Muscle profiling isn’t the only type of profiling that has been used in the war on steroids in sports.  Some sportswriters use acne as irrefutable evidence of steroid use. For example, Murray Chass has maintained for years that Mike Piazza used anabolic steroids because he observed acne on Piazza’s back. Since (back) acne is a common side effect of steroids, steroid users are more likely to experience acne. However, not all steroid users experience back acne and most people with back acne don’t use steroids.

Back acne is experienced by 10-20 percent of adults in the same age bracket as Piazza. It is much more common in individuals who are physically active and perspire a lot which can make them more susceptible to clogged pores. Consequently, back acne is more common in athletes than the general population. Dermatologists interviewed by Howard Megdal for New York Baseball Digest agreed that acne was a poor predictor of steroid use.

But would Piazza, a man in his 20s and 30s during his playing career, be as susceptible to back acne as a teenager? According to these dermatologists, he is a prime candidate for the symptoms Chass described without steroid use.

“One of the major causes of [back acne] is if someone sweats a lot, wears heavy equipment, wears, as Piazza did, heavy uniforms,” Dr. Ira Davis, a Staten Island dermatologist, said in a telephone interview.

Profiling steroid users based on physical characteristics is problematic for several reasons and should always be scrutinized.

Read more at Steroids.Info: Mike Piazza Used Steroids Based on Back Acne According to Sportswriter

Read more at New York Baseball Digest: Three Out of Three Doctors Agree

Anabolic steroids are unlikely to be a scapegoat. Dr. Richard Auchus, an expert on steroid biosynthesis at UT Southwestern Medical School, summarily dismissed the connection between the muscle disorder and performance-enhancer drugs such as anabolic steroids and human growth hormone while suggesting recreational drugs as one possible culprit. “You don’t see rhabdomyolysis with anabolic steroid use or growth hormones. You can see rhabdo with GHB. It’s is one of those recreational drugs that can cause this,” according to the consultant to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

At the moment, Chris Doyle, the University of Iowa head strength and conditioning coach, is in the hot seat.  However, Doyle’s colleagues are skeptical that he is to blame. Additionally, even in the aftermath of the rhabdomyolysis scandal, Iowa recruits are reconfirming their commitments to Iowa precisely because of the strength and conditioning program. Doyle has been credited with paving the way for 68 of 78 senior starters at Iowa to go on to play football in the NFL.

Mark Philippi, of the Philippi Sports Institute in Las Vegas:

“[T]he people at Iowa are pretty cutting-edge as far as training and testing and rehabilitation. It’s ironic this happened at a place so respected across the country, a place known for being very, very knowledgeable and proactive.

“Iowa is known for taking good players and making them into great ones. A big part of that is the strength and conditioning program, and maybe this time they tried things they haven’t done before to shake it up or get an edge.”

Matt McGettigan, the strength and conditioning coach for Air Force football

“There’s not been a trend of this happening at Iowa, and it’s not like Chris Doyle to all of a sudden throw everything successful that he’s done over the years out the window. We all know the body of successful work he’s done at Iowa. They’ve had great success with what he’s done over the years.

“Given Chris’ proven track record, it makes no sense to me what happened. Why would Chris all of a sudden change what he’s been successful at? He’s been there and he’s done that.”

Paul Arndorfer, the assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at the University of Tulsa:

“I know Doyle well, and I can say that he is probably one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the business.

“I truly believe that he would never knowingly put an athlete in harm’s way. He also doesn’t ask the players to do anything he has never done before — so I guarantee he’s done that workout himself.

“He might be the most researched guy, most well-read guy out there. It’s not his nature to make a workout to kill a guy, so to speak. His workouts have a purpose.”

Many experts feel it is premature to assign blame because the full story behind the Hawkeye rhabdomyolysis cluster has yet to be told.

Dr. John Graves of the Mayo Clinic:

“Yes. That says that the kids aren’t telling you what happened on the weekend,” he said. “That says there is more to the story than the workouts. There is more going on that they aren’t telling us about … something else that sensitized them, perhaps, to the workout on Monday, and that is what tripped them into rhabdomyolysis.”

Paul Arndorfer, the assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at the University of Tulsa:

“I have had guys do that workout and I have done that workout myself, and it’s (tough), but there’s got to be some underlying reason” for the hospitalization,  Arndorfer said.  Iowa players “do that workout every year at this time and have not had any problems in the past.”

“I would have a couple of questions for the players,” he said. “One is: What were they doing Sunday or over the weekend? … Another is: Were any of them taking a supplement not given to them by the university?”

The University of Iowa is conducting an investigation into the highly unusual cluster of rhabdomyolysis cases affecting the Hawkeye football program that will hopefully answer these questions.

Read more at Steroids.Info: Steroid Use Not to Blame in Iowa Football Mass Hospitalization

Photo credit: Hawkeye Central

Low-dose trenbolone was called “SARM-like” because of the positive anabolic effects in muscle and bone without negative side androgenic side effects of prostate enlargement or polycythemia.

Trenbolone is an anabolic steroid that has been demonized more than others due to its limited use (in pellet implants used by veterinarians to increase muscle growth in livestock). Fortunately, researchers looked past the political stigma associated with trenbolone to revisit a therapeutic use for an old steroid.

Read more at MESO-Rx: Trenbolone for Androgen Replacement Therapy

Unlike the United States where the personal use of steroids is criminalized, the United Kingdom has medicalized the issue of steroid use and abuse. The government focuses on steroid education and harm reduction rather than incarceration.

In 2006, William Llewellyn was invited to speak at the National Conference on Injecting Drug Use in London to discuss the social and health implications of anabolic steroid use.

Read more at MESO-Rx: 25 Minutes of Steroid Truth: William Llewellyn’s Lecture at the 2006 National Conference on Injecting Drug Use

Read more at Steroids.Info: Scotland Opens Clinics for Steroid Users

Read more at MESO-Rx: Major Anabolic Steroid Side Effect Can Be Treated with Niacin

Read more from MESO-Rx: Erectile Function and Fatigue- What Happens When Testosterone Replacement Fails to Improve Them?

Read the answer at MESO-Rx: Does Hair Loss Increase with Greater Amounts of Steroids?

Read more at MESO-Rx: MMA Fighter Chael Sonnen Case and the Testosterone Replacement Therapy Problem

Chael Sonnen and Donovan Craig of Fight! Magazine, Photo: Isaac Hinds / Lift Studios

Read the answer at MESO-Rx: How Does Testosterone Replacement Therapy Affect Anti-Doping Tests?

Senators Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, have dropped language in the bill that would have put HGH on the same legal plane as anabolic steroids, a move that would have severely limited access to the synthetic hormone.

For example, under the bill’s original language, HGH would not have been widely available through the mail and would not have been available in longer than six-month supplies. Because doctors specializing in childhood growth disorders often are far from patients, such controls could have caused hardship for families with children using the drug.

The atmosphere of steroid hysteria resulted in overwhelming bipartisan support for the original HGH bill practically guaranteeing passage of the legislation. When it comes to steroids and performance enhancing drugs, it appears that emotional arguments generally trump intellectual arguments. But fortunately, and surprisingly, the Sen. Schumer and Sen. Grassley rationally examined the evidence of the adverse consequences, particularly for children, of making HGH a Scheduled-III controlled substance. 

“We’ve ran into some things that we didn’t anticipate. We were enlightened by the parents whose children legitimately need HGH,” Grassley told USA TODAY on Tuesday. “Making it (a more tightly controlled substance) would have created a lot of red tape for them.”

Sadly, Sen. Schumer and Sen. Grassley are not students of history when it comes to the Controlled Substances Act; otherwise, they would already known how political misuse of the Controlled Substances Act (especially involving doping in sports) can adversely affect availability of pharmaceuticals for patients who needs these therapies for health, wellness, and survival. The addition of anabolic steroids to the Controlled Substances List with the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 had adverse unintended consequences for untold numbers of patients who had legitimate medical indications requiring anabolic steroid treatment.

We can thank Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who were widely criticized for doing so at the time, for placing a temporary hold on the original HGH legislation thereby allowing reason to prevail over emotion in the Senate. But most credit should go to the MAGIC Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to “providing support services to the families of children afflicted with chronic and critical disorders, syndromes, and diseases that affect their growth,” for their activism in the matter.