Performance-Enhancing Supplements

Effects of dietary supplements on selected hematological and biochemical parameters of Pakistani athletes

Background

CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) National Center for Health statistics recent reports have shown that an upsurge has occurred in the use of dietary supplements among age of 20 years since 1994 and this use shown regular increase. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of supplements on the reproductive health on male athletes in Pakistan.

Methods

A total of 150 adult male with mean age of 25.78 ± 0.56 years were included in this study and divided into four groups: Non-athlete control (n = 57), Non supplemental athlete control (n = 40), Supplemental athlete group I (n = 28) and supplemental athlete group II (n = 25). Blood (10 ml) was taken from each subject. Complete blood count was performed and 5 ml of blood was centrifuged to separate plasma and then analyzed for antioxidant enzyme (CAT, POD, GR and GSH) activities, Lipid peroxidation (TBARS), electrolyte, metal (sodium, potassium and zinc) and Luteinizing hormone (LH) concentration.

Results

Complete blood count results showed normal RBC, WBC, Platelets, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, Mean corpuscular hemoglobin and Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration. Antioxidant enzymes (CAT, POD, GR, GSH) increased significantly in supplemental athletes as compared to control groups. Sodium and potassium showed significant increase (p < 0.001) in supplemental athlete group I, while TBARS also showed significant increase (p < 0.05) in supplemental group I and II as compared to non athlete control while non supplemental athletes showed significant increase (p < 0.05) in TBARS concentration as compared to non athlete control. LH concentration was found to be decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in supplemental group I and II as compared to control groups.

Conclusion

It is therefore concluded from the present results that oxidative stress was considerably elevated in response to supplement consumption among athletes which may affect their health haematological parameters and reproductive hormones.

The Use of Ergogenic Agents in High School Athletes

Statistics reporting adolescent use of ergogenic agents are staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, 6.1% of students from grades 9 through 12 had taken illegal anabolic steroids without a prescription one or more times during their lifetime. Additionally, more adolescent athletes are using non–Food and Drug Administration-regulated herbal supplements that claim ergogenic benefits. Many athletes either are unaware of or do not consider the possible health risks caused by these agents. School-based programs for athletes may be successful in preventing the use of ergogenic agents by increasing knowledge about such agents and offering skills in critical thinking to improve decision-making skills.

Participation in Weight-Related Sports Is Associated with Higher Use of Unhealthful Weight-Control Behaviors and Steroid Use

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether adolescents who participate in a weight-related sport are at increased risk for unhealthful weight-control behaviors and steroid use.

DESIGN

This was a population-based study (Project EAT [Eating Among Teens]).

SUBJECTS/SETTING

Subjects were 4,746 adolescents (50.2% males, 49.8% females) from 31 public middle and high schools in the Minneapolis/St Paul area of Minnesota.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PERFORMED

Descriptive statistics, chi2 analyses, and multiple logistic regression were used. Data were adjusted for sociodemographic variables and body mass index.

MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLES

Unhealthful weight-control behaviors and steroid use.

RESULTS

More males (20.4%) than females (16.2%) reported participation in a weight-related sport. Males who reported participation in a weight-related sport had an increased risk of past-week vomiting (odds ratio [OR]=5.7), laxative use (OR=6.8), as well as past-year vomiting (OR=4.9), laxative use (OR=3.4), diuretic use (OR=6.0), and steroid use (OR=3.7), compared with those males who did not report participation. Females who reported participation in a weight-related sport had an increased risk of past week vomiting (OR=2.1), as well as past year vomiting (OR=2.0), laxative use (OR=2.6), and steroid use (OR=2.6), compared with those who did not report participation in a weight-related sport.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study shows that participation in a sport that adolescents perceive as emphasizing weight is strongly associated with unhealthful weight-control behaviors and steroid use. Preventive efforts, targeting parents, coaches, and adolescents are needed to decrease this risk.

Disorders of Fuel Metabolism: Medical Complications Associated with Starvation, Eating Disorders, Dietary Fads, and Supplements

Disorders of fuel metabolism as they relate to abnormal fuel intake,abnormal fuel expenditure, and dietary supplements are the focus of this article. The emergency physician should be aware of the medical complications that can occur as a result of starvation states,eating disorders, fad diets, hypermetabolic states, and ergogenic aids. Knowledge and understanding of the complications associated with these disorders will facilitate the diagnosis and management of patients who present to the emergency department with any of the disorders reviewed.

Sports Pharmacology and Ergogenic Aids

Primary care physicians working with athletes need to ask about drug or supplement use. A basic knowledge of ergogenic substances may help to establish rapport with athletes using these agents. Physicians should be aware that doses used by athletes are far in excess of the ones reported by the literature, and that new substances are constantly being introduced. It is hoped that increased awareness and knowledge of the more common ergogenic substances will lead to better education and health care for the athletic population.

Balancing fact and fiction of novel ingredients: definitions, regulations and evaluation

Veterinarians have an opportunity to help educate their clients regarding the safety and efficacy of novel ingredients used by their clients. This is no small task because of the lack of acceptable information. Clients should be counseled regarding the lack of scientific evidence and be encouraged to discriminate fact from fiction, including many testimonials. Safety should be of primary concern, and clients should be encouraged not to neglect traditional therapies in lieu of novel ingredients unless clinical evidence of efficacy exists. Quality assurance is equally important and cannot be underestimated. Clients are likely to resort to less expensive products. Clients should be directed to the advice offered by the Arthritis Foundation as follows: "When a supplement has been studied with good results, find out which brand was used and buy that." Although skepticism is encouraged regarding any unknown product with medicinal indications, open mindedness should also guide the veterinarian as these products are considered. Indeed, veterinarians should take actions to ensure that the use of these compounds is accomplished within the confines of the veterinary-client-patient relationship, thus ensuring the role of the veterinarian in the health and well-being of animals, regardless of the modality of therapy. The veterinary profession should support the development of standards that might guide manufacturers of novel ingredients to meet criteria that protect the consumer. Likewise, we should encourage manufacturers and agencies to fund veterinary clinical trials to provide evidence for the use of these potentially exciting compounds. Above all else, the veterinarian needs to become a credible resource of information about the possible role of these products. The lack of a regulatory mechanism that establishes the safety and efficacy of these products is not justification for ignoring the potential therapeutic benefit of some of these products. Veterinarians should follow the advice of the Arthritis Foundation, which notes: "Since glucosamine is self-prescribed ... health care professionals are not regarded [to have] objective advice. This situation must change. It is time for the profession to accommodate the possibility that many nutritional products may have valuable therapeutic effects" [61].

Sports and performing arts medicine. 1. general considerations for sports and performing arts medicine11A commercial party with a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has conferred or will confer a financial benefit upon the author or one or more of the authors. Nadler is a consultant for Proctor & Gamble

This self-directed learning module highlights general considerations in sports and performing arts medicine. It is part of the study guide on sports and performing arts medicine in the Self-Directed Physiatric Education Program for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

OVERALL ARTICLE OBJECTIVE

To discuss similarities and differences of injuries sustained in sports and performing arts using case vignettes.

Adjusting a biochemistry course for physical education majors: A case study

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze the events responsible for curricular characteristics that lead to positive outcomes in university teaching using a biochemistry course taught to physical education students as a model. The research was carried out as a case study, supported by questionnaires, classroom observation, document analysis, and interviews. The overall analyses of obtained data were validated by means of triangulation protocols, which proved the following reasons for the course achievements: 1) teaching staff deeply committed to the course; 2) contents adaptation to students' careers; 3) gradual adjustment of the teaching strategies and evaluation tools; 4) valorization of formative evaluation; and 5) providing a suitable affective milieu.

Effect of dietary supplements on lean mass and strength gains with resistance exercise: a meta-analysis

The purpose of this study was to quantify which dietary supplements augment lean mass and strength gains during resistance training. Peer-reviewed studies between the years 1967 and 2001 were included in the analysis if they met a predetermined set of experimental criteria, among which were at least 3-wk duration and resistance-training 2 or more times a week. Lean mass and strength were normalized for meta-analysis by conversion to percent change per week and by calculating the effect size for each variable. Of the 250 supplements examined, only 6 had more than 2 studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Creatine and beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) were found to significantly increase net lean mass gains of 0.36 and 0.28%/wk and strength gains of 1.09 and 1.40%/wk (P < 0.05), respectively. Chromium, dehydroepiandrosterone, androstenedione, and protein did not significantly affect lean gain or strength. In conclusion, two supplements, creatine and HMB, have data supporting their use to augment lean mass and strength gains with resistance training.