Steroids are not only popular among bodybuilders and professional athletes. Performance enhancing drugs are also considered a necessity for some jobs which require a healthy and strong body. Law enforcement officers are prone to steroid use because of the nature of their work. Most of them go to gym to build a bigger physique but some decide to take the shortcut by augmenting their workouts with anabolic steroids.

However, taking steroids puts them on the risk of losing their jobs. Different law enforcement agencies in the country ban the use of steroids if it is not prescribe for a legitimate medical condition. The FBI recently charged their own agents for committing this offense. The number of police officers involved in the use of anabolic steroids is also increasing despite the dangers that it may give to them. Added to that is the possibility of losing their jobs once they are caught using steroids not intended for any medical purposes.

Stiff sanction awaits police officers who were involved in the use, possession or distribution of anabolic steroids. In the NY daily News report, a New York City cop was required to render an additional 2 years work as a result of his involvement in steroids. The cop was not terminated from the job but the terms of his sanction is considered as unusual.

Officer Daniel Zehrer entered into a plea deal and agreed to work extra 591 days after his retirement date. Zehrer tested positive for steroids in 2008 when the NYPD conducted random steroid tests. The department was forced to implement random testing due to the alleged involvement of several NYPD officers in the use of steroids. An investigation on a Bay Ridge Pharmacy revealed the names of 27 officers who were purchasing steroids for personal use but failed to prove that it was needed for a medical condition. Operators of the pharmacy were also charged with illegal prescriptions of steroids.

The police commissioner has still to approve the plea agreement. Officials said that the unusual penalty was based on Zehrer’s suspension in 2008 with pay. “Basically the Police Department decided it wanted all those days back. He’s working at a discount. He gets paid, but the extra time doesn’t go towards his pension,” a police source told the Daily News.

Authorities have given more lenient penalties to erring officers especially those who were linked to steroid use. Another police officer who was charged with the use of human growth hormone was only given 1 year probation and forfeited his one month salary. Deputy Chief Michael Marino, a second in command in Brooklyn North received the sanction in September.

As long as these steroids promise stronger and bigger bodies, law enforcement officers will always be tempted to try one.

Great looking celebrities are not spared from the curiosity of the fans. Since their life is open to the public, whatever changes in their bodies will always be noticed. Mike “The situation” Sorrentino has the same problem to address. The improvement in his physique becomes an issue that some people thought it was caused by steroid use.

Sorrentino, the reality star from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” is also taking his chances in the “Dancing with The Stars.” Their latest performance in the show was not that good. Sorrentino and his professional partner Karina Smirnoff got the lowest mark in Monday’s presentation. However, Mike’s great abs got the attention of the media. Many suspect him that his great body physique could be the result of using anabolic steroids.

The Jersey Shore star answered this question during the interview with ABC’s “Nightline.” Mike Sorrentino denied that he never took any steroids in achieving his look right now. He told Chris Connelly that he never use steroids when asked about the issue. “The steroid look is definitely a bulkier look,” said Sorrentino. “I have a more thin, lean look,” he added. It is common for steroid users to get bulging muscles and bigger physique. But with the different type of steroids available in the market today, some could also get leaner muscles and does not cause too much increase in weight.

The celebrity is also taking a neutral stand on steroid use. Instead of giving an anti-steroid stand or an endorsement on the use of steroids, Sorrentino answered that it depends on the prerogative of the user. “And I don’t judge. If somebody’s going to take steroids, that’s their prerogative and their body.”

Sorrentino admits that he is keen in maintaining a healthy body. “I’m worried about taking care of myself and working out and taking my body to the best it could be,” he told Connelly. His current schedule may not give him enough time to go to gym and do regular workouts, his practice with his partner is already enough to keep him in shape. “I’m actually dancing six to eight hours a day, but I guess I’m genetically gifted,” he said.

In the interview of Shaun Robinson of Access Hollywood, Sorrentino said that his main concern is to take good care of his body nutritional wise. He also added that doing the right things in the gym resulted to his great looking body.

After clarifying the issue of steroid use, Sorrentino should now focus on his next performance in the “Dancing with the Stars.”

It’s no wonder why the Texans owner took the extra step in convincing the league to review the 4-game suspension of Brian Cushing. At the start of the season the team got the worst stats at the defensive end. They struggled in maintaining a good defensive play. In fact the team is on the 32nd and last in pass defence, allowing 1,351 yards and eight touchdowns. The Texans however is still a team to beat at the start of this season because of their overall performance for the first 4 games. Now that Cushing is back, the team will be able to dominate both the offense and defense.

Houston Texan coach Gary Kubiak said that they missed Brian on the defense. “We’ll put him right to work because he’s so valuable to this team. I’m not worried about Brian from a work standpoint. He works harder than anybody we have. It’s the snaps you can’t make up for that everyone else has played,” he said.

Cushing is enthusiastic on his comeback. In an interview earlier this week, Cushing said, “I’m back, I’m playing football, and it’s going to be the same old 56 running around. I take a lot of pride in playing, and I want to be the best at it. Hopefully, I won’t skip a beat. I’m putting the helmet and shoulder pads on and, come Sunday, I’m going to be me.” Coach Kubiak said that a lot of guys in the team are counting on him.

The 4-game suspension did not hinder Cushing in continuing his training. He still works out and sees his chiropractor daily every week. Joe DeFranco, his long time trainer and Dr. Brian Shannon, a chiropractor is harnessing Cushing’s performance and skills by employing strength training and unconventional techniques and treatments. “With Brian, it’s like an art. His body leads us,” Shannon told the NY Daily News.

Before Cushing was suspended for hCg or human chorionic gonadotropin, he had an impressive performance in the last season with 133 tackles with 4 interceptions, 10 passes defended, 4 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and a safety. These stats were not due to steroids or any performance enhancing drugs according to Cushing. He maintained his stand that he never took steroids. He blamed “overtrained athlete syndrome” for his elevated levels of hCG.

However experts and the NFL did not believe this scenario. They are more convinced that the rookie of the year took something that was banned so he took HCG, a fertility drug to mask his use of anabolic steroids. Director Laurence A. Cole of the USA hCG Reference Service and Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the University of New Mexico refute the theory of Cushing. He said that there’s no basis for the alleged overtrained athlete syndrome to cause high levels of HCG.

But there is one thing that is known to the public, Cushing is taking supplements. The NY Daily News reported that Cushing has a closet just for supplements. “Brian needs to get his own place up here. His bottles of supplements are all over the place. It’s driving me nuts!” said his mother. He was also into a strict diet to maintain his 7,000 calories requirement per day. So if he is not taking anabolic steroids, some of his supplements may be tainted with HCG.

Although Cushing already served his steroid related suspension, he will be under the scrutiny of the public everytime he plays. “But no matter what their story is, they’re tainted in the public eye, and it definitely makes you a lot more cautious about what you do,” said Texans Amobi Okoye.

The implementation of the new anti-doping rules by the NSAC has appeased some of its critics. There are still some people who believe that the old policy of the NSAC is not quite effective in catching cheating athletes. One of the issues is the failure of the commission to include blood testing for human growth hormone and just relying on urine tests to determine who among the athletes are using steroids and other PED’s.

The new policies still exclude hgh testing but the new blood tests will help boost the results of their urine tests. The NSAC decided to enhance the coverage of their normal blood test for infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis and others. The test will now include hemoglobin and hematocrit tests which can also help determine if an athlete is under blood doping or using performance enhancing drug. The unusual high level of red blood cells in the blood can be determined by hemoglobin and hematocrit tests. The normal level for women is between 36.1 to 44.3 percent while for men it is between 40.7 and 50.3 percent.

NSAC executive director Keith Kizer said that the new test could help them tract athletes who are blood doping. “Basically, when you get the testing done on the blood for diseases like HIV and hepatitis, for a few extra bucks you can check for hemoglobin levels. It shows the amount of red blood cells in a person’s blood. You can compare that to future tests and if there’s a significant variance that could be proof someone took blood doping,” Kizer said.

The sports commission also amended their existing anabolic steroid policy. Athletes who want to apply for Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) will now be required to undergo steroid tests. Professional athletes may be allowed to use testosterone provided it is intended for legitimate medical use and they have valid prescription from a doctor. “They do grant therapy exemption if someone has valid, low testosterone levels. One of the things they have to do now though, in addition to proving it’s a legitimate medical condition, is do an immediate steroids test,” said NSAC head.

The NSAC also inked an agreement with the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the Cleveland Clinic for free medical tests of professional athletes from the MMA and boxing. The center will be offering free brain scans and physicals for the fighters over a period of several years. The objective is to help gather significant data in preventing brain diseases and how the fighters are affected by long term involvement in contact sports. The program is focused on studying brain trauma, concussive injury and neurological health among athletes. The commission is optimistic that this will gain favorable approval both for the promoters and fighters.

The standard urine test is still in place. The commission will check for anabolic steroids, T/E ratio, masking agents and diuretics on every fighter who apply for a license and scheduled to compete under their jurisdiction.

Though the new policy did not include HGH testing, the improvement in the anti-doping policy is an indication that the sports commission is not taking for granted the problem of steroids and PED’S use in sports.

Researchers found out that taking HGH is very crucial in treating a congenital condition. This was shown in the latest study about the use of human growth hormone in the treatment of cystic fibrosis. The research which was funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave hope to thousands of people who have cystic fibrosis. The findings provided new insights in managing the disease and could serve as the basis in using HGH as one of the options in treating the disease.

What is HGH?

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is naturally produced by the pituitary gland. HGH is then absorbed by our liver and then changed into growth factors which interact with the cells of our body. This interaction is most crucial for cell reproduction as it instructs the cells about when to live and when to die. Metabolism control, muscle gain and association with the energy levels of the human body also believed to be some of the benefits of HGH. With certain therapy, HGH supplementation can also cure some diseases. It has been found out that with appropriate levels of HGH, children tend to gain more height as compared to children with inadequate levels of HGH.

Around the age of 21 to 30 years, HGH level is considered at its best in our body but as we grow older, its natural level drops quite rapidly. HGH level drops by 14%, as estimated every 10 years which leads to lesser energy and more fatigue. As we grow older, we experience weight gain, bones degradation and decreases in calcium retention. Some researchers have proved that HGH levels decrease about 80% with time. With this cause, it can lead to serious disease like cardiovascular diseases as the cholesterol levels are badly affected by the decrease in HGH.

Thus maintaining adequate levels of HGH in our body is essential for proper growth, maintaining good health and for the well being of human body in general. Aside from these, HGH also gives many benefits such as control ageing, increase energy levels and improve our skin.

HGH as a New Method in Treating Cystic Fibrosis

The use of human growth hormone (HGH) is popular in sports because it promises many health benefits to the athlete. However, HGH use was primarily intended to treat some medical conditions and not to gain competitive advantage in sports. The recent study of the University of Connecticut revealed that the effect of HGH use to those patients who has cystic fibrosis lessen their number of visit to the hospitals after they undergone treatment of HGH. It also shows that it increases the lifespan and quality of life of children with this kind of disease. In the 1950’s, children with cystic fibrosis tends to lose their life shortly before they turned 8. But with advanced technology research in the field of medicine, the median age for people with the disease increased to 37 in 2008. For those who received HGH treatment, their percentage of annual hospital visit decreased by half.

Another finding of the researchers from the University of Connecticut proves that HGH helps children with cystic fibrosis in increasing their height of about 1.2 inches. The patients gained 3 pounds in their weight, internal organs become larger and mineral content of the bones were improved. “Hopefully, this is going to encourage cystic fibrosis care providers to use it more frequently in patients at the lower end of weight and of short stature,” said Craig Lapin from the University’s Department of Pediatrics and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

What is Cystic Fibrosis?

Cystic fibrosis affects more than 30,000 Americans and is the most common congenital disease. The disease afflicts a patient’s digestive system, contributing to the diminutive growth, which is common to all patients with CF, and affects the entire body, causing progressive disability and early death. Not only that, it also affects various organs such as the lungs, intestine and pancreas wherein they become clogged with thick mucus. The name cystic fibrosis refers to the characteristic of scarring (fibrosis) and cyst formation within the pancreas. This congenital condition was first recognized in the 1930’s.

We seldom hear journalists talk in favor of steroids. But veteran sports journalist Brent Musburger has a different view about this performance enhancing drug. His controversial statement during a symposium draws criticisms from fellow journalists and health experts. Musburger said that it is okay for professional athletes to use steroids if it is needed. “Here’s the truth about steroids: They work,” as he told the participants.

Musburger, a Montana native, was invited to talk in a symposium sponsored by journalism students of the University of Montana in Missoula. Though Musburger did not directly endorse the use of steroids, his speech could be taken in the wrong context. He told the journalism students that he believes the use of steroids by professional athletes is okay provided there is guidance from a health care professional. “I think under the proper care and doctor’s advice, they could be used at the professional level,” he said.

The veteran sports journalist advised the students to exercise curiosity when searching for information on steroids or any other issues. He noted that most young journalists have a negative view when reporting about steroids. “They come in with a negative view and they take it from there,” he said.

“I’ve had somebody say that, you know, steroids should be banned because they’re not healthy for you. Let’s go find out. What do the doctors actually think about anabolic steroids and the use by athletes? Don’t have a preconceived notion that this is right or this is wrong,” Murburger added. The journalist clarified that anabolic steroids have no place in high school athletics.

As expected, the World Anti-Doping Agency reacted on the statements of Musburger. Dr. Gary Wadler, the head of a committee that determines banned substances list of WADA, was surprised on the statement of Musburger. Wadler told the AP that the journalist was wrong in his view that steroids are not harmful to the users. “He’s categorically wrong, and if he’d like to spend a day in my office, I can show him voluminous literature going back decades about the adverse effects of steroids,” said Wadler. The anti-doping expert agreed that anabolic steroids are beneficial in the treatment of some medical conditions. “They have a legitimate role in medicine that’s clearly defined. But if it’s abused, it can have serious consequences,” he said.

Abuse of anabolic steroids usually leads to serious health problems such as liver disease, kidney problems and heart diseases. It can also alter proper development of the body and could affect one’s emotion such as depression and uncontrolled anger. Most of the reported cases of steroid abuse were from bodybuilding and athletics.

Others also claimed that even if steroids were used for legitimate medical purposes, it can still be considered an act of cheating if used by professional athletes. With the use of steroids, an athlete can speed up recovery and improve his or her performance. According to Erin Hannan, spokesperson for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, “No athlete should ever be made to feel compelled to use drugs, nor should such behavior become normalized, particularly when our youth are so influenced by the example set by their sports heroes.”

The Associated Press asked the sports journalist about his pronouncements in the symposium. Musburger maintained his stand that anabolic steroid when used under the supervision of a doctor is not necessarily a bad thing. He also clarified that the issue of steroids belongs in the hands of doctors and not in the hands of a journalist.

Brent Musburger is a top sports anchor of the CBS for many years and is now with ABC and ESPN. At the age of 71, he is still active in covering sports events. Musburger is currently covering college football.