A suspected steroid ring in Florida that was accused of distributing anti-aging treatments to celebrities and muscle building drugs to professional athletes has been busted by authorities.

At least eight people were arrested in Florida, New York, and Texas, according to officials.

From Reuters.com:

“There are celebrities involved in the case as consumers,” Albany District Attorney David Soares told reporters in Orlando.

Officials also confirmed a report in Albany Times Union that the investigation could expose steroid use by current and former Major League Baseball players, National Football League players, bodybuilders and college and high school athletes.

Soares alleges the network prescribed anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and other substances over the Internet and without face-to-face examinations, supplying a large portion of the national market for illegal online steroid sales.

“The recent steroid raid in Florida doesn’t surprise me at all. People from all walks of life now are using performance enhancing substances,” Victor Conte, the head of the BALCO lab who served jail time on steroid distribution charges, told Reuters. “From athletes to movie stars, there seems to be an ever-growing need to find a competitive edge.”

Tags: anabolic steroids, BALCO, bodybuilders, human growth hormone, Major League Baseball, muscle building drugs, National Football League, online steroid, steroid

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

The National Football League (NFL) will be insisting on a mandatory Human Growth Hormone (HGH) testing in the next labor deal with the players, according to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The NFL Commissioner said the NFL needs to do more to ensure that banned substances are kept out of the sport.

From Playerpress.com:

HGH is a protein-based peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals which affects the growth hormone on the tissues of the body and is described as an anabolic just as steroids are.

It is used by athletes in an attempt to enhance their athletic performance although recent studies have not been able to support claims that HGH actually improves athletic performance.

In the United States, HGH is only available legally with a prescription from a doctor.

The use of HGH by NFL players is prohibited by the league, but they do not currently test for it.

Tags: HGH, human growth hormone, National Football League, NFL

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

The suicide of his teenage son led Don Hooton to make way for a foundation that now offers anti-steroid information at high schools and colleges across the U.S. and Canada and accepts annual donations from Major League Baseball and the National Football League for the Taylor Hooton Foundation.

The foundation has been receiving appreciation from different quarters and is serving the purpose of its creation.

From Dallasnews.com:

At the same time, the random steroid testing program for University Interscholastic League athletes in Texas is shrinking. The Legislature initially funded the effort in 2007 with an annual budget of $3 million, but the allotment for the current school year is $750,000 – after a cut to $1 million a year earlier. A total of 4,560 athletes are scheduled to be tested in 2010-11, compared with 35,077 in 2008-09.

While the economic downturn played a role in the reductions, Hooton said he believes state politicians don’t fear steroid use as much as they did when the bill was enacted. That, he said, is because the 51,635 tests done over the last 2 ½ years have resulted in 21 positive tests, two unresolved and 139 not passing for procedure violations, such as unexcused absences. Last spring, all 3,308 tests were clean. Two years ago, Gov. Rick Perry said the results to date indicated the funding might have been excessive.

Hooton said the results of the testing, done for the UIL by Drug Free Sport of Kansas City, Mo., don’t accurately measure steroid use among the state’s high school athletes.

Hooton, who runs the foundation out of his McKinney home remarked, “We’re going to budget this down to defeating the purpose of the program.”

Tags: National Football League, steroid, steroid testing program, steroid use

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

The anti-steroid message by Don Hooton after his teenage son’s suicide, attributed to steroid use, has never been more in demand.

The foundation created by him offers information at high schools and colleges across the U.S. and Canada and accepts annual donations from Major League Baseball and the National Football League for the Taylor Hooton Foundation.

From Dallasnews.com:

At the same time, the random steroid testing program for University Interscholastic League athletes in Texas is shrinking. The Legislature initially funded the effort in 2007 with an annual budget of $3 million, but the allotment for the current school year is $750,000 – after a cut to $1 million a year earlier. A total of 4,560 athletes are scheduled to be tested in 2010-11, compared with 35,077 in 2008-09.

While the economic downturn played a role in the reductions, Hooton said he believes state politicians don’t fear steroid use as much as they did when the bill was enacted. That, he said, is because the 51,635 tests done over the last 2 ½ years have resulted in 21 positive tests, two unresolved and 139 not passing for procedure violations, such as unexcused absences. Last spring, all 3,308 tests were clean. Two years ago, Gov. Rick Perry said the results to date indicated the funding might have been excessive.

Hooton said the results of the testing, done for the UIL by Drug Free Sport of Kansas City, Mo., don’t accurately measure steroid use among the state’s high school athletes.

Hooton, who runs the foundation out of his McKinney home says, “We’re going to budget this down to defeating the purpose of the program.”

Tags: National Football League, steroid, steroid testing program, steroid use

Posted in Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Olympics

Two of the six players suspended by the National Football League (NFL) for testing positive to drugs are about to challenge the ruling.

The NFL suspended defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams of the Minnesota Vikings, a trio of players with the New Orleans Saints – running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant – and centre Bryan Pittman of the Houston Texans for violating the league’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

From Espnstar.com:

Attorneys for the Williamses are expected to argue that league officials were aware that StarCaps, a product used by the players, contained bumetanide but failed to share that information with players.

The league, however, seemed to leave little room for such an argument in spelling out its policy to the players in the statement which announced the players’ suspensions.

“You and you alone are responsible for what goes into your body,” the policy read. “Claiming that you used only legally available nutritional supplements will not help you in an appeal. Even if they are bought over-the-counter from a known establishment, there is currently no way to be sure that they contain the ingredients listed on the packaging or have not been tainted with prohibited substances.

“If you take these products, you do so at your own risk.”

Defensive tackle Grady Jackson of the Atlanta Falcons also faces a four-game suspension but the Falcons said his appeal has been deferred pending additional information requisition by NFL Chief Counsel Jeff Pash.

“The players specifically violated a long-standing provision of the policy relating to the use of diuretics and water pills, which serve as masking agents for steroids and are potentially dangerous to the health of players,” the NFL statement read.

The drug in question is Bumetanide, which is a diuretic that can mask the presence of other substances, including steroids.

Tags: anabolic steroids, Bumetanide, Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, National Football League, New Orleans Saints, NFL, nutritional supplements

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

Some retired National Football League players could face the same health complications that plague obese men who stick to watching the game.

Dr. R. Todd Hurst of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona said things that make NFL players invincible on the field also put them at risk when they stop playing.

From in.reuters.com:

“The question really is, should there be some intervention on behalf of the National Football League Association to ensure that retired football players have adequate health maintenance?” Miller said.

The exact cause of the problems is unclear. It could be fast foods, growth hormones or steroids, said Hurst, or a combination.

As for those players looking to retire, he said, they should get a checkup at the doctor and think about changing their eating habits.

“The important message is not to believe that because you’re an athlete you’re protected,” said Dr. Sherry Baron, who led the early study at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Like other experts, she is concerned about the size of football players, which she said continues to climb. And the problem isn’t limited to professionals: In 2007 alone, there were an estimated 1.8 million football players in the US.

“For every professional football player, there are scores of high school and college students who aspire to become professional players,” Baron said. “So when we look at the NFL, we have to look at them as indicators of a much larger group of people.”

Dr. Miller found two years ago that retired linemen had an 85-percent chance of developing metabolic syndrome, a constellation of risk factors tied to heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

Tags: growth hormones, National Football League, NFL, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in NFL

The National Football League (NFL) has won in Minnesota case that threatened to dilute its league wide drug testing policy. This means that Kevin Williams and Pat Williams who violated policy on performance enhancing drugs of NFL will have to serve a four game suspension in the 2010 season.

Hennepin County Judge Gary Larson ruled that the NFL players were not harmed by the failure of NFL to provide notice and it wasn’t enough to block the suspensions.

From NYTimes.com:

“For the past two years, this case has been reviewed on numerous occasions by both the federal and state courts,” the N.F.L. said in a statement. “Those decisions make clear that the claims of the players and the N.F.L. Players Association were without substance and that the players suffered no harm by being required to comply with the terms of the collectively bargained policy on steroids and related substances. We intend to continue to administer a strong, effective program on performance-enhancing drugs that applies on a uniform basis to all players in all states.”

Still, the case is not over. The players plan to appeal the ruling and on Thursday asked for an injunction that will allow them to play while the appeal plays out. The judge is expected to rule on the injunction in a couple of weeks.

Their lawyer claimed at least a partial victory on Thursday. Peter Ginsberg said the decision was a victory because the judge ruled that the N.F.L. violated state law.

The N.F.L. originally suspended Kevin Williams and Pat Williams for four games in 2008 after they tested positive for a banned diuretic (bumetanide), which can be used to mask steroids.

Tags: Bumetanide, diuretic, Kevin Williams, National Football League, NFL, Pat Williams, Performance enhancing drugs, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in NFL

Investigators from the National Football League (NFL) had a meeting with David Jacobs, the convicted steroids dealer, who said that he provided performance enhancing drugs to professional players, as per a report by the New York Times.

Jacobs, last year, pleased guilty in the federal court for conspiring to possess with an intention of distributing anabolic steroids and was sentenced to probation.

From Espnstar.com:

According to the report, NFL investigators visited Jacobs the day after he was sentenced.

“They wanted to know what information I had and what other documentary evidence I could provide them,” Jacobs told the newspaper.

“I told them I was not going to talk specifics without my lawyer present. They wanted to know a list of players I dealt with and knew, and I told them I didn’t feel comfortable doing that.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed to the newspaper that league investigators met with Jacobs and that future meetings are scheduled.

Lehr’s lawyer denied that his client ever sold steroids or HGH.

Jacobs has said that he offered steroids and human growth hormone to NFL offensive linesman Matt Lehr and another player.

Tags: anabolic steroids, HGH, human growth hormone, National Football League, Performance enhancing drugs, steroids

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

Focusing on staying active can be the difference between good health and troubled from ailments.

As per a research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008, the larger body sizes of professional soccer players do not increase risks of atherosclerosis or cardiovascular disease after they retire.

It was remarked by Benjamin D. Levine, M.D., senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, that active players can easily prevent pre-diabetes progression by following a healthy, active lifestyle.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Perhaps by remaining fit, the players were able to prevent the progression of pre-diabetes from becoming real diabetes,” said Benjamin D. Levine, M.D., senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. “The prevalence of obesity, using normal criteria, is really high when you look at NFL players.

“But the BMI is only a crude measure of fatness. For the athletic community it may be biased against very dense, muscular people who may have a high BMI but not as much fat. The BMI might not tell the whole story.”

This study was based on retired players from another era. The football players today are about 50 percent larger than they were a quarter of a century ago, said Levine, who is also professor of internal medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UT Southwestern. “Today, there is a lot of incentive for football players to get as big as possible through eating, extensive training or by using anabolic steroids and growth hormones. The criterion for success is that bigger is better.”

Whether current or recently retired players are at greater risk for cardiovascular events or death merits further study, given the larger body sizes of today’s NFL player, he said.

The study noted that retired National Football League (NFL) players displayed a reduced prevalence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, sedentary lifestyle, and hypertension when compared to other men.

Tags: anabolic steroids, atherosclerosis, diabetes, growth hormones, National Football League, NFL, steroids

Posted in bodybuilding, buy steroids, Celebrities and Steroids, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Boxing

The National Football League has suspended Joselio Hanson, Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, for four games for violating anti-doping rules of the league.

David Cornwell, Hanson’s lawyer, said that Hanson had tested positive for a diuretic after a National Conference championship game against Arizona last year.

From Google.com:

“The urine specimen that Joselio provided after the game tested positive for a diuretic,” Cornwell said. “Joselio did not use steroids or any other substance that would enhance his performance.”

Cornwell said Hanson used the product because he “felt bloated” after eating a Chinese meal, taking a remedy that turned out to be a diuretic.

Cornwell also denounced the NFL’s inclusion of diuretics on their banned list, saying it shouldn’t be assumed they are used to mask the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

“It is noteworthy that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recently implemented amendments that eviscerate the misplaced presumption about diuretics embedded in the NFL’s steroid policy and reduce discipline for diuretics to include warnings and, where appropriate, suspension,” Cornwell said.

It seems that the Eagles have once again been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. This revelation also highlighted the fact that there may be a possibility of a lack of understanding or misunderstanding about steroids and diuretics in sporting events.

Tags: diuretic, diuretics, Joselio Hanson, National Football League, Philadelphia Eagles, steroids, WADA, World Anti-Doping Agency

Posted in buy steroids, Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids