People suffering from sore throat due to colds and flu can now get an immediate relief from steroids. Based on the latest edition of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), a single dose of oral steroids can alleviate the pain being suffered by patients with severe sore throats. The research was conducted on 743 patients which includes 369 children. The group conducted 8 trials in analyzing the effectiveness of steroids to placebo in adults and children with severe sore throats.

Researcher Dr. Carl Heneghan said that people with severe sore throat, a single dose of an oral steroid is effective in relieving pain in 24 and 48 hours. Heneghan is the deputy director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford in the UK. He stressed however that the treatment is not advised for a mild sore throat since it usually go away by itself. “If you turn up at your emergency department and you have really bad tonsillitis and you are in a lot of pain, an additional treatment is to take a single dose of a corticosteroid,” he said.

It was also noted in the research that oral steroids can reduce the time for about six hours in reducing the pain. Patients given with corticosteroids and antibiotics were 3 times more likely to report having no pain 24 hours after treatment compared with patients given antibiotics alone. The group also found out that the treatment using oral steroids were more effective on adults as compared to children.

The research team intimates that taking oral steroids may help reduce the intake of antibiotics but further studies should be conducted on this issue. Steroid works by reducing the inflammation and are commonly prescribed for conditions such as asthma and croup. As a pain reliever for sore throat, oral steroids could help reduce the need for antibiotics and prevent creating a more resistant bacteria as a result of too much antibiotics.

Assistant professor of otolaryngology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Dr. Julie Wei cautioned patients that may rely solely on oral steroids in the treatment of severe sore throats. She agreed that oral steroids are really effective in relieving pain but they are not substitute for antibiotics which treat the infection not the pain. “The use of steroid should never be for the purpose of replacing antibiotics. Based on the current information, that is not the conclusion people should have,” she said.

Dr. Wei added that single-dose steroid use is already a common procedure. In her medical practice, all her pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy get a single dose intravenously at the time of surgery. According to her, steroids are the most potent anti-nausea and anti-vomiting medication available. It also helps in improving appetite and the condition of the patient. “Also, people in the emergency room or children admitted for throat abscess usually get a single dose of steroids if they are having severe pain or difficulty opening their mouth due to inflammation. We ENTs already recommend that commonly,” Dr. Wei added.

The sale of HGH or human growth hormone is considered as one of the largest market in the United States alone which is estimated at $1 billion according to biopharmaceutical industry. The market for HGH is expected to increase up to $16 billion in the US and Europe by 2011. Human growth hormones (HGH) have become popular as anti-ageing drugs aside from its use to treat growth-related deficiencies in children and adolescents. With the increasing market for HGH in Europe, US and Asia, pharmaceutical companies continue to improve their HGH products. These drugs are usually injected into the patient’s body so the quality of the product is the primary concern of its manufacturers.

Recently, Antares Pharma was able to get the approval of the FDA for its new needle free injection device for use with Tev-Tropin brand human growth hormone (hGH) from Teva. It will be marketed under the name Tev-Tropin Tjet Injector system. Teva is from Petach Tikva, Israel.

Based from its press release, the reusable needle free injector can deliver precise doses of HGH through high-speed, pressurized liquid penetration to the skin without a needle. The injector has a variable-dose mechanism which is engineered to last for a minimum of two years. It was also designed for easy use to facilitate self-injection with a disposable plastic needle-free syringe to assure safety and efficacy. Further, the device offers high precision liquid medication delivery through an opening that is approximately half the diameter of a standard, 30-gauge needle and it is designed to last for approximately one week. This injector which is sold under the brand Medi-Jector VISION® is being marketed by Antares Pharma in more than 30 countries to cater to the needs of patients for either insulin or human growth hormone (hGH).

According to Antares president and CEO Paul K. Wotton, the needle free injection system is the first product approval stemming from their portfolio of product collaborations with Teva and is a very exciting milestone for the company. “Importantly, it is another example of delivering on our strong focus and commitment to patients, together with our partners, to provide new ways to administer drugs. We look forward to the launch of this product by Teva,” he said.

Mylan, Teva’s competitor also signed a collaboration agreement with Indian company Biocon Ltd. to develop and market generic biologic compounds. According to analysts, the entry of Biocon is not considered as threat to Teva.

Meanwhile, Ranbaxy Laboratories of India is also planning to develop a new growth hormone product to target the emerging global market for new versions of patent-expired biotech drugs. They will tie up with unnamed manufacturer of injection device for its HGH products which according to sources can be launch in the market within 2 to 3 years.

Currently, the big names in the pharmaceuticals industry like Pfizer, Merck Serono, Eli Lily, Novo Nordisk and Sandoz still dominates the HGH market. However the expiration of some patents of these companies opened the market for generic manufacturing companies to enter into the market.

There has been a misconception as to what is really the function of testosterone in the human body. Others may not know the roles of testosterone which may later on cause some health problems if not taken cared of. There are also some beliefs that too much testosterone can cause cancer and other imbalances in the body. Dr. Paul Turek who is a leading surgeon and former endowed chair professor at University of California San Francisco and head of the Turek Clinic explains the importance of testosterone and how it affects their health. Dr. Turek is specializing in men’s reproductive health especially in male fertility.

Dr. Turek explains that testosterone is the major sex steroid hormone for men which is responsible for growth and other sexual functions. He said that testosterone is critical in boys during puberty and for men for normal growth and proper reproductive and sexual functions. It influences mood, memory and intellect aside from the sex drive. Testosterone is also responsible for other body functions such as the development of muscles and strength. It helps maintain normal blood counts, controlling cholesterol level and bone strength. Testosterone is also responsible for fertility and prostrate functions and maintains erections. According to Dr. Turek, testosterone is an essential hormone for a healthy body.

With the countless functions of testosterone for males, there are still some myths that is being attached to it especially to the synthetic ones. Others would say that testosterone is illegal. Turek says that testosterone is a controlled substance under the Drug Enforcement Agency but it can be legally obtained with a prescription from a doctor. It becomes illegal if acquired without prescriptions.

Since testosterone is a steroid, others believed that it is dangerous. Dr. Turek said that this is both true and false. As steroid hormone essential for a healthy male body, testosterone becomes dangerous only when taken above and beyond what the body needs. User can experience side effects like sterility but it can’t be compared to the effects of hallucinogenic drugs.

Dr. Turek also disagreed that testosterone my cause uncontrollable violent behavior. Although testosterone can affect mood and low levels of it may also cause depression in some cases but it doesn’t cause violent behavior. Excessive testosterone in the body may cause anxiety and insomnia but it doesn’t make them more aggressive or docile than men with low levels of testosterone.

Even if there was a previous study that prostrate cancer is hormonally sensitive to testosterone, Dr. Turek doesn’t believe that it causes prostrate cancer. “Men with higher levels of testosterone are at no greater risk of developing prostate cancer than men with low testosterone. In fact, evidence is emerging that, if anything, men with lower testosterone levels may be at higher risk of prostate cancer,” he said.

Another myth about testosterone is it causes baldness in men. It is false since baldness is associated with genes. Dr. Turek said that on the average, testosterone levels of males suffering from baldness are just the same with men having normal full head of hair. Baldness is genetically determined. “Male pattern baldness (that is, balding in the center of the crown but not all over) is inherited through the mother’s side, so to guess whether a man will have this, he should look at his mother’s father. All-over (not crown centered), early onset baldness, however, is usually through the father’s side, passed through the Y chromosome,” added Turek.

Testosterone is naturally produced by the body but it can be synthetically produced. There are more than 100 variants of anabolic steroids or testosterone in the market and usually requires a prescription before you can obtain it. Arnolds, gym candy, pumpers, roids, stackers, weight trainers, and juice are just some common street or slang names for anabolic steroids.

A researcher from the University of Arkansas revealed that the characteristics associated with muscle dysmorphia have no difference whether or not bodybuilders use steroids. Muscle dysmorphia is actually a disorder characterized by the excessive preoccupation with muscularity and body fat percentage of an individual and is usually suffered by bodybuilders. It is mostly suffered by males when there is a pathological preoccupation with the absence of muscular size and leanness.

Timothy Baghurst, a visiting assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Arkansas, said that he thinks that he suffered the same disorder at one point in his life and it was the reason why he conducted his research. Daniel Kissinger is a licensed professional counselor who helped Baghurst shape and integrate the mental health elements of the study and discussion of muscle dysmorphia. “One of the problems associated with classifying muscular dysmorphia is that, while it is receiving increasing attention in the mental health literature, muscle dysmorphia is not recognized by the American Psychological Association as a distinct mental illness,” said Kissinger.

“Studies have linked muscle dysmorphia with diagnoses from several recognized diagnostic categories, including somatoform disorders, eating disorders, and anxiety disorder,” Kissinger explained. “Still, it is likely that the notion of muscle dysmorphia and its larger clinical implications remain unfamiliar to many mental health professionals.”

Baghurst, in his research, also found that there is no agreement on how muscle dysmorphia should be measured. “Currently, there is no way to measure if a person has muscle dysmorphia,” he said. “Inventories measure only the degree of traits and characteristics associated with muscular dysmorphia.” “With respect to muscle dysmorphia, there is no cut off to determine whether or not someone has it,” Baghurst said. “We have a continuum, where some people fall on the high end, some on the low end, but most fall in the middle.”

During his research, Baghurst divided bodybuilders into “natural” and “non-natural” sub-groups. The former refers to competitions in which bodybuilders will undergo a drug test and must pass a polygraph for not using prohibited drugs. Meanwhile, the non-natural are participants who are not required to pass polygraph nor do not undergo drug testing before a competition.

In this method, Baghurst found that steroid use is not necessary to be concerned with muscularity and leanness. “Most people will assume bodybuilders using steroids are those with muscle dysmorphia,” he said. “By separating natural and non-natural bodybuilders, I found that either group is equally likely to have all of the traits of muscle dysmorphia with the exception of pharmacological use.”

Baghurst also found that males who were weight training to enhance their physique but are not bodybuilders also associated with muscle dysmorphia including dissatisfaction with their size and symmetry. The results of his research were actually published in Body Image last June 2009.

After pleading guilty for the charges of selling illegal anabolic steroids from his health store in Lower Lonsdale area, his lawyer asked the court for a conditional discharge. Joao Melo, 28, owner of the health food store SVN Canada at 103 East Third Street and his wife Sylvie Tran were arrested by police officers last August. He allegedly sold anabolic steroids to bodybuilders and athletes. Moreover, there are some reports that the owner also sold these drugs to minors which alarmed some of the residents in the area.

This prompted police authorities to field in undercover agents posing as martial arts enthusiasts. Based from court records, they were able to purchase anabolic steroids in several occasions. The couple keeps the steroid behind the counter or at the back of the store. They noticed that the purchases were not entered into the cash register.

According to the undercover agents, they were told by Melo on how to take the steroids. He told police officers that they could easily gain additional 50 to 60 pounds to their bench press when taking the steroids. Melo also warned the officers about the dosage. He said that they should not take more than 2 pills a day and stop for 2 weeks to give their body cleanse the drug which commonly referred to as steroid cycle. Melo said that some of the young kids buying from him abuse it and they take four pills a day which was dangerous and would cause problems for their heart and liver. The couple also informed the officers not to drink alcohol while taking those steroids to avoid side effects especially to the liver. Melo sold the drug M1T (a short form of methyl-1-testosterone) from Andro Technologies to the officers.

Jay Straith, the Federal Crown counsel have different stand on the case. He asked the judge to sentence Melo to house arrest since the sale of these drugs is a serious public health issue. Although Melo sold these drugs to bodybuilders and some fighters, he also sold these to some kids who don’t even work out and just want to get bigger. “He was quite aware of the effects. He seemed to understand how dangerous they are, particularly to young people,” Straight added.

Melo’s lawyer, Shelley Sugarman said that his client only sold the illegal drugs because customers asked him to supply them. “He felt pressure from the customers. He didn’t want to lose the rest of their business,” she said. She also told the judge that Melo never offered the steroids to anyone unless they specifically asked for them. He sold to men in their 20’s but he didn’t sell the steroids to minors, she added.

The business license of the health store could be revoked by the city because of this case. Melo was also required by Revenue Canada to pay taxes on the undeclared income more than $5,000.

Charges on Melo’s wife were already dropped and the judge still has to make judgment on his case.

Dr. Ramon Scruggs who became famous for his involvement in professional sports like bodybuilding and baseball finally pleaded guilty for illegal distribution of anabolic steroids, smuggling human growth hormones and money laundering. He was mentioned in the controversial Mitchell Report. Scruggs who is already 61 years old is practicing his profession for more than 26 years but was involve in medical malpractice. According to court records, Scruggs distributed and prescribed drugs to patients from 2000 to 2003 even without medical justification. The DEA said that Dr. Scruggs knew that his prescription of anabolic steroids and HGH without medical need can be used by his patients for performance enhancement.

Under the plea agreement, the doctor admitted to distributing 250 to 1,000 vials of anabolic steroids. He also admitted to prescribing anabolic steroid testosterone to a patient in Santa Clara County in May 17, 2003. Moreover, Scruggs admitted to asking other people to help him distribute the drugs. In one instance, he asked someone to transfer $3,605 from his account to China for the payment of HGH purchase.

The Medical Board of California revoked his medical license in 2007 after complaints that he issued prescriptions to patients and clients even without seeing them in person. He allegedly set up a website in 1999 where he gave prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy and anabolic steroids, which were used to increase muscle mass, strength and endurance. For almost 9 years, he was able to issue 6,073 prescriptions for various clients.

According to the Medical Board, the doctor “committed acts and/or omissions constituting gross negligence in his evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, medication, monitoring, record keeping, advice, care and handling,” of several patients. Aside from the revocation of his license, a fine of $4,800 was imposed on him including the enrollment in classes regarding practices in prescribing drugs, keeping medical records, and ethics.

Some of the patients of Dr. Scruggs developed some complications because of his practice of prescribing through the telephone and without physical examination. The Orange County Register identified some of these patients. A man named Eric M. of Florida consulted Scruggs thru phone about his intention to increase his weight from 175 to 220lbs. The doctor prescribed several drugs but Eric stopped taking these medications when there was no positive result. Eric developed two benign tumors according to the report.

A patient from New York City, named Bruce R. was able to get prescriptions fro weight gain from Dr. Scruggs without an examination. He prescribed anabolic steroids and testosterone even the patient had a history of hypertension. Based on the records, the use of testosterone and anabolic steroids in a patient with hypertension is dangerous since they may exacerbate hypertension and cause fluid retention.

Another patient who suffered from high fat levels in the blood was able to get steroids prescriptions after a phone consultation with Dr. Scruggs. This practice will place the patient at a substantial risk of cardiovascular disease, according to records.

Other sports personalities who were also included in the long list of clients of Dr. Scruggs include Troy Glaus, Scott Shoeneweis, and Todd Greene, just name a few. The doctor pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and HGH which he faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in jail and $250,000 fine. He also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering with a maximum penalty of 20 years. His sentencing is scheduled on September 14.