were attributed to humidity in the past were due to the calming effect of the parent believing that they were doing something, the child taking deeper breaths, the child getting over the spasmodic element of the croup, and then just getting better,” said Dennis Scolnik, an emergency room pediatrician at The Hospital for Sick Children/Toronto in Ontario, Canada.

“I think humidity probably wouldn’t harm. But I think it’s a false sense of security,” Scolnik said.

The finding that moist air does not help croup should be no surprise to physicians who’ve been trained or kept up-to-date in the last five to eight years, Scolnik said. But he added that popular beliefs are hard to root out of medical practice and common use.

“It’s probably going to take as much as a generation of doctors – and through that parents – 10, 15, 25 years to work its way out of the system. Most of our parents are going to come in and say ‘Oh, you’re not giving humidity, why not?’” Scolnik said.

Scolnik also suggested that some calming techniques can be used at home to recover from mild coup. It is noteworthy to note here that steroids are often prescribed to reduce inflammation of the vocal chords over a time of many hours; physicians use nebulized (given by mist) adrenaline for moderately severe croup for relieving a patient from symptoms.

A recent study was conducted by Neil Sachandani, BS and associates of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. It was to assess the effectiveness of budesonide for the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis. Furthermore, they also determined the effects of the steroid in the adrenal function. Suppression of the adrenal glands could lead to absorption of the drug throughout the whole body, which is a known complication.

Budesonide is a corticosteroid used for the treatment of asthma, nasal polyps, hay fever, and sinusitis. It is also used additionally for the treatment of Crohn’s disease.

Researchers prepared a solution containing 0.25 mg budesonide and 5 ml saline. The participants were then instructed to apply the solution in each nostril for 30 days. The participants were also made to fill up questionnaires regarding the symptoms of their condition as well as the related quality of life. This was done twice during the whole period of the study, before administering the treatment and at the end of the treatment period.

All participants reported some forms of improvement in their condition after budesonide therapy. Furthermore, adrenal functions among participants were noted to remain normal. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents even said that they would recommend this method of treatment to their family and friends.

From Eurekalert:

A nasal wash containing the corticosteroid budesonide appears to reduce symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis without suppressing the function of the adrenal glands, a known complication of this type of drug that would indicate absorption throughout the whole body, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently conducted reviews on the implementation of random drug testing for their contractors across the enterprise. This is in response to the four guards who tested positive for anabolic steroid use. The security contractor, Wackenhut Services Inc., dismissed the guards from the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tenessee.

At present, random drug testing is not part of the employee screening process among corporate employees and contractors of US NNSA. However, under certain circumstances where there is probable cause, this random drug testing could always be conducted. It was NNSA representative, Damien LaVera, who confirmed that random drug testing requirements are currently being reviewed by their agency.

Oak Ridge head of the International Guards Union of America, Randy Lawson, claimed that only the Oak Ridge facility underwent screening among employees for steroid use. LaVera was not yet able to confirm Lawson’s claim.

The National Nuclear Security Administration is a branch of the United States Department of Energy. The main purpose of the agency is to provide nuclear safety, create effective but safe military propulsion plants, reduce global danger of any weapons of mass destruction and support US leadership in the field of science and technology.

From Global Security Newswire:

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration is studying the use of steroids by personnel at the nation’s nuclear-weapon facilities, the Knoxville, Tenn., News Sentinel reported Sunday (see GSN, Aug. 6).

The addition to corticosteroids to the traditional antimicrobial therapy can prove to be very effective in treating patients suffering from pneumonia than treating them with antibiotics alone, as per scientists from the UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Pneumonia is an infection of the lung, which is primarily characterized by breathing disorders and is spread by coughing and sneezing.

Dr. Robert Hardy, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and the study’s Senior Author remarked that steroids can prove their real worth when it comes to restoration of health after an individual catches pneumonia.

From News-Medical.Net:

In the current study, mice infected with the M pneumoniae bacterium were treated daily with a placebo, an antibiotic, a steroid, or a combination of the antibiotic and steroid in order to investigate the effect on M pneumoniae-induced airway inflammation. The animals were then evaluated after one, three and six days of therapy.

“It turns out that the group that got both the antibiotic and the steroids did the best,” Dr. Hardy said. “The inflammation in their lungs got significantly better.”

Although antimicrobials remain the primary therapy for M pneumoniae infection, there have been several reports in recent years about physicians adding steroids to the treatment regimen of patients with severe cases, Dr. Hardy said. The problem, he said, is that those were individual case reports.

“They never had a control group, so it was impossible to tell what impact the addition of steroids had on recovery,” he said.

It was also remarked by Dr. Hardy that though it is too early for him or others to recommend steroids as a form of standard treatment to patients with bacterial pneumonia but the findings do support the need for a clinical trial in the near future.

A usual treatment for sore throat involves the use of antibiotics to reduce symptoms of pain, inflammation and fever. However, studies show that the body can develop resistance if high amounts of antibiotics are used. Current guidelines even advised medical experts against prescribing antibiotics for sore throat.

A study was conducted by a group of medical experts from the University of Oxford regarding the use of corticosteroid in reducing pain and inflammation on patients suffering from sore throat.

In the study, they employed both adults and children with severe sore throat. Several adults and children were given both corticosteroids and antibiotics, while the remaining were given placebo. After 24 hours, patients who received treatment reported total relief from pain than those who received placebo. This was a clear indication that steroids can already be effective for sore throat in a single dose application. Other results showed that the combination treatment was only effective in adults. Furthermore, only oral corticosteroids were proven to show some positive effect. Steroids and painkillers also exhibited the same effect.

The authors concluded that oral corticosteroid in conjunction with antibiotics, proves to be the most effective treatment for pain relief in sore throat patients. However, further study needs to be conducted in determining the effect of corticosteroid in sore throat without the use of antibiotics.

According to Medical News Today:

A study just published on bmj.com reports that when treating adults with severe sore throat, a single dose of corticosteroid drugs together with antibiotics can alleviate pain more rapidly and effectively than with antibiotics alone.

Human growth hormone (HGH) is a substance produced by the pituitary gland that aids in growth and development in children and adolescents. According to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, it can only be used for legal purposes under three conditions. First is in HGH deficient children with short stature. It is administered to help the body grow to its normal size possible. Second is for the treatment of pituitary tumors in adults. HGH is administered since the pituitary gland loses its ability to normally produce HGH. The third would be in the treatment of muscle wasting diseases associated with HIV / AIDS.

Although off – label use of certain drugs is a usual practice in the field of medicine, the use of HGH is still considered risky and may bring potential harm. Long term use of HGH could lead to cancer. So its use could be more associated with a shortened lifespan.

HGH is distributed in various forms, from pills to sprays to injectables. However, research shows that HGH has no effect in the anti-aging process because its molecule is too large to be absorbed via bloodstream. Pills are easily destroyed in the stomach. It also does not help if HGH is taken in the from of a nasal spray.

According to researchers, it would be useless to spend money on HGH if your main purpose is to reverse your aging process.

According to the Medical News:

According to Olshansky, “off-label use for many drugs is a normal and accepted practice in medicine, but that is not true for growth hormone. According to laws instituted by Congress more than 10 years ago, HGH can only be distributed for indications specifically authorized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and aging and its related disorders are not among them. The use of HGH as an alleged anti-aging intervention is a major public health concern not just because it is illegal, but also because its provision for anti-aging is not supported by science and it is potentially harmful.”

Sports Ministers from 53 member states of the Commonwealth met in Athens on the eve of Olympics to formulate plans to make sure that sports and steroids do not go together in future editions of Olympics. An action plan was formulated in this high-profile meeting in order to be be a part of the worldwide drive to curb drugs from sports to express a a commitment to the worldwide anti-doping campaign.

From News-Medical.Net:

UK Sports Minister Richard Caborn chaired the conference. He called drug abuse in sport a “cancer“.

“Countries like the UK have valuable experience which we are only too happy to share with other Commonwealth nations.”

“We are determined that there must be no weak links in the fight against drugs in sport.”

The conference also committed Commonwealth countries to promote full participation by women in sport.

The meeting also saw a promise being made by the United Kingdom, which boats of two WADA-recognized doping laboratories, which will assist developing nations by passing critical information about drugs and best sporting practices.

However, it will be interesting to note how the Commonwealth will aim to curb steroid usage activities as steroids have became inseparable part of modern-day sports. The fact that more and more sportsmen are taking steroids and even sporting stalwarts advocating the legalization of steroids in sports, the hopes and plans of the Commonwealth may take a backseat.

Scientists in the United States have claimed to find two amazing drugs, AICAR and GW1516, which can prove beneficial for people especially sportsmen for exercising for longer durations. The discovery of these drugs has, however, came for criticism from some quarters of sporting fraternity as the drugs may give an ‘unfair’ advantage to sportsmen very much like steroids that have been condemned by sporting confederations and appreciated by sportsmen.

The two drugs have been believed to offer great advantages to users such as building of muscle mass and size, burning of fat, and increase in the level of stamina.

From News-Medical.Net:

Lead researcher Professor Ronald Evans, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Salk Institute in California, has produced a test which will allow the drugs to be detected in the urine and blood of competitors.

Professor Evans says the drugs could eventually help tackle muscle wasting diseases, or help improve the health benefits of exercise in people at risk of conditions such as diabetes.

The two drugs AICAR and GW1516, appear to have an effect on the master gene PPAR-delta which is involved in the building and regulation of muscle and also has the ability to control the activity of many other genes.

This ability in theory could have a wider effect on the way the body works.

By genetically altering mice to enhance the activity of the gene, led to the development of muscle which was much more likely to burn fat than burn sugar and it also made “marathon mice” who were able to run much further on a treadmill.

The researchers say a drug now needs to be produced which will create similar effects rather than conducting a genetic alteration.

The involved scientists are of the view that both these drugs are capable enough to help sportsmen expecting to deliver dramatic performance on an ongoing basis. However, it would be worthwhile to see the reaction of doping and sporting bodies on discovery of these drugs as they have been already expressing their concerns use of steroids in sports till now.

With the world getting divided between proposed legality of steroids in sports, it is high time that people start getting aware about steroids. Even today, many people feel that steroids are harmful for health but the truth is that steroids are not dangerous for health. It is only the user who makes them advantageous or dangerous. While a qualified medical advice guided usage can prove to be beneficial, an uninformed usage of steroids can lead to health ailments. This is the reason why there needs to a conscience effort to spread information about steroids so that potential users can understand the pros and cons of steroids and how to reap optimum benefits from them.

From Npr.org:

Norman Fost, professor of pediatrics and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, says: “I ask you in the audience to quickly name, in your own minds, a single elite athlete who’s had a stroke or a heart attack while playing sports. It’s hard to come up with one. Anabolic steroids do have undesirable side effects: acne, baldness, voice changes … infertility. But sport itself is far more dangerous, and we don’t prohibit it. The number of deaths from playing professional football and college football are 50 to 100 times higher than even the wild exaggerations about steroids. More people have died playing baseball than have died of steroid use.”

If we have a close look at modern day sporting environments, one can easily conclude that steroids have helped and helping professional sportsmen to think beyond previously self-created mind hurdles. This is the reason why steroids have been able to gain and maintain popularity like never-before in the last few years. And, believe it or not, steroids are here to stay and separating steroids and sports is just not unthinkable.

The use of anabolic steroids have been dated way back 1940’s. It was not until the 1950’s that they took off and during the 60’s and 70’s, demand became higher and higher. It was believed that injectable steroids cause less damage to the liver than oral ones because it goes directly to the bloodstream and do not pass through the liver.

There are, however, harmful effects of long term steroids use, not only to the liver but also to the heart, may it be taken orally or in injectable form.

First, it is found to cause enlargement of the heart due to hypertrophy of cardiac muscles. AAS will cause a rapid growth of heart muscles but will leave the heart vessels at its normal size. This could lead to heart tissue death because the blood supply would be lesser and poorer.

Second, it causes blood pressure to rise due to increased water retention in the body. Sometimes, it may also cause fatty deposits to build inside the vessels which could eventually cause arterial blockage.

Anabolic steroids also delay the relaxation of the heart after a pump. This would take longer time for the heart to refill and diastolic pressure increases. A combination of hypertension and longer time for relaxation could lead to numerous potential problems such as a fatal heart attack.

From Knol:

If you’re a bodybuilder using AAS and worried about your heart, you should realize that you are likely affecting it in some way – the degree to which you’re affecting it is the only detail which can be debated. Use common sense and understand the trade-offs involved with using AAS.

In some countries, obtaining steroid without a doctor’s prescription is illegal. Most societies condemn the use of AAS because of its abuse and negative side effects especially if it is use for non-medical purposes. This study aims to determine the predictors of future AAS use and to resolve issues regarding the risk of having emotional and behavioral problems in the future.

Data collected for the study were from a group of Norwegian adolescents, mostly in high school but some already in college. A survey was taken regarding their age, physical appearance, involvement in sports, satisfaction with their body parts, alcohol and drug use. The study observed adolescents in the age ranging from 15 to 19 years old within a four year study period.

Use of AAS was prevalent among males and those who had previous history of AAS use at a young age. Those involved in power sports and strength training were most likely to use AAS in the future. Other predictors include frequent alcohol intoxication, cannabis use, hard drug use, eating problems, weight problems, and sexual debut before the age of 15. AAS use was found to have no significant association with future emotional or behavioral problems.

According to Medscape:

Purpose: To prospectively study the stability of anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) use and predictors of AAS use, and to investigate whether AAS use alters the risk of later emotional and behavioral problems.

Chronic kidney patients usually depend on dialysis to help their body clean the blood from toxins and other waste products. It is a medical procedure done by removing the patient’s blood via a tube inserted in a vein, then it passes the dialysis machine where it is filtered before being returned inside the body. This treatment is often done three or four times a week either as a permanent maintenance treatment or as as an adjunct to a kidney transplant. However, due to this treatment and also as a result of their illness, kidney patients often experience malnutrition and muscle wasting.

A team of researchers led by Kirsten L. Johansen, MD, a University of California San Francisco assistant professor of medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics, found that anabolic steroids appear to increase lean muscle mass and reduce fatigue in kidney patients.

The study involved kidney patients who were either given nandrolone decanoate, an anabolic steroid, or a placebo for a period of six months. After the six months’ trial, patients who received the anabolic steroids were found to have an increase in their lean muscle mass to as much as 5.7 pounds and a significant decrease in fatigue as shown by better scores obtained during physical performance tests.

From Eureka Alert:

In a randomized, double blind trial, 29 patients were given either the anabolic steroid nandrolone decanoate or a placebo (dummy medication) for a six-month period. All of the patients were receiving dialysis treatments at San Francisco General Hospital. At the end of the trial, patients receiving the anabolic steroid gained an average of 5.7 pounds more lean body mass than the patients who got the placebo. Also, the patients who received the steroid reported less fatigue and scored better on physical performance tests. The researchers’ results are published in the April 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Steroids and other performance enhancers are mostly used in the sporting sector. Now, according to the Swiss government, more and more amateurs are also turning into the drugs to help them build muscles. Swiss custom officials and sniffing dogs have seen a doubling rise in the number of confiscated class-A drugs, fake good and contraband over the past year.

According to Swiss Medic, the country’s supervisory authority for therapeutic products, the main reason for the increasing use of anabolic steroids is due to the online sites that offer easy access in steroid purchase. Most of the performance-enhancing drugs that have been confiscated are in injectable form, but leading the list of the most confiscated are remedies for erectile dysfunction. In Switzerland, the use of steroids in medical and therapeutic doses are legal. The government even allows the use of muscle building substances, depending on the active ingredient and as long as it is in allowed amount. If you get caught importing anabolic steroids above the allowed amount, you will be charged a hefty sum of 400 francs.

Steroids may be of great help in building muscle mass but some of its side effects include hair loss, acne, psychological instability and heart or liver damage.

According to Radio Switzerland:

Swiss customs officials have seen a rise in the amount of anabolic steroids being confiscated—the number doubled from 2007 to 2008. And that spike, according to the government, is because more amateurs in Switzerland are turning to the drugs to build muscle and better their sports performance. Reporter Alex Helmick has the story.

In fact, customs officers and sniffer dogs go through the mail at the Swiss postal service’s sorting centre in Mülligen, near Zurich, every day to seek out drugs, fake goods and other contraband. So far this year, they’ve sniffed out 130 packages containing class-A drugs and confiscated around 60 fake identity documents. WRS’s Catherine Allen called on Swiss customs officer Max Gerber to find out more about their daily work—and some of the more unusual contraband that passes through.

Dr. Samir Jaber and colleagues of the University of Montpellier in France conducted a study regarding the effects of steroid therapy in reducing the incidence of reintubation and post-extubation stridor.

The team conducted clinical trials on selected and random patients in terms of their risk of intubation and stridor. On the trials involving selected high-risk patients, the researchers report lesser incidence of reintubation and post-extubation stridor. However, in randomly selected patients, results were less well defined.

In terms of the schedule of steroid administration, two trials were performed. One trial administered steroids in patients at least four hours before the planned intubation while the second trial administered steroids at a later time. Results of these trials showed that steroid treatment was only effective when taken at least four hours before and does not effectively lower stridor and reintubation when administered at a later time.

The meta-analysis made the researchers conclude that all of these criteria must be followed in order to maximize the effectiveness of prophylactic steroid treatment; it should be administered at least four hours before through intravenous injection and it is only effective in patients with high risk of developing stridor and reintubation.

From Medscape Today:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Apr 27 – Steroid use at least 4 hours prior to extubation reduces the risk of reintubation and stridor in selected high-risk patients, according to a report in the April 3rd Critical Care.

Prophylactic steroid therapy to prevent post-extubation stridor and reintubation remains controversial in both selected and nonselected patients, the authors explain

A study conducted by the Brenner Children’s Hospital, a part of the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center showed evidence of chickenpox worsening if the patient contracted the disease while on steroid therapy. Thomas McLean, a pediatric oncologist at the said hospital led this research. The study involved two groups of leukemia patients, those taking steroids during the time of disease contraction and those who did not received any steroid therapy. Results showed that more patients under steroid have severe cases of chickenpox which even resulted to death of two while those who did not receive steroids are relatively few.

The researchers explained that when a cancer patient is taking steroid treatment, the body’s immune system is suppressed, thereby, a virus attack could have a severe impact which can even cause death. Chickenpox can be life-threatening. Fortunately, in 1995, a vaccine was develop to combat this viral infection which caused an approximate 12,000 people to die prior to the vaccine release.

This study should not be considered as applicable only to leukemia patients but to all patients with various conditions and are taking steroids. Furthermore, this study aims to inform clinicians to carefully conduct patient’s history taking to determine if the patient already had chickenpox or not.

From Medical News Today:

“One of the things we need to remember to ask before we prescribe steroid treatment is whether the child has had a recent exposure to chicken pox,” McLean said. “If so, we recommend waiting until the incubation period has passed before beginning steroid therapy.”