The use of anabolic steroids can pose a big danger to health of users besides being illegal, according to Aaron L. Baggish, M.D., lead author of the study and instructor in the Department of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The use of steroids in long run could weaken the heart more than previously considered along with leading to heart failure, as per a research reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

From Sciencedaily.com:

Baggish and his co-investigators used a technique known as Doppler echocardiography to examine the left ventricle’s function and structure. The test uses high-frequency sound waves, or ultrasound, to create moving pictures of the heart and its blood flow.

The steroid-using group included 12 male weight lifters, average age 40, who reported taking about 675 milligrams of steroids per week for nine years. The control group was seven age-matched, male weight lifters who reported no steroid exposure. Both groups had similar durations of past and current weight lifting and other physical activity, as well as similar cardiac risk factors other than steroid use. Although the users and non-users had comparable body-mass indices and body-surface areas, the steroid users had more muscle mass than the non-users.

Despite the small sample size, the statistically significant differences in heart function suggest a strong link between steroid use and heart impairment, said investigators who are conducting further studies to confirm their findings.

Co-authors of the study were Rory B. Weiner, M.D.; Gen Kanayama, M.D., Ph.D.; James I. Hudson, M.D.; Sc.D.; Michael H. Picard, M.D.; Adolph M. Hutter, Jr., M.D.; and Harrison G. Pope, Jr., M.D.

Jim Rice, who will be one of the elite inductees to the Hall of Fame with Rickey Henderson on July 26, spoke on Friday against use of steroids and the bad vibes created by steroid using players and steroids in baseball. He was of the view that steroid-using baseball players namely Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, among others, just do not deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

In a conference call that was arranged by the Hall of Fame, Rice said that baseball players who used steroids to deliver dramatic performance on the field and hampered the spirit of the game do not deserve any place in the hall of fame.

From Sfgate.com:

“You can almost look at the same thing as Pete Rose,” Rice said on a conference call arranged by the Hall of Fame. “I think if they did something wrong to enhance the game of baseball or go against the game of baseball, they shouldn’t be in. That’s just me.”

Regarding steroids, Rice said of the players already enshrined, “You didn’t find anything that they did wrong. They’re in the Hall of Fame. All of a sudden, you pick someone who did something wrong, and they say, ‘Well, we’re going to overlook that because he was a Hall of Famer before that.’ Nah. Uh-uh. I don’t believe in that. If you’re going to be that way, you’ve got to be straight with everyone.”

Both Bonds, a seven-time MVP, and Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, elevated their games in their late 30s and early 40s and are targets of federal investigations into whether they lied about using steroids. Both were considered Hall of Fame worthy before their first link to performance-enhancing drugs.

“If they used steroids, it’s up to the writers to make the decision. As Hall of Famers, we have no vote,” Rice said. “You go back and ask, ‘Was he a Hall of Famer before they caught him using steroids?’ So you’re telling your kids, ‘Hey, you can use steroids now, don’t get caught.’ “

It is believed that many of the several players who have been included in the hall of fame expressed their disapproval of players who used steroids during their playing days, including Rich Gossage who was one of the inductees last year, who motivated young players to fess up with steroids.

Olympic female hurdler Fani Halkia faces a maximum of two years in prison as she has been charged with steroid use on October 31.

Halkia, who won the gold at the 400-meter hurdles in 2004 Olympics in Athens, was expelled from the Beijing Olympics when she tested positive for the anabolic steroid methyltrienolone, also known as M3.

Halkia’s coach, George Panagiotopoulos, was also charged by Greek prosecutor Costas Simitzoglou. Panagiotopoulos faces up to three years in prison and a fine of $26,070.

In late September, Halkia appeared before the prosecutor and denied any wrongdoing. In her subsequent written testimony, the 29-year-old Olympic champion blamed her failed doping test on a “malicious act” by unnamed individuals.

Greek authorities have been embarrassed by the series of doping violations committed by their athletes. The head of the country’s Olympic committee called it an ‘organized effort’.

Aside from Halkia, fourteen other Greek athletes tested positive for M3 including the 11 members of the country’s weightlifting team.  Runners Tassos Gousis and Dimitris Regas, also among the athletes who reportedly used the said steroid, have been already penalized by the Greek athletics federation with a two-year ban each.

Illegal use of toxic substances, such as anabolic steroids, is considered a misdemeanor under the Greek law.

Bumetanide is now the buzz word in the National Football League.

According to Fox 31 television channel in Denver, there are six to 10 positive tests of Bumetanide among NFL’s rosters. Another news organization, ESPN.com, provided a bigger number “more than 10 and may exceed 15” it said in its report. Only two athletes have been named so far, and they are New Orleans Saints’ Deuce McAllister and Will Smith.

The sports organization is yet to release official statement on the issue. Similarly, David Cornwell, who has been hired by several of the involved parties, refused to divulge the identity of his clients or the actual number of the athletes involved. Cornwell, however, aired his views regarding how the information was reported by the media.

“These men are entitled to confidentiality and entitled to go through an appeal process, so the (Fox 31) report … is completely unfair,” Cornwell said. “The cornerstone of any workplace testing program, especially one in professional sports with high-profile people, is confidentiality.

“The recent reports about pending appeals by players who are alleged to have used weight loss supplements reflect the most egregious violation of the NFL steroids policy. The foundation of the policy is both a player’s right to appeal and an absolute right to confidentiality. By leaking this story, the ’source’ is clearly attempting to put their thumb on the scale of justice and harm these men.”

Bumetanide is loop diuretic, which means it acts on the ascending loop of Henle in the kidney. Loop diuretics are mainly used to treat hypertension and edema caused by congestive heart or renal insufficiency. Diuretics, such as Bumetanide, are often used as masking agents by some athletes. Masking agents are drugs or compounds that are taken purposely to ‘mask’ or hide steroids and other prohibited substances. This is the reason why diuretics are also tested for in doping controls. So this means that the NFL players who tested positive for Bumetanide have a whole lotta explaining to do.

James Nigel Stephens is one of the reasons why the public has this negative perception of anabolic steroids. You see, this guy committed a despicable act and blame it on anabolic steroids! These criminals would blame everything else, except themselves, to avoid prison time.

Stephens, from Fairfield in southwest Sydney, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated detention of a person for advantage over the incident at Waterloo, in Sydney.

Stephens got 14 years for what Australian media call “rampage of rape’ on a topless waitress on January 14, 2007. It was reported that Stephens attended a bucks’ party where the 22-year-old victim had worked. Stephens, then 18-year-old, stole her keys and later let himself into the car’s boot.

During sentencing submissions last month, Stephens’ attorney had declared his client had probably been under the influence of a “very, very nasty cocktail” of alcohol and steroids. Judge Michael Finnane of the New South Wales District Court, however, did not accept that as evidence.

“I must emphasize that I have no acceptable evidence that he drank to excess or that he consumed anabolic steroids,” the judge said.

The judge described to the court the nature of Stephens’ crime.

“What he did was horrifying in its cruelty,” he said.

“It was planned and calculated.

“He hid himself in the boot of her car and when she was alone, emerged suddenly, grabbed her from behind, threatening her with a plastic fork pressed to her neck, causing her to scream with fear.”

The teenager then forced the woman to pull over and raped her several times.

“Some of the offences had a sadistic quality to them and he showed, during the time of committing these offences, an attitude of contempt for the complainant and utter indifference to her suffering,” he said.

Stephens recorded parts of his assault on the victim.

Australian police is probably the least busy police in the world. It turns out that in AU, the police have to produce results or they are fired. Due to the low crime rate, Australian police have to target everything and everyone possible to get their arrest “quota.” Thus, they are targeting anabolic steroid users because most of them are easy to catch, and they are not like the real gangsters with AK-47 that will shoot out with them.

Thus, they raid health food stores, and health supplement shops, looking for steroid dealers. One such instance is just recent, where an alleged steroid dealer was selling steroids thru his little vitamin shop. They raided the place and arrested him for distribution of anabolic steroids, but now it turns out the man they arrested didn’t do much wrong. He was selling M1T, basically a prohormone that was legal over the counter for years in western nations, such as USA and EU. Somehow, the AU police thing pro-hormones are going to kill people, or are they just filling that hard to catch arrest “quota”???

Victoria police have seized several types of steroids and other products following a lengthy investigation into activities at Your Vitamin Store in the Mayfair Shopping Centre.

Undercover officers made numerous purchases of anabolic steroids at the store, police said.

The steroids were called M1Ts and were sold in bottles of 80 capsules costing $109.95.

Police said the product contains a controlled substance, as defined by the Controlled Drug and Substances Act of Canada.

Police later executed a search warrant at the store and have forwarded details of what was seized to Health Canada as part of the investigation.

A 33-year-old Victoria man is facing six counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, as well as one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.