Candi Cazau, the manager of Comic Jerry Lewis, recently said the comic star has spent many weeks in hospital weaning himself off a steroid that made him gain 60 pounds.

Lewis, a star of films since the 1950s, had been prescribed the steroid to deal with a chronic lung ailment.

From News.bbc.co.uk:

Lewis was “feeling and looking terrific”, she said, and planned to remain in rehab for four more months.

Ms Cazau said the comedian had cut down his prescription of the steroid prednisone “by half” and had embarked on “very rigorous exercise routine and a carefully planned diet” to take his weight down from 242 pounds (110kg).

The comic wanted to be entirely free of the drug – which he had used to treat pulmonary fibrosis, an inflammatory lung disease – and be back to his normal weight by March.

Lewis began taking the steroid in 2001 but decided to cut back on it after his lung condition improved.

The comic star, who formed a popular double act with comedian and singer Dean martin, is best-known for films such as The Bellboy, The Errand Boy and The Nutty Professor.

Cazau remarked Lewis had already lost 27 pounds since booking into a Las Vegas hospital in October.

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Patients suffering from an inflammatory condition known as Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) can expect relief coming their way with oral, swallowed, or sprayed steroids.

This finding was disclosed by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children and suggested that steroid use could be beneficial for facilitating patient improvements.

From Sciencedaily.com:

EE can be a serious condition and cause children to refuse to eat, to vomit, or to get food stuck as the esophagus narrows from inflammation. EE, which does not improve without treatment, is twice as likely to occur in boys as in girls.

“We are seeing increasing numbers of children with EE who can benefit from effective therapy. Our study found that while systemic corticosteroids provided better initial patient improvement compared to swallowed steroids, long term results were similar between the groups,” said Sandeep K. Gupta, M.D., IU School of Medicine associate professor of clinical pediatrics and a Riley Hospital pediatric gastroenterologist.

“A child will often continue to suffer in silence if this disease is left untreated. We are not sure why the number of cases is increasing, but we are seeing an average of two new cases every week at Riley Hospital. As we study treatment options, we are also investigating how and why food allergies and environmental factors appear to play a role in this disease,” said Dr. Gupta.

The research results appeared in an issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

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According to a finding disclosed by researchers at the University of Minnesota, involvement in sporting events with real or real or perceived weight specifications is commonly associated with steroid use among teens.

Marla Eisenberg, Sc.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at the University Of Minnesota Medical School, Department Of Pediatrics, said the association between unhealthy weight control approaches and weight-centered sporting events is alarming.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“It is encouraging to see that the majority of young people who reported using steroids in 1999 stopped using them as they got older,” said Patricia van den Berg, Ph.D., lead author of the study from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. “But even given this decline, between one and three in 100 teens still reported using steroids within the last year when asked again 5 years later.”

Researchers conducted the longitudinal study with more than 2,000 adolescents to examine changes in eating patterns, weight, physical activity, and related factors over five years. Participants completed two surveys, one in 1999 and one in 2004, to determine if there were changes in steroid use.

Overall, 1.7 percent of boys and 1.4 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 23 reported steroid use in 2004. Those that reported use early on were 4 to 10 times more likely to use later in life.

More and more teenagers are switching to use of anabolic androgenic steroids that are termed as synthetic derivatives of the male hormone, testosterone, to enhance body strength, performance, and stamina.

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A ban of three months has been imposed on Ivory Williams, the American sprinter, which means that he will miss the World Indoor Championship. Williams tested positive for marijuana after his win in the trial race in Albuquerque.

Williams was one of the favorites to land the 60m title in Doha after running a world best 6.49 seconds at the New Mexico meet.

From Guardian.co.uk:

The American sprinter Ivory Williams has been banned for three months and will miss the World Indoor Championships after testing positive for marijuana following his victory in the trial race in Albuquerque last month.

Williams was one of the favourites to land the 60m title in Doha after running a world best 6.49 seconds at the New Mexico meet.

But the US Anti-Doping Agency has revealed there were metabolites found in a sample given by the former world junior 100m gold medalist. Because marijuana and similar cannabinoids are listed as specified substances, a reduced sanction from the standard two-year ban is possible.

Williams’s time has now been erased from the record books while his place in the US team will be taken by Trell Kimmons.

The US team called Trell Kimmons as a replacement for Williams.

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Yanina Wickmayer, a semi-finalist at this year’s US Open, has been handed over a ban of one year from tennis after she failed to comply with doping regulations

Belgian Xavier Malisse, her fellow, has also been handed over suspension for a year but for a different doping offence.

From Guardian.co.uk:

The Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) said Wickmayer had failed to declare her whereabouts on three occasions, a requirement under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, while Malisse had failed to do so twice and had also missed a test when he was unavailable for testing at an address he had provided.

The bans take immediate effect, meaning world No18 Wickmayer must pull out of this week’s Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, while Malisse has withdrawn from the AXA Masters in Antwerp. Wickmayer, 20, has however announced her intention to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Responding to the news of Wickmayer’s ban, a WTA spokesman said: “Yanina Wickmayer has been informed of the decision of the Belgian national anti-doping agency and consequently has voluntarily withdrawn from the tournament.

“While the tournament regrets all withdrawals, we support the WADA Code and are committed to following the decisions rendered by national anti-doping agencies.”

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and WADA are yet to receive a communication about the suspension in writing from the Belgian anti-doping agency.

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Alex Rodriguez, popularly known as A-Rod, who recently became the seventh and youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 career home runs is still crumbling under pressure to prove his critics wrong as he is always associated with anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs.

Rodriguez told Suzyn Waldman of WCBS Radio that he feels depressed when his name is always associated with steroids.

From NYtimes.com:

Rodriguez is part of a quartet of sluggers who carry the scarlet letter S on their broad backs. The retired stars Barry Bonds (the career leader with 762 homers), Sammy Sosa (609) and Mark McGwire (583) are all linked, to one degree or another, to performance-enhancing drugs.

They are stacked up in the stratosphere, waiting to see if the writers who vote for membership in the Hall will ultimately accept them. At the moment, there are no guarantees. McGwire, who has been eligible for four years, eked his way up to 24 percent in January, far short of the 75 percent needed for admission.

This overt withholding of honor is the legacy of a steroid era that began in the last decade, when McGwire, Sosa and Bonds all had surprisingly high home run totals at ages when most great sluggers are tailing off. Steroids were illegal by federal law and by edict of Major League Baseball, although no testing was in place during their peak years.

On his own, Rodriguez brought up his link with steroids Wednesday after the Yankees defeated Toronto, 5-1, at Yankee Stadium.

A-Rod may not find it easy to gain entry into the Hall of Fame once he becomes eligible five years after retirement due to his past links with steroids.

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Bobby-Gaye Wilkins, the Jamaican 400m runner, has been banned for two years after she was found using performance enhancing drugs by the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association.

According to Warren Blake of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association, Wilkins will be barred from competition until April 2012.

From Guardian.co.uk:

The Jamaican 400m runner Bobby-Gaye Wilkins has been banned for two years for using a performance-enhancing substance.

Warren Blake of the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association says the athlete will be barred from competition until April 2012.

Wilkins tested positive for the banned substance andranine at the world indoor championships in Doha, Qatar, in March.

She was a member of the Jamaican 4x400m relay team who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Wilkins won the Olympic bronze in 4x400m relay team.

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The Hall of Fame linebacker, Dick Butkus, who was renowned for playing with a menacing fury, is now expression and passion into the fight against steroids.

Butkus says the link between steroids and sports disgusts me. The former Chicago Bear is handling the problem by delivering a message aimed at high school students on the dangers of doping with his “I Play Clean” campaign.

From in.reuters.com:

Last month’s admission by baseball’s highest-paid player Alex Rodriguez that he had taken steroids from 2001-2003 while with the Texas Rangers, shone the light again on performance-enhancing drugs in sports, something Butkus abhors.

“As an ex-football guy, I still enjoy watching it,” the gruff Butkus told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“It just disgusts me and I hope it doesn’t come to a point where I’m sitting there watching a Senate hearing and have them drilling some ex-football players on their steroids habit,” he said, referring to baseball’s appearance before Congress. “I want to lick this before that happens.”

The NFL has had its share of steroids cheats, notably San Diego Chargers Pro-Bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman, suspended for four games in 2006, and now-retired 1997 Defensive Player of the Year Dana Stubblefield, sentenced last month to two years’ probation for lying to investigators about his steroid use.

I have learned over time that use of steroids could result in heart damage among its other dangers, Butkus said.

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