An anti-steroid message

[Mdlftr]

Dead BodyBuilders - YouTube

http://www.bodybuildingforums.com.au...ybuilders.html

This video shows a bunch of bodybuilders, some famous, some not, who are now deceased. Most of the people shown here died of heart disease. At the end of the video, the compiler tries to argue that steroids may have been implicated in these deaths. While his argument is unsupported by direct evidence of steroid use as a cause of death, it does make you think about how many people get huge and die relatively young - in their late 30's to mid 40s.

Having a big muscular body doesn't mean you'll live forever!

Sobering vid....

[theunknown]

I usually don't make a lot of comments on threads here, lately I've started getting a bit more opinionated. The reason for that are videos like this. I understand there are certain risks related to steroid use, and respect that. However, trying to tag a dead bodybuilder's cause of death to steroids without factual information trivializes the poster's opinion (the dude that posted this on youtube, not you Mdlftr you're awesome and cannot be trivialized by law of awesomeness).

I think that 6 people dying of cancer is sad, ANY of those deaths are sad. But can someone please tell me how cancer can be linked to anabolic steroids?

The natural causes: 1 dude died of Alzheimer, then there's Eric Otero that died of an INFECTION, and the gentleman that was really heavy.... Eh... Alzheimer? really? And also, the whole infection thing is a low blow, that guy's family had to deal with that loss and also some jackass stating that he took steroids. How can anabolic steroids be linked to a tooth infection?!

Murder.... Someone please tell me how your spouse killing you can be related to steroids... Maybe it went a little bit like this:
"ZOMG!!! You're REALLY BIG!!! I'm gonna KILL you!!! HAHAH! I'M NUTS!".... Seriously.... It's sad, truly sad. But can't see how this relates to steroids... Suicide might be related to steroid use on some individuals, and it also can be related to the person's psychological profile and the lack of certain chemicals that go to the brain. But I'm not going into that much...

I'm already ranting and I'm going to stop... But the only thing I can relate to steroid use is liver failure since liver has to do with protein synthesis.

[inm]

I'm with unknown on this. emotional videos are no replacement for science and truth.
But hey, in a world where a decapitation in a car accident can be blamed on ephedrine usage, anything is possible.

what IS true, that some bodybuilders died around competition due to stupid overuse of diuretics (drugs that cause the body to loose water, for that dry, hard look). So, top level competitive bodybuilding, like any top level competitive sport, can be unsafe.

[muscledogg]

that video is really bs...those guys didn't die from steroid use...mentzer suffered from mental illness for years and took heavy meds for that condition...others died from abusing diuretics to get extra dry for a show...diuretics are not steroids...use is a personal choice, but i hope most of you guys realize that many doctors are using the life extension cocktail of testosterone and gh...

[FuzzyKB]

Originally Posted by Mdlftr

Dead BodyBuilders - YouTube

http://www.bodybuildingforums.com.au...ybuilders.html

This video shows a bunch of bodybuilders, some famous, some not, who are now deceased. Most of the people shown here died of heart disease. At the end of the video, the compiler tries to argue that steroids may have been implicated in these deaths. While his argument is unsupported by direct evidence of steroid use as a cause of death, it does make you think about how many people get huge and die relatively young - in their late 30's to mid 40s.

Having a big muscular body doesn't mean you'll live forever!

Sobering vid....

I find myself angered by these kinds of presentations simply because they distort facts.

Lyle Alzado died of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Cancer. In a deal he made with the DEA he attributed his cancer to his steroid use when playing pro football. There is no medical evidence connecting NHLymphoma to Steroids.

The Mentzer Brothers had a long family history of Heart Disease and both were heavy smokers as well as bodybuilders. Another factor may have been sleep apnea that had gone untreated.

When Rob Saeger died at age 29 in his sleep of heart failure it was not pointed out that there were numerous other early deaths in the family from this same kind of problem. He was a bodybuilder therefore it must automatically be steroids.

The actual facts are kind of interesting.

If steroids were killing people most HIV patients receiving therapy with dosages often as high or higher than bodybuilders would be dropping like flies from this usage. Wooops Surprise! The are certainly not dropping from that. In HIV treatment we have had simultaneous dosages of both oral methylated steroids, injectable steroids and high dosages of HGH all to treat wasting syndrome.

How come all of these people are not dead?

I am not necessarily an advocate of illegal drug usage but it is time that people at least told the truth.

A/S can do damage that is for certain, but the damage results from stupidity and from people who do not have a clue as to what it is that they are doing and those who do not monitor their blood levels and functions that are affected by the use of these substances.

A/S have saved the lives of countless people and continue to do so to this day when they are used with common sense. They have many legitimate uses beyond HIV and the usage of A/S in sports is simply a hot potato because it is politically expedient to do so. It has nothing to do with fact and a great deal to do with "politically correct".

[Aielyn]

Originally Posted by theunknown

But can someone please tell me how cancer can be linked to anabolic steroids?

I think the attempt to link deaths of bodybuilders to steroids to any great degree is probably absurd, but on this point, it's not hard to see it.

Anabolic steroids, amongst other things, significantly increases the rate of cell production in muscles. Cancer is, by its very definition, a group of cells that have abnormal growth properties (specifically, abnormally fast). While this doesn't mean cancer is linked to anabolic steroids at all, it is not inconceivable that there might be a link. And this is without factoring in the side-effect impact on certain parts of the body, such as the testes (it isn't inconceivable that potential testicular cancer cells get activated due to the effect of steroids).

A quick search of the net indicates that anabolic steroids are considered IARC Group 2A carcinogens - that is, substances that are "probably carcinogenic". There is evidence of a link, but it's limited evidence, not enough to say with confidence that the link is there.


On the overall topic at hand, I'd argue that using the "steroids might kill you" argument is taking the wrong approach if you want to convince people not to use steroids - so long as the evidence is limited, it will be easy to brush off, as a number of people here have done. There are two solid reasons not to use steroids: the side-effects, and the fact that it's nothing but a shortcut for most people (and shortcuts when it comes to your body are never good).