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In That Mass of Muscle, Kidney Can Be Weak Link
[SIZE=-1]New York Times[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Lifting weights in the gym is “extremely healthy for you,” said Kenneth Wheeler, a former elite bodybuilder known as Flex. “But if you want to be a bodybuilder and compete at the highest level, it has nothing to do with health.” A relatively rare form of kidney disease forced Wheeler to retire in 2003 at age 37, and he needed a kidney transplant later that year. [...][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The risk-taking has been made worse by a trend toward ever larger physiques among the sport’s top competitors, some said. Jay Cutler, who won the 2009 Mr. Olympia contest, weighs almost 40 pounds more than Arnold Schwarzenegger did when he won the title in 1974, even though Cutler is five inches shorter.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]“Each decade you have a guy that comes along that sets new standards and you say O.K., now I’m going to have to take it to the next level,” said Shahriar Kamali, a professional bodybuilder known as King.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The International Federation of Body Building and Fitness reserves the right to test for steroids and human growth hormone at the professional level, and testing is done on a random basis, said Bob Cicherillo, athlete representative for the federation, which is the main governing body for bodybuilding.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]But several bodybuilders said the testing was nearly nonexistent, and Cicherillo said he could not provide specific figures on competitors who tested positive. In addition, the chairman of the organization’s medical commission, Robert M. Goldman, is a leading champion of the anti-aging effects of human growth hormone, a drug that is banned by most sports governing bodies. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]James Manion, who runs the professional division of the federation, did not return several calls seeking comment. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Some bodybuilders expressed doubt that their practices were dangerous, pointing to former competitors who are still healthy in their 70s. They attributed the deaths of elite bodybuilders to the abuse of over-the-counter painkillers and diuretics, not steroids. The bodybuilding federation tests for diuretics at professional events, although competitors said they are still used.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Bodybuilders said that they were unfairly singled out as drug abusers when athletes in most other sports were also using performance-enhancing drugs. “Like anything else, it’s use and abuse,” Cicherillo said. “We’re the ones who are visual. We’re the ones who walk around, and you see us with the big muscles.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Wheeler said he was convinced steroid use did not cause his kidney disease, although it might have made it worse. ...[/SIZE]
More...
[SIZE=-1]New York Times[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Lifting weights in the gym is “extremely healthy for you,” said Kenneth Wheeler, a former elite bodybuilder known as Flex. “But if you want to be a bodybuilder and compete at the highest level, it has nothing to do with health.” A relatively rare form of kidney disease forced Wheeler to retire in 2003 at age 37, and he needed a kidney transplant later that year. [...][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The risk-taking has been made worse by a trend toward ever larger physiques among the sport’s top competitors, some said. Jay Cutler, who won the 2009 Mr. Olympia contest, weighs almost 40 pounds more than Arnold Schwarzenegger did when he won the title in 1974, even though Cutler is five inches shorter.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]“Each decade you have a guy that comes along that sets new standards and you say O.K., now I’m going to have to take it to the next level,” said Shahriar Kamali, a professional bodybuilder known as King.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The International Federation of Body Building and Fitness reserves the right to test for steroids and human growth hormone at the professional level, and testing is done on a random basis, said Bob Cicherillo, athlete representative for the federation, which is the main governing body for bodybuilding.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]But several bodybuilders said the testing was nearly nonexistent, and Cicherillo said he could not provide specific figures on competitors who tested positive. In addition, the chairman of the organization’s medical commission, Robert M. Goldman, is a leading champion of the anti-aging effects of human growth hormone, a drug that is banned by most sports governing bodies. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]James Manion, who runs the professional division of the federation, did not return several calls seeking comment. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Some bodybuilders expressed doubt that their practices were dangerous, pointing to former competitors who are still healthy in their 70s. They attributed the deaths of elite bodybuilders to the abuse of over-the-counter painkillers and diuretics, not steroids. The bodybuilding federation tests for diuretics at professional events, although competitors said they are still used.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Bodybuilders said that they were unfairly singled out as drug abusers when athletes in most other sports were also using performance-enhancing drugs. “Like anything else, it’s use and abuse,” Cicherillo said. “We’re the ones who are visual. We’re the ones who walk around, and you see us with the big muscles.”[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Wheeler said he was convinced steroid use did not cause his kidney disease, although it might have made it worse. ...[/SIZE]
More...
