The champion weightlifter from England, Denis Catana, has been handed over a suspension of two years after he was found abusing anabolic steroids, according to a confirmation by UK Anti-Doping.

Catana won the 2010 national 94kg title but tested positive for Metenolone ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

From News.BBC.co.uk:

Catana claimed that Metenolone, an anabolic steroid associated with the treatment of some forms of anaemia and osteoporosis, had found its way into his body inadvertently through a supplement he had consumed, several of which were bought in Moldova.

UK Anti-Doping‘s director of operations, Nicole Sapstead, said: “Mr Catana was tested as part of UK Anti-Doping’s pre-Commonwealth Games testing programme.

“This case shows the importance of our major event programme, and our commitment to stopping athletes who dope competing on the world stage.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to protect the rights of clean athletes in the run up to London 2012 and beyond.”

The UK Anti-Doping organisation was formed in 2009, after several delays, to combat doping in British elite sport.

The 25-year-old has been banned provisionally since 21 September 2010, a suspension that will last until 20 September 2012, but British Olympic Association rules now ban him from Team GB for life.

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Drugs could have clouded the judgment of former Wakefield Wildcats player Terry Newton when he hanged himself, according to an inquest heard.

The inquest was told the banned drugs were not a direct favor in the cause of death though they could have lowered his mood and impaired his judgment.

From Wakefieldexpress.co.uk:

DRUGS may have clouded the judgement of former Wakefield Wildcats player Terry Newton when he hanged himself, an inquest heard.

A coroner recorded an open verdict after ruling she could not be certain the hooker, who began serving a two-year drug ban in February, was intent on suicide. The inquest heard that traces of anabolic steroids, cocaine and amphetamine were found in his system following his death on September 26.

And although none of the banned drugs were a direct factor in the cause of death, the inquest was told that all could have lowered his mood and impaired his judgement. Dad-of-two Mr Newton was discovered by police in the loft of his home in Wigan, after his wife Stacey had told a friend she was concerned for his safety.

Newton’s death is perceived by many, as a warning to sportsmen experimenting with steroids or keen to take them in the future.

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ESPN/ABC’s Brent Musburger spoke to students at the University of Montana recently said that steroids work and could be used at the professional level. The statement clearly suggests that the bad side of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs, often portrayed by the media, is nothing but a false image.

Anabolic steroids have no place in high school athletics, added Musburger.

From Hardballtalk.nbcsports.com:

He went on to say that while anabolic steroids have no place in high school athletics, “I think under the proper care and doctor’s advice, they could be used at the professional level,”

This will likely have a lot of you fuming, but after reading the whole story I think he makes a lot of sense.  It is undisputed that steroids do, in certain situations, bring with them medical benefits. The biggest problem with steroids — aside from the fact that using them violates the rules — is that they can be dangerous if abused or overused.

But what if we had good evidence that, if taken in X dosage by someone in good health, they weren’t harmful at all?  What if, under proper medical supervision, they proved to be no different than cortisone shots and vitamin regimens and things like that? Or, if you want to get right down to it, what if they posed risks, but risks that were reasonable enough to where weighing them against the potential to make millions playing sports made taking them worth it?

We don’t have good enough information on this because there haven’t — at least as far as I know — been comprehensive studies in which the effects were tested on healthy, athletic adults. A lot of the reason there hasn’t been such tests, I bet, is because there’s such a stigma and hysteria attached to them.

The crux is that side effects of steroids happen with overuse and abuse, and not “proper” use.

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Patients afflicted with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis and treated with infliximab had their colectomy rate cut by more than a third during the first year of treatment, compared with control patients. This finding was disclosed by a review of more than 600 patients enrolled in two pivotal studies.

“These are unique data that show we can alter the natural history of the disease,” according to Dr. Brian G. Feagan at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.

From Internalmedicinenews.com:

“It seems like infliximab may alter the natural course of UC by reducing the need for colectomy,” commented Dr. Miguel D. Regueiro, codirector of the inflammatory bowel disease center at the University of Pittsburgh. Physicians and patients will need to decide whether the risks and complications of colectomy are high or low compared with biologic therapy, and whether quality of life is better with colectomy or biologic therapy, he said.

UC patients “in remission with their colon have a better quality of life” than patients who undergo colectomy, commented Dr. Stephen B. Hanauer, professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at the University of Chicago. “Chronically sick patients benefit from cholectomy, but the goal of treatment is to get patients in remission and off steroids. Biologic treatments can do this,” he said in an interview.

The new analysis used data collected in the Active Ulcerative Colitis Trials 1 and 2 (ACT 1 and ACT 2), which together compared two dosages of infliximab (either 5 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg) with placebo in two different protocols that treated patients for as long as 54 weeks. The primary finding was that patients treated with either dosage were more likely than placebo patients to have a clinical response after 8, 30, and 54 weeks of treatment (N. Engl. J. Med. 2005;353:2462–76). This led to Food and Drug Administration approval of infliximab (Remicade) for treating moderately to severely active UC.

The ACT 1 and 2 studies were sponsored by Centocor Inc. that markets infliximab in the United States and Schering-Plough that markets infliximab in all other countries.

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The use of human growth hormone (HGH) for a wide variety of conditions has come under close scrutiny by the Congress. It has also prompted some concern that players could react by limiting reimbursement for legitimate purposes.

Insurers are already reluctant to cover scientifically validated uses of HGH, as per Dr. Richard Hellman, president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

From Internalmedicinenews.com:

An Internet search for “HGH” shows that the drug (or an illicit or counterfeit version) is being promoted for a large number of off-label uses. While this has been a widely known problem, Congress is taking a closer look at HGH and other alleged performance-enhancing substances in the wake of the December report issued by former Sen. George Mitchell that exposed a culture of acceptance for off-label and unproven uses of HGH and anabolic steroids in Major League Baseball.

In mid-February, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on what it called “myths and facts” about HGH, vitamin B12, and other substances.

HGH has been touted as an antiaging cure, and increasingly appears to be used by athletes in the belief that it helps them improve performance and recover from injuries. It also is being investigated as a potential therapy for conditions such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

All of these uses are illegal. HGH is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved product that can only be prescribed for the approved indications. In adults, HGH is legal for AIDS-related wasting syndrome, short-bowel syndrome, and growth hormone deficiency.

Continuing use for purposes that have little to no evidence of safety and effectiveness may ultimately endanger patients who genuinely need HGH, according to Dr. Hellman, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

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The 45-year-old physician, Joseph Colao, recently collapsed in his Jersey City apartment, the victim of heart failure. Officers were calling the Hudson County public safety complex within hours to confirm the death.

Detective Sgt. Ken Kolich, who had drawn the routine assignment to look into the death, appeared disturbed to know that many officers were interested in the fate of a man with no official ties to any police agency.

From J.com:

Today, it’s clear Colao was more than just a doctor, friend or confidant to many of the officers.

He was their supplier.

A seven-month Star-Ledger investigation drawing on prescription records, court documents and detailed interviews with the physician’s employees shows Colao ran a thriving illegal drug enterprise that supplied anabolic steroids and human growth hormone to hundreds of law enforcement officers and firefighters throughout New Jersey.

From a seemingly above-board practice in Jersey City, Colao frequently broke the law and his own oath by faking medical diagnoses to justify his prescriptions for the drugs, the investigation shows.

Many of the officers and firefighters willingly took part in the ruse, finding Colao provided an easy way to obtain tightly regulated substances that are illegal without a valid prescription, the investigation found.

Others were persuaded by the physician’s polished sales pitch, one that glossed over the risks and legal realities, the newspaper found. A small percentage may have legitimately needed the drugs to treat uncommon medical conditions.

Records suggest that 248 officers and firefighters from 53 agencies used the fraudulent practice of Colao to get muscle building drugs in just over a year.

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