According to findings from researchers at the McMaster University, addition of proteins to sport drinks does not help an endurance athlete run faster, a myth that was believed till now.

The involved researchers found that when protein is added to sport drinks, the cycling time trial performance is not enhanced when compared to intake of sport drinks alone. It was remarked that sport drinks are useful because of carbohydrates (necessary fuel for body’s working muscles) and sodium (maintenance of fluid balance). These findings were revealed by Martin Gibala, an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Previous studies that suggested protein was beneficial used ‘ride to exhaustion’ tests that do not resemble normal athletic competition. In addition, the subjects in those studies received less than the optimal recommended amount of carbohydrate,” says Gibala. “Our study shows that protein confers no performance benefit during ‘real life’ exercise when athletes consume sufficient amounts of a sports drink.”

The study, which was funded by Gatorade, comes at a time when the sports drink industry is under pressure to create new products by adding ingredients that might further enhance performance. Some companies have heavily marketed protein-laced sports drinks as the next magic bullet, but Gibala’s research disputes such claims.

It was remarked by Gibala that there was no solid evidence that came before to suggest a hint that athletes need protein during exercise sessions though a little amount of protein can prove useful for repairing damaged muscles and promotion of training adaptations.

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According to a study led by a team of French and American scientists, including Michael E. Baker, PhD, professor in UC San Diego’s Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology-Hypertension, enzymes that are used in the process of steroid synthesis in corals, insects, octopuses, and snails react differently than in humans.

The study is expected to provide a new dimension with critical study consequences for studies on chemical effects on response of steroids in humans.

From Eurekalert.org:

Steroids hormones are key to many vital physiological responses in humans, ranging from anti-inflammatory agents to regulating events during pregnancy. They are also the target of many chemical pollutants, known as endocrine disruptors. As part of a program to understand the evolution of steroid hormone signaling, Laudet – along with Gabriel Markov, a student in the Institute of Functional Genomics, initially trained by Raquel Tavares at Université de Lyon, characterized the evolutionary relationships between proteins that synthesize steroids in animals. They traced the origin of such enzymes from vertebrates, insects, snails and jelly fish and interpreted these results through extensive discussions with Baker, Chantal Dauphin-Villemant at Université Paris 6, and Barbara Demeneix from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

Through an analysis of several invertebrate genomes, the scientists discovered that snails and insects utilize steroid-synthesizing enzymes that are not vertebrate–related, but instead belong in an invertebrate family. Moreover, these invertebrate steroidogenic enzymes have a strong evolutionary connection to enzymes that detoxify chemicals (called xenobiotics).

The findings of this study encouraged the involved researchers to hypothesize that steroid-synthesizing enzymes arose in an independent manner from definite pathways that are used by worms and snails when it comes to detoxifying environmental chemicals.

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Many of the 3,000 unexplained miscarriages that happen every year can be prevented with steroid treatments, as per a research presented at the British Association conference.

Dr. Siobhan Quenby, of the University of Liverpool and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, said that the medical tests of 120 women had brought the fact that natural killer cells are the biggest cause of concern in respect to miscarriages and failed IVF embryo implants.

It was noted during the research that three quarters of 40 women treated with steroids gave successful births despite the fact that they had a past history of multiple miscarriages.

From News-Medical.Net:

Dr. Siobhan Quenby, of the University of Liverpool and the Liverpool Women’s Hospital, says that tests involving 120 women had identified natural killer cells as a cause of miscarriages and failed IVF embryo implants.

While such natural but potentially deadly cells are beneficial in most of the body because they can destroy infected or malignant cells, in the uterus they have been found to promote rapid growth of blood vessels when present in high numbers.

These blood vessels then transport additional oxygen-bearing blood which can cause miscarriages or prevent embryos implanting.

Steroids prescribed to 40 women, who had suffered multiple miscarriages, resulted in three quarters of them successfully giving birth.

The steroid treatment has been shown to reduce the level of natural killer cells in the uterus, and this is thought to increase the chances of an embryo going to full term.

Dr. Quenby says currently there is no treatment for the thousands of women around the world who are desperate because they keep miscarrying for no reason.

Dr. Quenby also said that there is an urgent need to include steroids in treatment for women with a history of miscarriages and believe that a third of miscarriages can be prevented with a steroid treatment.

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As per a new medical review, people with HIV and treated with anabolic steroids for prevention of AIDS Wasting tend to experience modest gains in body weight and muscle mass.

It was remarked by lead author Karen Johns, a Medical Assessment Officer from the Agency Health Canada, that magnitude of the experienced body weight gain can be regarded as clinically relevant. This review was published in an issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration.

From News-Medical.Net:

Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances similar to the male sex hormone testosterone that promote growth of skeletal muscle and the development of male sexual characteristics.

Although most recently in the news for their misuse by professional athletes, anabolic steroids have legitimate medical application for men with low testosterone and people with certain types of anemia. Two anabolic steroids available in the United States, nandrolone decanoate and oxandrolone, have been used to help increase weight and muscle mass in small studies of people with wasting.

Conversely, anabolic steroid use has been associated with increased rates of HIV in those who share needles or use nonsterile needles when they inject steroids.

In the review studies, anabolic steroids were administered to patients either orally or by injection. The main side effects were mild and included abnormal liver function tests; acne; mild increase in body hair; breast tenderness; increased libido, aggressiveness and irritability; and mood swings — all common side effect of anabolic steroid use.

“The risks and side effects of taking anabolic steroids long-term are certainly of concern,” Johns said. “We were unable to assess these risks in our review due to the short duration of treatment in the studies.”

AIDS Wasting leads to considerable body weight loss in people with HIV and tend to result in loss of muscles. The AIDS wasting stems from lost ability of the body for facilitating muscle growth and from low levels of testosterone.

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A new clinical trial was recently done at the London’s Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Doctors are injecting steroids inside the ear of patients affected with Meniere’s disease. The study’s aim is to reduce all symptoms associated with Meniere’s disease and hopefully provide a better quality of life.

Meniere’s disease is known to affect the inner ear, specifically the labyrinth. This disease is characterized by dizziness (vertigo), ringing in the ears (tinnitus), a sensation of pressure inside the ear and progressive hearing loss. The cause is unknown but is believed to be due to an overflow of endolymph, a fluid found inside the ear. The fluid flows into other areas of the ear, thereby causing further damage.

The procedure lasts for only ten minutes. It is done by injecting a needle inside the affected ear about one inch deep. This is to administer steroids directly into the affected ear parts to reduce inflammation and swelling. The patient is then made to lie down for around 30 minutes to wait for the steroids to act.

Although the procedure is quite painful, it is considered to be gentler compared to using gentamycin. It has also effectively relieved tinnitus and vertigo. There are no known side effects even a month after treatment.

From Mail Online:

The scientists heading up the trial are hopeful that it could help thousands. ‘These steroid jabs are the hottest trial for Ménière’s disease,’ says Professor Adolfo Bronstein, head of neurotology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and principle investigator of the trial.

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Athletes who are training for the London Marathon can improve their on-field performance by giving due importance to what they eat and drink, according to researchers at the University of Hertfordshire.

According to Dr Peter Jones, a Senior Lecturer at the University’s School of Life Sciences, some food products and drinks can be ingested by athletes to deliver dramatic sporting performance on a consistent basis.

From News-Medical.Net:

“The improvements in performance were only seen when the carbohydrate loaded was low in GI,” said Matt. “The mechanism behind this may be due to the increases seen in blood glucose throughout the time trial.”

Another research project undertaken by postgraduate student, Nick Tiller, found that athletes could maximise their performance through drinking mixed carbohydrate drinks, as opposed to those containing single carbohydrates only.

“This is important because, for example, if you drink commercially available sports drinks, you can only ingest 70 grammes of maltodextrin per hour, which may not be enough to maximise your performance,” said Dr Jones. “But if you supplement this with, for example fructose, you can open up two channels and increase the amount of glucose available to your body.

“There is no doubt but that the foods that we eat have a significant effect on performance. Those in serious training need to give this more thought if they are to maximise their performance.”

Apart from these carbohydrate drinks, a medically guided and followed intake of health supplements and even steroids such as Winstrol, Deca Durabolin, and Clomid can help sportsmen gain optimum benefits. But, potential users must remember that steroids and sports need to be mixed very carefully and diligently as an indiscriminate usage or abuse of steroids can lead to side-effects.

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As per researchers at the University of Hertfordshire, athletes preparing for the prestigious London Marathon can expect to think beyond their self-created shackles by giving due importance to food they eat and drinks they consume.

It was found by Dr Peter Jones, a Senior Lecturer at the University’s School of Life Sciences during this study that some food products and drinks can be ingested by sportsmen with an aim to deliver amazing sporting performance on the field, over a consistent period of time.

From News-Medical.Net:

“The improvements in performance were only seen when the carbohydrate loaded was low in GI,” said Matt. “The mechanism behind this may be due to the increases seen in blood glucose throughout the time trial.”

Another research project undertaken by postgraduate student, Nick Tiller, found that athletes could maximise their performance through drinking mixed carbohydrate drinks, as opposed to those containing single carbohydrates only.

“This is important because, for example, if you drink commercially available sports drinks, you can only ingest 70 grammes of maltodextrin per hour, which may not be enough to maximise your performance,” said Dr Jones. “But if you supplement this with, for example fructose, you can open up two channels and increase the amount of glucose available to your body.

“There is no doubt but that the foods that we eat have a significant effect on performance. Those in serious training need to give this more thought if they are to maximise their performance.”

It is noteworthy here to note that apart from these carbohydrate drinks, steroids that are taken under a qualified medical advice and as per instructions can also offer great benefits to users, especially sportsmen. Steroids such as Winstrol, Deca Durabolin, and Clomid have already helped many sportsmen and have encouraged the relationship between steroids and sports to grow further. But, it is important for all potential steroid users to know that any incident of steroid abuse can bring possible side-effects.

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Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and can eventually lead to debilitation and some dysfunction in the normal physiologic process in the body.

Several of the common problems of AIDS patients were significant decrease in weight and muscle wasting. The wasting is due to the decrease in production of testosterone.

Testosterone is responsible for promotion of muscle growth as well as for development of sexual characteristics in male.

Researchers observed a group of adults infected with HIV for at least six weeks. Anabolic steroids were administered either orally or intravenously. Those in the control group, however, received placebo only. Those in the treatment group were found to have an increase in their weight by as much as 3 pounds.

Side effects include acne; mild increase in body hair; breast tenderness; increase in libido and aggressiveness; mood swings and mild to moderate abnormality in liver function tests.

Two anabolic steroids currently used to combat muscle wasting, increase weight and muscle mass are nandrolone decanoate and oxandrolone. These two were considered as prescribed drugs in the United States.

From The Medical News:

People with HIV who are treated with anabolic steroids to prevent AIDS wasting may realize modest gains in weight and muscle mass, a new review shows.

The review covered 13 studies of adults age 24 to 42 with HIV, 294 of whom received anabolic steroids for at least six weeks and 238 of whom received placebo. The average weight increase in those taking anabolic steroids was nearly three pounds.

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According to a research found in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, severe asthma patients can greatly benefit from intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy because it was noted to reduce a patient’s sensitivity to steroids as well as it lowers emergency or hospitalization use.

During a 6-month period of study, it was noted that severe asthma patients administered with IVIG therapy had lesser incidence of confinement in hospitals and lesser trips to the emergency room. They were also found to use less glucocorticoids, or generally known as steroids. IVIG was effective both in patients who exhibit steroid insensitivity as well as those who respond normally to steroids. Researchers consider the effect of IVIG in reducing lung sensitivity to glucocorticoids as the reason behind this.

Aside from these benefits, IVIG is also considered to be non-toxic. Although it also has some side effects to it, side effects were still moderate compared to steroids’. Among the detrimental effects of steroids were suppression of bone growth in children and osteoporosis.

IVIG treatment costs a thousand dollars more than the usual method of asthma treatment but it is sure to improve the patient’s quality of life.

According to Eurekalert:

DENVER-People with severe asthma who are “insensitive” to steroids need less of the medication, fewer “bursts” of it in emergencies and spend less time in the hospital when using intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in conjunction with steroids, according to research published today in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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Anabolic steroids are synthetic hormones which are derivatives of testosterone. These compounds are commonly used for strength training rather than endurance. This makes anabolic steroids an ideal supplement for powerlifting. Powerlifting is a sport which requires great muscular strength and involves lifting of a heavy dumbbell to perform squats, bench presses and deadlifts in three repetitions. It is more of a static sport unlike weightlifting which is a dynamic one.

A team of researchers from the Umea University in Sweden conducted a study on the impact of anabolic steroids use years after powerlifters stopped taking the drugs.

The study involved three groups of powerlifters. One group was composed of previous anabolic steroid users but has already stopped years after. The second group was composed of non-anabolic steroids users. The last group was composed of current steroid users who are currently powerlifting. The researchers then examined two key muscles in powerlifting, the vastus lateralis and the trapezius muscles.

Researchers discovered a significant increase in number of nuclei per muscle fiber in the first group. This means that their muscles still have the capacity to synthesize more proteins to increase muscle mass despite stopping from anabolic use. The researchers concluded that anabolic steroids are still beneficial to powerlifting even after years of stopping.

According to Science Daily:

A new study examines the impact of anabolic steroid use on power lifters years after the athletes had ceased to take the drugs. Researchers have found that while physical traces of the drug no longer remained, changes in the shoulder and quadriceps still gave lifters an advantage, years later.

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