Hauser finally comes out with his four-part report on the PEDs snafu
---
http://www.secondsout.com/columns/th...eds-and-boxing
Thomas Hauser
Mayweather-Pacquiao, PEDs, and Boxing
Sun 17-Jan-2010 21:27
By Thomas Hauser
Two days before Manny Pacquiao fought Miguel Cotto, I talked with Alex Ariza, who has been Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach since early 2008. When I asked what it was like to work with an athlete of Manny’s caliber, Ariza shook his head in wonder.
“It’s an extraordinary experience,” he said. “Athletes start to backslide around age twenty-eight if they haven’t started to decline before then. Manny is thirty and he’s getting better. Our records don’t lie. Not only is he getting stronger; he’s actually getting faster as he moves up in weight. I’ve worked with some great athletes, but I’ve never worked with an athlete like Manny.”
“But there’s one thing that’s very frustrating for me,” Ariza added. “Manny won’t let me do all the tests I want to do with him. There are tests I’d love to do to determine his lung capacity, but they’re invasive and he won’t let me do them. And there are other measurements, quite a few, that I’d like to take, but I can’t because Manny is very protective of his body.”
People will read what they want to into Ariza’s comments. Those who supported Floyd Mayweather Jr in the debacle that saw Mayweather-Pacquiao go from superfight to superflop will say that Pacquiao is able to defy the laws of nature because he’s using performance enhancing drugs. Manny’s partisans will respond that Ariza’s remarks confirm their hero’s honest aversion to invasive testing.
I don’t know whether Pacquiao (or Mayweather) is using performance enhancing drugs or not. To my knowledge, no one else in the media does either. I do know that both men are entitled to the presumption of innocence in the absence of hard evidence to the contrary. And to date, no one has produced such evidence.
Still, recent events have ended the anonymity (if not immunity) that boxing enjoyed throughout the earlier public debate regarding PEDs and sports. So let’s take a look at (1) the nature of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs; (2) their role in boxing; (3) the instant controversy between the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps; and (4) some lessons that can be drawn from it all.
It’s not a pretty story. The situation brings to mind the exchange between Colonel Nathan R. Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) and Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) in A Few Good Men:
Colonel Jessep: You want answers?
Lieutenant Kaffee: I want the truth.
Colonel Jessep: You can’t handle the truth.
Does boxing really want to know?
I
The first thing to know about performance enhancing drugs is that they work. When used in conjunction with proper exercise and training, they create a better athlete.
Steroids decrease inflammation and healing time. “That’s how the whole thing started, with legitimate medical usage,” says Dr. Flip Homansky (former chief ringside physician for the Nevada State Athletic Commission).
“Anabolic androgenous steroids,” Homansky explains, “are synthetic derivatives of the naturally occurring male hormone, testosterone. Testosterone helps the body turn dietary protein into muscle. The utilization of protein is improved and the inhibitory effects of other substances are reduced. This results in increased capacity to train, decreased fatigue, a shorter time for muscle recovery, and the development of muscle tissue. The old theory in weight training was that you worked a certain set of muscles two or three times a week. Steroids allow a user to work them every day.”
Human growth hormone (HGH) is naturally produced by the pituitary gland and is now also synthetically made. It was first administered in the 1950s to children with stunted growth and does what its name implies. In Homansky’s words, “If your growth plates are already fixed, you won’t get taller. But HGH will naturally enlarge your muscles, although the enlargement is in a flabby way so you have to work out to get a strength benefit.”
Twenty years ago, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the use of human growth hormone by men over a six-month period decreased the body fat of participants in the study group by 14.4 percent and increased lean muscle by 8.8 percent. More recent studies show a synergistic effect between HGH and anabolic steroids.
Erythropoietin (EPO) is a synthetic version of a hormone made by the kidneys that stimulates the body’s production of red blood cells. Doctors prescribe it for patients suffering from malfunctioning kidneys and anemia and also to treat cancer patients after chemotherapy. Athletes use EPO to boost their endurance, since red blood cells carry oxygen to muscles.
“It’s widely understood in the medical community just how dangerous performance enhancing drugs are,” Homansky says. “But appreciation of that danger hasn’t filtered down to some athletes and some physical conditioners. We don’t know with certainty what all of the long-term side effects are because very few athletes are willing to admit that they use PEDs. What we know for sure is that the number of dangerous performance-enhancing drugs available to athletes is growing daily; that recent developments have focused on making them less detectable and more powerful; and that the side effects are now often worse than before because the drugs are more potent.”
“Steroids, if taken long enough, will destroy an athlete’s body,” Homansky continues. “But one of the problems we face is that no one can be sure how long is too long.”
Then Homansky ticks off a list of negative side effects associated with steroid use by men: (1) shrunken testicles, leading to decreased sperm production and impotence; (2) increased cholesterol levels, leading to hardening of the arteries; (3) blood clots, which increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke; (4) kidney disease; (5) liver failure (most commonly from tumors and cysts); (6) hypertension; (7) gynecomastia (enlarged breasts); (8) the weakening of tendons, leading to joint injuries and muscle tears; (9) premature balding; (10) acne; (11) bi-polar, manic-depressive, and delusional behavior; and (12) uncontrollable violent outbursts (known as “roid rage”).
Human growth hormone carries its own set of risks. “The heart is a muscle,” Homansky explains. “Human growth hormone can cause an enlarged heart, which is a potentially fatal problem.”
Other side effects of HGH use can include abnormal enlargement of the kidneys and liver, diabetes, muscle and joint pain, and hypertension. Also, some researchers believe that HGH accelerates the growth of cancer cells.
As for EPO, an increased concentration of red blood cells thickens the blood and has been likened to pumping Jello through an athlete’s veins. That increases the risk of heart fibrillation and strokes.
Not good.
That’s why Todd Chapman (one of the better ring doctors in the United States) says of the penalties imposed for the unlawful use of PEDs, “The fighters may think of this as punishment. The doctors think of it as saving your life.”
---
http://www.secondsout.com/columns/th...eds-and-boxing
Thomas Hauser
Mayweather-Pacquiao, PEDs, and Boxing
Sun 17-Jan-2010 21:27
By Thomas Hauser
Two days before Manny Pacquiao fought Miguel Cotto, I talked with Alex Ariza, who has been Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach since early 2008. When I asked what it was like to work with an athlete of Manny’s caliber, Ariza shook his head in wonder.
“It’s an extraordinary experience,” he said. “Athletes start to backslide around age twenty-eight if they haven’t started to decline before then. Manny is thirty and he’s getting better. Our records don’t lie. Not only is he getting stronger; he’s actually getting faster as he moves up in weight. I’ve worked with some great athletes, but I’ve never worked with an athlete like Manny.”
“But there’s one thing that’s very frustrating for me,” Ariza added. “Manny won’t let me do all the tests I want to do with him. There are tests I’d love to do to determine his lung capacity, but they’re invasive and he won’t let me do them. And there are other measurements, quite a few, that I’d like to take, but I can’t because Manny is very protective of his body.”
People will read what they want to into Ariza’s comments. Those who supported Floyd Mayweather Jr in the debacle that saw Mayweather-Pacquiao go from superfight to superflop will say that Pacquiao is able to defy the laws of nature because he’s using performance enhancing drugs. Manny’s partisans will respond that Ariza’s remarks confirm their hero’s honest aversion to invasive testing.
I don’t know whether Pacquiao (or Mayweather) is using performance enhancing drugs or not. To my knowledge, no one else in the media does either. I do know that both men are entitled to the presumption of innocence in the absence of hard evidence to the contrary. And to date, no one has produced such evidence.
Still, recent events have ended the anonymity (if not immunity) that boxing enjoyed throughout the earlier public debate regarding PEDs and sports. So let’s take a look at (1) the nature of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs; (2) their role in boxing; (3) the instant controversy between the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps; and (4) some lessons that can be drawn from it all.
It’s not a pretty story. The situation brings to mind the exchange between Colonel Nathan R. Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) and Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) in A Few Good Men:
Colonel Jessep: You want answers?
Lieutenant Kaffee: I want the truth.
Colonel Jessep: You can’t handle the truth.
Does boxing really want to know?
I
The first thing to know about performance enhancing drugs is that they work. When used in conjunction with proper exercise and training, they create a better athlete.
Steroids decrease inflammation and healing time. “That’s how the whole thing started, with legitimate medical usage,” says Dr. Flip Homansky (former chief ringside physician for the Nevada State Athletic Commission).
“Anabolic androgenous steroids,” Homansky explains, “are synthetic derivatives of the naturally occurring male hormone, testosterone. Testosterone helps the body turn dietary protein into muscle. The utilization of protein is improved and the inhibitory effects of other substances are reduced. This results in increased capacity to train, decreased fatigue, a shorter time for muscle recovery, and the development of muscle tissue. The old theory in weight training was that you worked a certain set of muscles two or three times a week. Steroids allow a user to work them every day.”
Human growth hormone (HGH) is naturally produced by the pituitary gland and is now also synthetically made. It was first administered in the 1950s to children with stunted growth and does what its name implies. In Homansky’s words, “If your growth plates are already fixed, you won’t get taller. But HGH will naturally enlarge your muscles, although the enlargement is in a flabby way so you have to work out to get a strength benefit.”
Twenty years ago, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the use of human growth hormone by men over a six-month period decreased the body fat of participants in the study group by 14.4 percent and increased lean muscle by 8.8 percent. More recent studies show a synergistic effect between HGH and anabolic steroids.
Erythropoietin (EPO) is a synthetic version of a hormone made by the kidneys that stimulates the body’s production of red blood cells. Doctors prescribe it for patients suffering from malfunctioning kidneys and anemia and also to treat cancer patients after chemotherapy. Athletes use EPO to boost their endurance, since red blood cells carry oxygen to muscles.
“It’s widely understood in the medical community just how dangerous performance enhancing drugs are,” Homansky says. “But appreciation of that danger hasn’t filtered down to some athletes and some physical conditioners. We don’t know with certainty what all of the long-term side effects are because very few athletes are willing to admit that they use PEDs. What we know for sure is that the number of dangerous performance-enhancing drugs available to athletes is growing daily; that recent developments have focused on making them less detectable and more powerful; and that the side effects are now often worse than before because the drugs are more potent.”
“Steroids, if taken long enough, will destroy an athlete’s body,” Homansky continues. “But one of the problems we face is that no one can be sure how long is too long.”
Then Homansky ticks off a list of negative side effects associated with steroid use by men: (1) shrunken testicles, leading to decreased sperm production and impotence; (2) increased cholesterol levels, leading to hardening of the arteries; (3) blood clots, which increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke; (4) kidney disease; (5) liver failure (most commonly from tumors and cysts); (6) hypertension; (7) gynecomastia (enlarged breasts); (8) the weakening of tendons, leading to joint injuries and muscle tears; (9) premature balding; (10) acne; (11) bi-polar, manic-depressive, and delusional behavior; and (12) uncontrollable violent outbursts (known as “roid rage”).
Human growth hormone carries its own set of risks. “The heart is a muscle,” Homansky explains. “Human growth hormone can cause an enlarged heart, which is a potentially fatal problem.”
Other side effects of HGH use can include abnormal enlargement of the kidneys and liver, diabetes, muscle and joint pain, and hypertension. Also, some researchers believe that HGH accelerates the growth of cancer cells.
As for EPO, an increased concentration of red blood cells thickens the blood and has been likened to pumping Jello through an athlete’s veins. That increases the risk of heart fibrillation and strokes.
Not good.
That’s why Todd Chapman (one of the better ring doctors in the United States) says of the penalties imposed for the unlawful use of PEDs, “The fighters may think of this as punishment. The doctors think of it as saving your life.”
Comment