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The untold Side of the movie "Dallas Buyers Club"
The movie Dallas Buyers Club brings attention to a little-recognized part of the AIDS activist movement: ....
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Exhorbitant Price New Hepatitis C Drug
Fair Pricing Coalition Condemns Gilead Sciences on the High Price of New Hepatitis C Drug Sovaldi™...
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Six Promising HIV Drugs in the Pipeline (2013-2014)
What new HIV medications do we have to look forward to over the next few years? How will these newer drugs improve upon the older ones? To shed some light on these questions....
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What Can We Look Forward to in HIV Cure Research
TheBodyPRO.com's Nelson Vergel sat down with leading HIV cure research activist Richard Jefferys for an update on current important aspects, and controversies, in HIV cure research....
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What Supplements Can I take with HIV medications?
Is it ok to supplement with Creatine (Cell-Tech), and Protein (Nitro-Tech) along with Glutamine...
Showing posts with label anabolic steroids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anabolic steroids. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, February 15, 2010
Strive To Thrive While Growing Older With HIV
| By Dennis McMillan Published: February 11, 2010 | ||
However, a plethora of recent research has clearly demonstrated that people living with HIV are suffering from accelerated aging; sometimes their minds and bodies manifest problems decades earlier than their HIV-negative counterparts. Consequentially, researchers, medical providers, treatment advocates, and HIV-positive people alike are trying to figure out how to conquer this new phase of living with HIV. Many community forums on HIV and aging involve doctors and other socio-medical professionals speaking clinically, and providing the same information, from the same point of view, time and time again. Positive Force decided to move in a different direction. They invited Vergel, a man who has lived with HIV for more than two decades and who is an internationally renowned treatment advocate, to discuss HIV and aging concerns from a peer perspective. Vergel has traveled the world talking about living and thriving with HIV; has written books on the topic; and has been featured in numerous publications for his expertise and perspective.Participants who attend the forum will benefit from Vergel’s unique perspective, presentation style, and lots of information. He will present the latest treatment information, both clinical and practical, for a range of subjects, including but not limited to lipodystrophy/ lipoatrophy, accelerated aging of both mind and body, and sexual health. Forum attendees will walk away with a better handle on how to deal with problems they may already be facing and how to prevent new problems associated with HIV and aging. Vergel is a 27-year HIV survivor, Venezuelan, retired chemical engineer, lecturer and author of Built to Survive, founder of the Body Positive Wellness Clinic in Houston, and treatment activist involved in research advocacy. Bay Times interviewed him recently. “I am the founder of pozhealth at yahoogroups.com, the largest online health discussion group, and serve as an expert at thebody.com, the HIV web site with the largest reach in HIV related health issues,” he said. “I have provided over 600 lectures since 1994 in English and Spanish. I am a member of the DHHS HIV Treatment Guidelines Panel. I have presented in many conferences about issues related to living with HIV.” What is different about what he does is his being able to lecture in layman terms by blending the latest research data with a patient perspective.He spoke of the hot topics in HIV in the next five years. “The search for a cure using stem cell and immune based therapy research will become more important as well as how to deal with long term effects of HIV medications on aging, frailty, cognitive function, bone density, frailty, body changes, and others,” said Vergel. “Combating stigma and dealing with challenges in funding will be essential to controlling the spread of this epidemic.” Vergel provides a unique angle to patients. He speaks in their language about the latest research findings on facial lipoatrophy options, cardiovascular health, sexual dysfunction, hormonal balance, exercise and nutrition, latest HIV medications for those with limited treatment options, side effect management, and many other issues that are important to patients. | ||
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A New Book on the Medical Use of Anabolic Steroids
A New Book on the Medical Use of Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic Steroids - A Question of Muscle: Human Subject Abuses in Anabolic Steroid Research. By Dr Michael Scally
Available at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Anabolic-Steroids-Question-Subject-Research/dp/096622311X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232669135&sr=1-1
My review:
Along with Michael Mooney, I am the co-author of the book "Built to Survive: a comprehensive guide to the medical use of anabolic therapies, nutrition and exercise for HIV+ men and women." I am very happy to see that Dr Scally spent months of work researching the effects of anabolics on the Hypothalamic Pituitary Testicular Axis (HPTA)and how these compounds can cause long term hypogonadism (low testosterone) if not used properly.
Most doctors in clinical practice are not trained on how to avoid hypogonadism after anabolic steroid use for medical and non medical purposes. We have used them with great results them for HIV wasting for many years using good physician monitoring. Hopefully, this book will make it possible for clinicians to learn the main issues surrounding the proper use of these life-saving compounds.
I am so glad that Dr Scally wrote a simple explanation on a protocol that may help reset our body's own hormonal axis to prevent the debilitating effects of "post-steroid crashing." There are no published data on the subject, so this book is groundbreaking.
Dr Scally reviews data on the use of anabolic steroids for the following medical uses:
- To treat wasting syndrome related to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV),
- To treat strength and weight loss associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Chronic Kidney Disease/Hemodialysis
- To counteract osteoporosis and the negative effects of glucocorticoids on bone density and lean body mass,
- To reverse and prevent the age-related loss of lean body mass (Sarcopenia.)
For physicians and lay people who love to read easy-to-understand clinical information, this book is for you. Every man using testosterone or anabolic steroids should do their research to avoid the most common and untreated side effect caused with the use of these compounds. When used correctly with solid research data and monitoring, anabolics can be great to improve quality of life and lean tissue in people suffering from many debilitating conditions. However, most of the benefits disappear after their use is stopped and quality of life tends to worsen unless an effective HPTA reset protocol is used. This book explains such approach.
Nelson Vergel
Anabolic Steroids - A Question of Muscle: Human Subject Abuses in Anabolic Steroid Research. By Dr Michael Scally
Available at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Anabolic-Steroids-Question-Subject-Research/dp/096622311X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232669135&sr=1-1
My review:
Along with Michael Mooney, I am the co-author of the book "Built to Survive: a comprehensive guide to the medical use of anabolic therapies, nutrition and exercise for HIV+ men and women." I am very happy to see that Dr Scally spent months of work researching the effects of anabolics on the Hypothalamic Pituitary Testicular Axis (HPTA)and how these compounds can cause long term hypogonadism (low testosterone) if not used properly.
Most doctors in clinical practice are not trained on how to avoid hypogonadism after anabolic steroid use for medical and non medical purposes. We have used them with great results them for HIV wasting for many years using good physician monitoring. Hopefully, this book will make it possible for clinicians to learn the main issues surrounding the proper use of these life-saving compounds.
I am so glad that Dr Scally wrote a simple explanation on a protocol that may help reset our body's own hormonal axis to prevent the debilitating effects of "post-steroid crashing." There are no published data on the subject, so this book is groundbreaking.
Dr Scally reviews data on the use of anabolic steroids for the following medical uses:
- To treat wasting syndrome related to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV),
- To treat strength and weight loss associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Chronic Kidney Disease/Hemodialysis
- To counteract osteoporosis and the negative effects of glucocorticoids on bone density and lean body mass,
- To reverse and prevent the age-related loss of lean body mass (Sarcopenia.)
For physicians and lay people who love to read easy-to-understand clinical information, this book is for you. Every man using testosterone or anabolic steroids should do their research to avoid the most common and untreated side effect caused with the use of these compounds. When used correctly with solid research data and monitoring, anabolics can be great to improve quality of life and lean tissue in people suffering from many debilitating conditions. However, most of the benefits disappear after their use is stopped and quality of life tends to worsen unless an effective HPTA reset protocol is used. This book explains such approach.
Nelson Vergel
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
World AIDS Day: Adverse Impact of Steroid Law and Steroid Hearings on Anabolic Therapies
World AIDS Day: Adverse Impact of Steroid Law and Steroid Hearings on Anabolic Therapies
Posted on 15:42 December 1st, 2008 by Millard Baker
http://www.mesomorphosis.com/blog/2008/12/01/world-aids-day-adverse-impact-of-steroid-law-for-hiv/
In recognition of World AIDS Day, we urge Congressional leaders in the United States to carefully consider the significant harm that morally-guided U.S. steroid policy has had for the life-saving therapeutic applications offered by anabolic-androgenic steroids. The criminalization of anabolic steroids and steroid hysteria perpetuated by Congressional steroid hearings has had an adverse impact on medical research and medical therapies involving anabolic steroids, particularly in the prevention and treatment of HIV+ associated wasting disease.
Anabolic steroids are one of the safest and most effective treatments for HIV associated wasting and have been invaluable in helping HIV+ patients retain, preserve and restore lean body weight and stay alive. Given that wasting is one of the most common symptoms of HIV and that HIV+ patients with wasting symptoms have significantly higher mortality rates, anabolic steroids have been an invaluable medical treatment.
Michael Mooney, of Medibolics, and Nelson Vergel, of the Program for Wellness Restoration, have spearheaded educational efforts and have extensively documented the benefits of anabolic steroid therapy for AID/HIV wasting in “Built to Survive“. Mooney and Vergel have discussed the negative consequences arising from the demonization of steroids by the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 (”Anabolic Steroid Legality and the Physician,” January 28).
The Anabolic Steroid Act of 1990 created grave misunderstandings about the legal status of “steroids as medicines” to the public and to the physicians trying to help their patients. This law states only that anabolic steroids can not be prescribed for cosmetic or athletic purposes, but the impression it created was that steroids were off limits to everyone, and that they are basically illegal for any use. This is not the case. To compound this climate of fear, it seems that when this law was passed in 1990 several of the more conservative regional governing medical organizations made doctors uneasy, giving them impression that they would become the object of scrutiny if they prescribed steroids at all.
The scheduling of anabolic steroids as controlled substances was a medical catastrophe that pandered to anti-doping crusaders in sports while ignoring the medicinal value of androgens and the life-saving therapeutic potential this category of pharmaceutical drugs offered for HIV+ patients. The regulatory agencies in charge of scheduling of drugs strongly protested the inclusion of anabolic steroids in the Controlled Substances List. Legislators ignored the scientific advisors and experts from the American Medical Association (AMA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Drug Enforcement Enforcement (DEA) to pass the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990.
The legislators were guided by the moral condemnation of athletes that use anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs rather than a rational empirical analysis of steroid use and abuse and the effects of such legislation on leigitmate medical research and anabolic therapy.
Unfortunately, the steroid hysteria has continued with the Congressional steroids and baseball hearings initiated by Henry Waxman (and former chief of staff Phil Schiliro) and the passage of more draconian steroid laws in recent years. California resident Mark A. Meier outlined the impact the steroid hearings in a letter to the Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House (”Representative Henry Waxman’s Hearings on Steroids in Sports and the Impact on Treatments for HIV and other Medical Conditions,” March 12).
The result, then, of Representative Waxman’s hearings has been an attack on an important, powerful, beneficial and legal therapy solely because professional athletes use it improperly. Patients with legitimate medical needs should not be made to suffer because of the improper actions of a few.
Nelson Vergel of the HIV Blog explains how political pressure and steroid hysteria have restricted the availability of anabolic steroids for HIV+ patients. The moral and political pressure resulted in the discontinuation of Deca Durabolin by Watson Pharmaceutical and the discontinuation of nandrolone decanoate by compounding pharmacies like Applied Pharmacy (”Important information about nandrolone in the U.S.” March 17).
Watson stopped making [nandrolone decanoate] because… Congress and the DEA are treating anabolics like the treat crack-cocaine and are closely watching every prescriber’s and manufacturer’s move. No HIV doc has ever got in trouble since many studies have shown nandrolone’s benefit and can justify its medical use. However, inexperienced HIV doctors who have not been around long enough to know its history shy away from prescribing due to the bad publicity and misconceptions around these medicines. [...]
Applied Pharmacy stopped all production due to DEA pressure. Some compounders are making doctors sign a waiver to say they will not prescribe nandrolone for non medical uses. Some doctors feel this represents extra liability.
The effects of anabolic steroids in treating HIV+ associated wasting syndrome by preserving and increasing lean body weight has been well documented by multiple studies. Unfortunately, Congressional leaders in the United States have based steroid policy on emotional testimony and moral objections to cheating in sports rather than scientifically-guided legislative policy; this has been to the detriment of individuals with AIDS/HIV+ associated wasting syndrome. The morally-guided steroid policy has effectively limited the availability of anabolic steroids for those individuals who use steroids as a matter of medical necessity. We urge Congress to reconsider and re-evaluate the Anabolic Steroid Control Act to address the address the adverse effects of current steroid policy on the advancement of anabolic therapies in medicine.
Posted on 15:42 December 1st, 2008 by Millard Baker
http://www.mesomorphosis.com/blog/2008/12/01/world-aids-day-adverse-impact-of-steroid-law-for-hiv/
In recognition of World AIDS Day, we urge Congressional leaders in the United States to carefully consider the significant harm that morally-guided U.S. steroid policy has had for the life-saving therapeutic applications offered by anabolic-androgenic steroids. The criminalization of anabolic steroids and steroid hysteria perpetuated by Congressional steroid hearings has had an adverse impact on medical research and medical therapies involving anabolic steroids, particularly in the prevention and treatment of HIV+ associated wasting disease.
Anabolic steroids are one of the safest and most effective treatments for HIV associated wasting and have been invaluable in helping HIV+ patients retain, preserve and restore lean body weight and stay alive. Given that wasting is one of the most common symptoms of HIV and that HIV+ patients with wasting symptoms have significantly higher mortality rates, anabolic steroids have been an invaluable medical treatment.
Michael Mooney, of Medibolics, and Nelson Vergel, of the Program for Wellness Restoration, have spearheaded educational efforts and have extensively documented the benefits of anabolic steroid therapy for AID/HIV wasting in “Built to Survive“. Mooney and Vergel have discussed the negative consequences arising from the demonization of steroids by the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 (”Anabolic Steroid Legality and the Physician,” January 28).
The Anabolic Steroid Act of 1990 created grave misunderstandings about the legal status of “steroids as medicines” to the public and to the physicians trying to help their patients. This law states only that anabolic steroids can not be prescribed for cosmetic or athletic purposes, but the impression it created was that steroids were off limits to everyone, and that they are basically illegal for any use. This is not the case. To compound this climate of fear, it seems that when this law was passed in 1990 several of the more conservative regional governing medical organizations made doctors uneasy, giving them impression that they would become the object of scrutiny if they prescribed steroids at all.
The scheduling of anabolic steroids as controlled substances was a medical catastrophe that pandered to anti-doping crusaders in sports while ignoring the medicinal value of androgens and the life-saving therapeutic potential this category of pharmaceutical drugs offered for HIV+ patients. The regulatory agencies in charge of scheduling of drugs strongly protested the inclusion of anabolic steroids in the Controlled Substances List. Legislators ignored the scientific advisors and experts from the American Medical Association (AMA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Drug Enforcement Enforcement (DEA) to pass the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990.
The legislators were guided by the moral condemnation of athletes that use anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs rather than a rational empirical analysis of steroid use and abuse and the effects of such legislation on leigitmate medical research and anabolic therapy.
Unfortunately, the steroid hysteria has continued with the Congressional steroids and baseball hearings initiated by Henry Waxman (and former chief of staff Phil Schiliro) and the passage of more draconian steroid laws in recent years. California resident Mark A. Meier outlined the impact the steroid hearings in a letter to the Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House (”Representative Henry Waxman’s Hearings on Steroids in Sports and the Impact on Treatments for HIV and other Medical Conditions,” March 12).
The result, then, of Representative Waxman’s hearings has been an attack on an important, powerful, beneficial and legal therapy solely because professional athletes use it improperly. Patients with legitimate medical needs should not be made to suffer because of the improper actions of a few.
Nelson Vergel of the HIV Blog explains how political pressure and steroid hysteria have restricted the availability of anabolic steroids for HIV+ patients. The moral and political pressure resulted in the discontinuation of Deca Durabolin by Watson Pharmaceutical and the discontinuation of nandrolone decanoate by compounding pharmacies like Applied Pharmacy (”Important information about nandrolone in the U.S.” March 17).
Watson stopped making [nandrolone decanoate] because… Congress and the DEA are treating anabolics like the treat crack-cocaine and are closely watching every prescriber’s and manufacturer’s move. No HIV doc has ever got in trouble since many studies have shown nandrolone’s benefit and can justify its medical use. However, inexperienced HIV doctors who have not been around long enough to know its history shy away from prescribing due to the bad publicity and misconceptions around these medicines. [...]
Applied Pharmacy stopped all production due to DEA pressure. Some compounders are making doctors sign a waiver to say they will not prescribe nandrolone for non medical uses. Some doctors feel this represents extra liability.
The effects of anabolic steroids in treating HIV+ associated wasting syndrome by preserving and increasing lean body weight has been well documented by multiple studies. Unfortunately, Congressional leaders in the United States have based steroid policy on emotional testimony and moral objections to cheating in sports rather than scientifically-guided legislative policy; this has been to the detriment of individuals with AIDS/HIV+ associated wasting syndrome. The morally-guided steroid policy has effectively limited the availability of anabolic steroids for those individuals who use steroids as a matter of medical necessity. We urge Congress to reconsider and re-evaluate the Anabolic Steroid Control Act to address the address the adverse effects of current steroid policy on the advancement of anabolic therapies in medicine.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Anabolic Steroid Induced Hypogonadism
I am helping Dr Scally publish his book about how to get off anabolic steroids safely. Hopefully this information will help some HIV patients who have been using steroids since they reversed their wasting years ago, and also help people like Cansenco and other athletes. The book should be out in a month or so. I will inform everyone about where to get it. Dr Scally is, in my opinion, the country's best expert on this subject. He lives in Houston and lost his license because of using his protocol to reverse hypogonadism after anabolic use. He has made great progress convincing other doctors about his program and now will make it public in his book. We both presented a paper at the Lipodystrophy conference a few years ago on this topic.
Jose Canseco Suffering from Anabolic Steroid Induced Hypogonadism
Email
Written by millardbaker on Oct-20-08 11:23am
From: www.mesomorphosis.com
Jose Canseco admits to health problems resulting from the discontinuation of anabolic steroids in the A&E documentary “Jose Canseco: The Last Shot” premiering Monday night, October 20th.
Jose Canseco, the former baseball superstar who blew the whistle on the game’s steroid scandal, has used steroids himself for the past 24 years. Now Jose wants to finally get clean, but he’s terrified about what may happen when he goes through the process. There has been no medically documented case of someone quitting steroids after using them for so long, and the doctors have different opinions about what Jose will go through physically and mentally. Viewers watch Jose play guinea pig as he tries to end his long addiction.
Canseco has made the decision to permanently stop using steroids for whatever reason. During the documentary, Canseco describes classical post-cessation symptoms of anaboic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH) such as low libido and depression (”It’s broke, scared & contrite Jose Canseco in TV documentary,” October 18).
The show also follows Canseco through a series of medical appointments with Santa Monica physician Dr. Brent Michael. Canseco tells Michael he wants to wean himself off steroids for good and restore his testosterone levels, since quitting cold turkey isn’t working.
“I have no sex drive whatsoever. Zero,” says Canseco, who is filmed in one sequence meeting Michael with current girlfriend Heidi Northcott present. Canseco admits to bouts of depression and wanting to be left alone.
Our society has demonized anabolic steroids. The highly politicized steroid hysteria has led the medical community to abandon treatment for the non-prescription steroid user. Our society tells steroid users that it is imperative that they stop using steroids immediately to avoid catastrophic damage to their health. But once they stop using steroids, professionals in the medical community are clueless to the consequences of steroid cessation and are ignorant to the treatment options and necessary post cycle therapy (PCT). Then steroid users like Jose Canseco are ridiculed for the post cycle side effects after discontinuing steroids.
Dr. Michael Scally explains the abysmal failure of the medical community to recognize and treat anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism:
For the greater part of 10 years I have found that the medical treatment provided for the condition termed anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH), is nonexistent or ignored by the great majority of medical professionals. As predicted since my entry into this field in 1995 more and more cases of ASIH would appear due to this negligence. Clear and convincing evidence of this is demonstrated by recent articles in peer-reviewed medical literature affirming concerns for the long term effects of untreated ASIH, rapidity and severity of symptoms in ASIH, and inappropriate treatment with AAS based upon a flawed clinical study design.
Anabolic steroids have known side effects. But overall, anabolic steroids are remarkably safe and have been used in medicine for over 50 years. The greatest risk is associated with untreated anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism. But the medical community doesn’t officially recognize this condition much less established a medically accepted treatment to restore endogenous testosterone levels.
In the documentary, Jose Canseco receives a testosterone gel from his physician as a treatment for his low testosterone. The average steroid using gymrat knows that testosterone is suppressive to the HPTA axis and will continue to prevent the restoration of endogenous testosterone production.
Michael prescribes a gel supplement that is “not a performance-enhancing steroid,” but after using the gel for a month, Canseco discovers his natural testosterone levels are still well below normal.
Michael prescribes a gel supplement that is “not a performance-enhancing steroid,” but after using the gel for a month, Canseco discovers his natural testosterone levels are still well below normal.
“My body forgot how to make testosterone,” says Canseco, which may explain his recent trip to Mexico.
It appears Jose Canseco has given up on the medical community. Physicians spend so much time telling people to stop using anabolic steroids. But they seem to care less about what happens to them when they stop. So Canseco, suffering from ASIH, is making attempts to take treatment into his own hands. This would explain his recent trip to Mexico and importation of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). HCG is often used by steroid users to stimulate their own natural production of testosterone.
I hope Jose Canseco will find a way to contact Dr. Michael Scally, founder of HPT/Axis and ASIH.net. Dr. Scally has dedicated his professional career to help steroid users restore their endogenous testosterone production after stopping the use of steroids (and has had his medical license revoked as a result of the anti-steroid crusade in the medical profession). But Scally continues to work on ways towards helping non-medical users of anabolic steroids, like Jose Canseco, return to normal physiology.
Jose Canseco Suffering from Anabolic Steroid Induced Hypogonadism
Written by millardbaker on Oct-20-08 11:23am
From: www.mesomorphosis.com
Jose Canseco admits to health problems resulting from the discontinuation of anabolic steroids in the A&E documentary “Jose Canseco: The Last Shot” premiering Monday night, October 20th.
Jose Canseco, the former baseball superstar who blew the whistle on the game’s steroid scandal, has used steroids himself for the past 24 years. Now Jose wants to finally get clean, but he’s terrified about what may happen when he goes through the process. There has been no medically documented case of someone quitting steroids after using them for so long, and the doctors have different opinions about what Jose will go through physically and mentally. Viewers watch Jose play guinea pig as he tries to end his long addiction.
Canseco has made the decision to permanently stop using steroids for whatever reason. During the documentary, Canseco describes classical post-cessation symptoms of anaboic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH) such as low libido and depression (”It’s broke, scared & contrite Jose Canseco in TV documentary,” October 18).
The show also follows Canseco through a series of medical appointments with Santa Monica physician Dr. Brent Michael. Canseco tells Michael he wants to wean himself off steroids for good and restore his testosterone levels, since quitting cold turkey isn’t working.
“I have no sex drive whatsoever. Zero,” says Canseco, who is filmed in one sequence meeting Michael with current girlfriend Heidi Northcott present. Canseco admits to bouts of depression and wanting to be left alone.
Our society has demonized anabolic steroids. The highly politicized steroid hysteria has led the medical community to abandon treatment for the non-prescription steroid user. Our society tells steroid users that it is imperative that they stop using steroids immediately to avoid catastrophic damage to their health. But once they stop using steroids, professionals in the medical community are clueless to the consequences of steroid cessation and are ignorant to the treatment options and necessary post cycle therapy (PCT). Then steroid users like Jose Canseco are ridiculed for the post cycle side effects after discontinuing steroids.
Dr. Michael Scally explains the abysmal failure of the medical community to recognize and treat anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism:
For the greater part of 10 years I have found that the medical treatment provided for the condition termed anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH), is nonexistent or ignored by the great majority of medical professionals. As predicted since my entry into this field in 1995 more and more cases of ASIH would appear due to this negligence. Clear and convincing evidence of this is demonstrated by recent articles in peer-reviewed medical literature affirming concerns for the long term effects of untreated ASIH, rapidity and severity of symptoms in ASIH, and inappropriate treatment with AAS based upon a flawed clinical study design.
Anabolic steroids have known side effects. But overall, anabolic steroids are remarkably safe and have been used in medicine for over 50 years. The greatest risk is associated with untreated anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism. But the medical community doesn’t officially recognize this condition much less established a medically accepted treatment to restore endogenous testosterone levels.
In the documentary, Jose Canseco receives a testosterone gel from his physician as a treatment for his low testosterone. The average steroid using gymrat knows that testosterone is suppressive to the HPTA axis and will continue to prevent the restoration of endogenous testosterone production.
Michael prescribes a gel supplement that is “not a performance-enhancing steroid,” but after using the gel for a month, Canseco discovers his natural testosterone levels are still well below normal.
Michael prescribes a gel supplement that is “not a performance-enhancing steroid,” but after using the gel for a month, Canseco discovers his natural testosterone levels are still well below normal.
“My body forgot how to make testosterone,” says Canseco, which may explain his recent trip to Mexico.
It appears Jose Canseco has given up on the medical community. Physicians spend so much time telling people to stop using anabolic steroids. But they seem to care less about what happens to them when they stop. So Canseco, suffering from ASIH, is making attempts to take treatment into his own hands. This would explain his recent trip to Mexico and importation of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). HCG is often used by steroid users to stimulate their own natural production of testosterone.
I hope Jose Canseco will find a way to contact Dr. Michael Scally, founder of HPT/Axis and ASIH.net. Dr. Scally has dedicated his professional career to help steroid users restore their endogenous testosterone production after stopping the use of steroids (and has had his medical license revoked as a result of the anti-steroid crusade in the medical profession). But Scally continues to work on ways towards helping non-medical users of anabolic steroids, like Jose Canseco, return to normal physiology.
Monday, March 17, 2008
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NANDROLONE IN THE US
QUESTION FROM SOMEONE IN MY POZHEALTH AT YAHOOGROUPS.COM LIST:
"I interpret this that once the current supply of the components tomake nandrolone are depleted, there will be no more access tonandrolone here in the US. Am I right or just the number ofcompounding pharmacies may continue to dwindle due to DEA pressures?Thanks everyone,Tom A"
MY ANSWER:
Dear Tom
The ingredients to make nandrolone are not depleted. The decision from the manufacturer (Watson) to stop making nandrolone decanoate (an effective injectable medicine to treat unintentional weight loss and to increase muscle mass) was based on economics and political pressure.
Watson stopped making it because:
1- It is a generic CHEAP drug
2- They can sell expensive Oxandrin instead. Oxandrin is approved for unintentional weight loss but costs $1200 a month and can cause liver toxicity in some.
3- Nandrolone's indication is for anemia and no doctor uses it for that purpose, so they prescribe it legally off label.
4- Congress and the DEA are treating anabolics like the treat crack-cocaine and are closely watching every prescriber's and manufacturer's move. No HIV doc has ever got in trouble since many studies have shown nandrolone's benefit and can justify its medical use. However, inexperienced HIV doctors who have not been around long enough to know its history shy away from prescribing due to the bad publicity and misconceptions around these medicines.
Compounders picked it up and are making it cheap at $13 per 200 mg (1 cc). Watson's retail price was $48 per 200 mg (1 cc). Most people do ok with 1 cc a week along with daily testosterone gel. Most are able to gain 10 pounds of muscle slowly at this dose with the use of exercise and good nutrition. This amounts to a total cost of $52 a month, compared to $1200 a month for oral Oxandrin, another anabolic prescribed and approved for unintentional weight loss.
Nandrolone is the cheapest, cleanest, most effective medicine out there to increase muscle mass, strength and functional capacity. Like all medicines, it is only advisable to use it with doctor's supervision so that your hematocrit /hemoglobin, blood pressure, free testosterone/estradiol, and PSA are monitored. It has been studied in several HIV studies and it has been shown effective and low in side effects up to 600 mg a week. It has been studied in women with HIV also.
We are losing this drug in the US because patients who use it and love it are not empowered to fight back, even with Michael's, Al's and my help. More and more HIV doctors are getting afraid to prescribe it even after prescribing it without problems for 15 years. And most patients thing it is not available anymore, so they start oral Oxandrin at $1200 a month and experience liver problems.
I am glad someone in this list wrote a wonderful letter to congress, but it will take more from you guys than that. Calling your congress people, sending letters, and talking to your doctors are all a good start.
I will keep pushing. If the day comes when we have no nandrolone, I will opt for foreign travel. I am trying to get some small companies interested in it since there are enough data to go to the FDA with a new drug application (IND) for a HIV unintentional weight loss indication (I did not say "wasting" since most people do not lose 10% of their weight anymore unless they get PCP, excessive diarrhea, or other complications)
One important development:
Applied Pharmacy stopped all production due to DEA pressure. Some compounders are making doctors sign a waiver to say they will not prescribe nandrolone for non medical uses. Some doctors feel this represents extra liability. I am attaching the letter from Medaus so that you guys can see it.
So far, we are happy with these guys in Los Angeles. They ship anywhere after receiving a doctor's prescription
www.bbpharmacy.com
(562) 866-8363
FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION ( PRINT AND GIVE IT TO YOUR DOCTOR): http://savehivwastingmeds.blogspot.com/
This is the letter that Mark Mier from this list wrote recently. Please feel free to copy and paste text in it to write your own letter!
March 12, 2008
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United State House of Representatives
235 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Subject: Representative Henry Waxman’s Hearings on Steroids in Sports and the Impact on Treatments for HIV and other Medical Conditions
Dear Madam Speaker:
The hearings Representative Henry Waxman has been conducting with respect to steroids in sports have had an adverse impact upon treatment for a variety of medical condition for which anabolic steroids and human growth hormones are legitimately and legally used. Among those conditions is HIV, a matter of substantial concern to many in your own district.
The manner in which these hearings have been conducted has created a level of hysteria that has painted all anabolic supplements and medications as unsavory and illegitimate. Certainly illegal use of human growth hormones and steroids in both professional and youth sports is a concern that needs to be addressed. But Representative Waxman’s hearings, as conducted, have highlighted only the negative aspects of such medicine and have not mentioned at all how they are properly and legitimately used and how controls on illegal use should be limited so as not to impact availability for proper usage. I am sure Representative Waxman appreciates the manner in which his name has been prominently highlighted in the press, but members in the HIV community have found him to have little interest in doing anything that will address our concerns in any concrete and demonstrable manner.
Anabolic steroids and recombinant human growth hormone are powerful prescriptive medicines that have been highly effective in treating cancer cachexia, MS, burns and HIV-related wasting and body changes. With respect to HIV, these treatments have been used successfully by thousands of sufferers in combating wasting, a condition which in the past was among the leading causes of death from AIDS. Since use of anabolic steroids and growth hormone to combat wasting began in the late 1980s, even before development of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) used to combat HIV, thousands of lives have been saved.
The difficulty now is that anabolic steroids are becoming much less available legally because of Federal pressure upon producers. The anabolic steroid most successfully used over the years to combat wasting has been nandrolone decanoate. Up until recently, this product was produced by Watson Pharmaceuticals. In 2007, however, Watson stopped producing nandrolone. Instead, it is promoting Oxandrin, an oral steroid that is less effective and has more adverse side effects, but is also proprietary and therefore commands a higher price. Since then, anyone who needs to use nandrolone must go to compounding pharmacies, which will then produce the medicine on a custom order. At this time, the only anabolic steroids that may be used legally in the United States are Oxandrine and nandrolone. So the choice is Watson’s expensive, less effective, propriety product or use of the compounding pharmacies.
This situation presents two major problems for patients who need anabolic therapies. The first is that a prescription filled by a compounding pharmacy is not covered by insurance or AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), so use of nandrolone is an out-of-pocket expense. Many patients suffering from HIV are in difficult economic circumstance. The added expense frequently puts the medicine out of reach.
The other problem is that compounding pharmacies are now under heavy scrutiny by the Drug Enforcement Agency to ensure that prescriptions are for legitimate medical needs. In theory, this would sound reasonable, but, in practice, the added delays, pressure and bureaucratic requirements have caused many compounding pharmacies to shy away from production of nandrolone. The most popular, Applied Pharmacy of Alabama, was providing the product reliably and at a reasonable price. However, the DEA insisted that the pharmacies verify the medical necessity of each prescription. That is not the role of a pharmacy. That is the role of the doctor writing the prescription. So the DEA regularly comes into the Applied Pharmaceuticals, gathers up all their records and keeps them for an unreasonable amount of time for review purposes. This amounts to blatant harassment solely to suppress production of a legitimate medication. For this reason, Applied Pharmacy has announced that it will no longer provide nandrolone or other hormone-based products. Other compounding pharmacies have similarly so halted production, and this has caused an increase in prices among the remaining producers and confusion among HIV prescribers who wrongly assume that nandrolone is no longer available in the U.S.
The result, then, of Representative Waxman’s hearings has been an attack on an important, powerful, beneficial and legal therapy solely because professional athletes use it improperly. Patients with legitimate medical needs should not be made to suffer because of the improper actions of a few. As for young athletes, for which use of anabolic steroids is a concern, I believe that virtually all of the drugs used by them are from black market sources. Legitimate pharmacies filling prescriptions for legitimate medical needs should not be harassed into curtailing production when they are not even the source of the problem.
What I would therefore request is that Representative Waxman hold hearings on the legitimate use of steroids and human growth hormones and the need to ensure that enforcement action against illegal use does not impede appropriate and necessary supplies. I would also ask that efforts be made to publicize these hearing to the same level as those held to highlight improper usage by athletes.
For more information on the impact current actions against anabolic steroids and human growth hormones have had on HIV treatment, I would recommend contacting Nelson Vergel and Michael Mooney, coauthors of Built to Survive, subtitled, “A Comprehensive Guide to the Medical Use of Anabolic Therapies, Nutrition and Exercise for HIV(+) Men and Woman.” This book summarizes all the years of medical research using anabolics to improve health in people with HIV. Mr. Nelson and Mr. Mooney may be contacted through their web site at www.medibolics.com.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Meier
cc: Representative Henry Waxman 2204 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
"I interpret this that once the current supply of the components tomake nandrolone are depleted, there will be no more access tonandrolone here in the US. Am I right or just the number ofcompounding pharmacies may continue to dwindle due to DEA pressures?Thanks everyone,Tom A"
MY ANSWER:
Dear Tom
The ingredients to make nandrolone are not depleted. The decision from the manufacturer (Watson) to stop making nandrolone decanoate (an effective injectable medicine to treat unintentional weight loss and to increase muscle mass) was based on economics and political pressure.
Watson stopped making it because:
1- It is a generic CHEAP drug
2- They can sell expensive Oxandrin instead. Oxandrin is approved for unintentional weight loss but costs $1200 a month and can cause liver toxicity in some.
3- Nandrolone's indication is for anemia and no doctor uses it for that purpose, so they prescribe it legally off label.
4- Congress and the DEA are treating anabolics like the treat crack-cocaine and are closely watching every prescriber's and manufacturer's move. No HIV doc has ever got in trouble since many studies have shown nandrolone's benefit and can justify its medical use. However, inexperienced HIV doctors who have not been around long enough to know its history shy away from prescribing due to the bad publicity and misconceptions around these medicines.
Compounders picked it up and are making it cheap at $13 per 200 mg (1 cc). Watson's retail price was $48 per 200 mg (1 cc). Most people do ok with 1 cc a week along with daily testosterone gel. Most are able to gain 10 pounds of muscle slowly at this dose with the use of exercise and good nutrition. This amounts to a total cost of $52 a month, compared to $1200 a month for oral Oxandrin, another anabolic prescribed and approved for unintentional weight loss.
Nandrolone is the cheapest, cleanest, most effective medicine out there to increase muscle mass, strength and functional capacity. Like all medicines, it is only advisable to use it with doctor's supervision so that your hematocrit /hemoglobin, blood pressure, free testosterone/estradiol, and PSA are monitored. It has been studied in several HIV studies and it has been shown effective and low in side effects up to 600 mg a week. It has been studied in women with HIV also.
We are losing this drug in the US because patients who use it and love it are not empowered to fight back, even with Michael's, Al's and my help. More and more HIV doctors are getting afraid to prescribe it even after prescribing it without problems for 15 years. And most patients thing it is not available anymore, so they start oral Oxandrin at $1200 a month and experience liver problems.
I am glad someone in this list wrote a wonderful letter to congress, but it will take more from you guys than that. Calling your congress people, sending letters, and talking to your doctors are all a good start.
I will keep pushing. If the day comes when we have no nandrolone, I will opt for foreign travel. I am trying to get some small companies interested in it since there are enough data to go to the FDA with a new drug application (IND) for a HIV unintentional weight loss indication (I did not say "wasting" since most people do not lose 10% of their weight anymore unless they get PCP, excessive diarrhea, or other complications)
One important development:
Applied Pharmacy stopped all production due to DEA pressure. Some compounders are making doctors sign a waiver to say they will not prescribe nandrolone for non medical uses. Some doctors feel this represents extra liability. I am attaching the letter from Medaus so that you guys can see it.
So far, we are happy with these guys in Los Angeles. They ship anywhere after receiving a doctor's prescription
www.bbpharmacy.com
(562) 866-8363
FOR BACKGROUND INFORMATION ( PRINT AND GIVE IT TO YOUR DOCTOR): http://savehivwastingmeds.blogspot.com/
This is the letter that Mark Mier from this list wrote recently. Please feel free to copy and paste text in it to write your own letter!
March 12, 2008
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United State House of Representatives
235 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Subject: Representative Henry Waxman’s Hearings on Steroids in Sports and the Impact on Treatments for HIV and other Medical Conditions
Dear Madam Speaker:
The hearings Representative Henry Waxman has been conducting with respect to steroids in sports have had an adverse impact upon treatment for a variety of medical condition for which anabolic steroids and human growth hormones are legitimately and legally used. Among those conditions is HIV, a matter of substantial concern to many in your own district.
The manner in which these hearings have been conducted has created a level of hysteria that has painted all anabolic supplements and medications as unsavory and illegitimate. Certainly illegal use of human growth hormones and steroids in both professional and youth sports is a concern that needs to be addressed. But Representative Waxman’s hearings, as conducted, have highlighted only the negative aspects of such medicine and have not mentioned at all how they are properly and legitimately used and how controls on illegal use should be limited so as not to impact availability for proper usage. I am sure Representative Waxman appreciates the manner in which his name has been prominently highlighted in the press, but members in the HIV community have found him to have little interest in doing anything that will address our concerns in any concrete and demonstrable manner.
Anabolic steroids and recombinant human growth hormone are powerful prescriptive medicines that have been highly effective in treating cancer cachexia, MS, burns and HIV-related wasting and body changes. With respect to HIV, these treatments have been used successfully by thousands of sufferers in combating wasting, a condition which in the past was among the leading causes of death from AIDS. Since use of anabolic steroids and growth hormone to combat wasting began in the late 1980s, even before development of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) used to combat HIV, thousands of lives have been saved.
The difficulty now is that anabolic steroids are becoming much less available legally because of Federal pressure upon producers. The anabolic steroid most successfully used over the years to combat wasting has been nandrolone decanoate. Up until recently, this product was produced by Watson Pharmaceuticals. In 2007, however, Watson stopped producing nandrolone. Instead, it is promoting Oxandrin, an oral steroid that is less effective and has more adverse side effects, but is also proprietary and therefore commands a higher price. Since then, anyone who needs to use nandrolone must go to compounding pharmacies, which will then produce the medicine on a custom order. At this time, the only anabolic steroids that may be used legally in the United States are Oxandrine and nandrolone. So the choice is Watson’s expensive, less effective, propriety product or use of the compounding pharmacies.
This situation presents two major problems for patients who need anabolic therapies. The first is that a prescription filled by a compounding pharmacy is not covered by insurance or AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), so use of nandrolone is an out-of-pocket expense. Many patients suffering from HIV are in difficult economic circumstance. The added expense frequently puts the medicine out of reach.
The other problem is that compounding pharmacies are now under heavy scrutiny by the Drug Enforcement Agency to ensure that prescriptions are for legitimate medical needs. In theory, this would sound reasonable, but, in practice, the added delays, pressure and bureaucratic requirements have caused many compounding pharmacies to shy away from production of nandrolone. The most popular, Applied Pharmacy of Alabama, was providing the product reliably and at a reasonable price. However, the DEA insisted that the pharmacies verify the medical necessity of each prescription. That is not the role of a pharmacy. That is the role of the doctor writing the prescription. So the DEA regularly comes into the Applied Pharmaceuticals, gathers up all their records and keeps them for an unreasonable amount of time for review purposes. This amounts to blatant harassment solely to suppress production of a legitimate medication. For this reason, Applied Pharmacy has announced that it will no longer provide nandrolone or other hormone-based products. Other compounding pharmacies have similarly so halted production, and this has caused an increase in prices among the remaining producers and confusion among HIV prescribers who wrongly assume that nandrolone is no longer available in the U.S.
The result, then, of Representative Waxman’s hearings has been an attack on an important, powerful, beneficial and legal therapy solely because professional athletes use it improperly. Patients with legitimate medical needs should not be made to suffer because of the improper actions of a few. As for young athletes, for which use of anabolic steroids is a concern, I believe that virtually all of the drugs used by them are from black market sources. Legitimate pharmacies filling prescriptions for legitimate medical needs should not be harassed into curtailing production when they are not even the source of the problem.
What I would therefore request is that Representative Waxman hold hearings on the legitimate use of steroids and human growth hormones and the need to ensure that enforcement action against illegal use does not impede appropriate and necessary supplies. I would also ask that efforts be made to publicize these hearing to the same level as those held to highlight improper usage by athletes.
For more information on the impact current actions against anabolic steroids and human growth hormones have had on HIV treatment, I would recommend contacting Nelson Vergel and Michael Mooney, coauthors of Built to Survive, subtitled, “A Comprehensive Guide to the Medical Use of Anabolic Therapies, Nutrition and Exercise for HIV(+) Men and Woman.” This book summarizes all the years of medical research using anabolics to improve health in people with HIV. Mr. Nelson and Mr. Mooney may be contacted through their web site at www.medibolics.com.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Meier
cc: Representative Henry Waxman 2204 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Hearings on Steroids in Sports and the Impact on Treatments for HIV and other Medical Conditions
March 12, 2008
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United State House of Representatives
235 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Subject: Representative Henry Waxman’s Hearings on Steroids in Sports and the Impact on Treatments for HIV and other Medical Conditions
Dear Madam Speaker:
The hearings Representative Henry Waxman has been conducting with respect to steroids in sports have had an adverse impact upon treatment for a variety of medical condition for which anabolic steroids and human growth hormones are legitimately and legally used. Among those conditions is HIV, a matter of substantial concern to many in your own district.
The manner in which these hearings have been conducted has created a level of hysteria that has painted all anabolic supplements and medications as unsavory and illegitimate. Certainly illegal use of human growth hormones and steroids in both professional and youth sports is a concern that needs to be addressed. But Representative Waxman’s hearings, as conducted, have highlighted only the negative aspects of such medicine and have not mentioned at all how they are properly and legitimately used and how controls on illegal use should be limited so as not to impact availability for proper usage. I am sure Representative Waxman appreciates the manner in which his name has been prominently highlighted in the press, but members in the HIV community have found him to have little interest in doing anything that will address our concerns in any concrete and demonstrable manner.
Anabolic steroids and recombinant human growth hormone are powerful prescriptive medicines that have been highly effective in treating cancer cachexia, MS, burns and HIV-related wasting and body changes. With respect to HIV, these treatments have been used successfully by thousands of sufferers in combating wasting, a condition which in the past was among the leading causes of death from AIDS. Since use of anabolic steroids and growth hormone to combat wasting began in the late 1980s, even before development of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) used to combat HIV, thousands of lives have been saved.
The difficulty now is that anabolic steroids are becoming much less available legally because of Federal pressure upon producers. The anabolic steroid most successfully used over the years to combat wasting has been nandrolone decanoate. Up until recently, this product was produced by Watson Pharmaceuticals. In 2007, however, Watson stopped producing nandrolone. Instead, it is promoting Oxandrine, an oral steroid that is less effective and has more adverse side effects, but is also proprietary and therefore commands a higher price. Since then, anyone who needs to use nandrolone must go to compounding pharmacies, which will then produce the medicine on a custom order. At this time, the only anabolic steroids that may be used legally in the United States are Oxandrine and nandrolone. So the choice is Watson’s expensive, less effective, propriety product or use of the compounding pharmacies.
This situation presents two major problems for patients who need anabolic therapies. The first is that a prescription filled by a compounding pharmacy is not covered by insurance or AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), so use of nandrolone is an out-of-pocket expense. Many patients suffering from HIV are in difficult economic circumstance. The added expense frequently puts the medicine out of reach.
The other problem is that compounding pharmacies are now under heavy scrutiny by the Drug Enforcement Agency to ensure that prescriptions are for legitimate medical needs. In theory, this would sound reasonable, but, in practice, the added delays, pressure and bureaucratic requirements have caused many compounding pharmacies to shy away from production of nandrolone. The most popular, Applied Pharmacy of Alabama, was providing the product reliably and at a reasonable price. However, the DEA insisted that the pharmacies verify the medical necessity of each prescription. That is not the role of a pharmacy. That is the role of the doctor writing the prescription. So the DEA regularly comes into the Applied Pharmaceuticals, gathers up all their records and keeps them for an unreasonable amount of time for review purposes. This amounts to blatant harassment solely to suppress production of a legitimate medication. For this reason, Applied Pharmacy has announced that it will no longer provide nandrolone or other hormone-based products. Other compounding pharmacies have similarly so halted production, and this has caused an increase in prices among the remaining producers and confusion among HIV prescribers who wrongly assume that nandrolone is no longer available in the U.S.
The result, then, of Representative Waxman’s hearings has been an attack on an important, powerful, beneficial and legal therapy solely because professional athletes use it improperly. Patients with legitimate medical needs should not be made to suffer because of the improper actions of a few. As for young athletes, for which use of anabolic steroids is a concern, I believe that virtually all of the drugs used by them are from black market sources. Legitimate pharmacies filling prescriptions for legitimate medical needs should not be harassed into curtailing production when they are not even the source of the problem.
What I would therefore request is that Representative Waxman hold hearings on the legitimate use of steroids and human growth hormones and the need to ensure that enforcement action against illegal use does not impede appropriate and necessary supplies. I would also ask that efforts be made to publicize these hearing to the same level as those held to highlight improper usage by athletes.
For more information on the impact current actions against anabolic steroids and human growth hormones have had on HIV treatment, I would recommend contacting Nelson Vergel and Michael Mooney, coauthors of Built to Survive, subtitled, “A Comprehensive Guide to the Medical Use of Anabolic Therapies, Nutrition and Exercise for HIV(+) Men and Woman.” This book summarizes all the years of medical research using anabolics to improve health in people with HIV. Mr. Nelson and Mr. Mooney may be contacted through their web site at www.medibolics.com.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Meier
cc: Representative Henry Waxman
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the United State House of Representatives
235 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Subject: Representative Henry Waxman’s Hearings on Steroids in Sports and the Impact on Treatments for HIV and other Medical Conditions
Dear Madam Speaker:
The hearings Representative Henry Waxman has been conducting with respect to steroids in sports have had an adverse impact upon treatment for a variety of medical condition for which anabolic steroids and human growth hormones are legitimately and legally used. Among those conditions is HIV, a matter of substantial concern to many in your own district.
The manner in which these hearings have been conducted has created a level of hysteria that has painted all anabolic supplements and medications as unsavory and illegitimate. Certainly illegal use of human growth hormones and steroids in both professional and youth sports is a concern that needs to be addressed. But Representative Waxman’s hearings, as conducted, have highlighted only the negative aspects of such medicine and have not mentioned at all how they are properly and legitimately used and how controls on illegal use should be limited so as not to impact availability for proper usage. I am sure Representative Waxman appreciates the manner in which his name has been prominently highlighted in the press, but members in the HIV community have found him to have little interest in doing anything that will address our concerns in any concrete and demonstrable manner.
Anabolic steroids and recombinant human growth hormone are powerful prescriptive medicines that have been highly effective in treating cancer cachexia, MS, burns and HIV-related wasting and body changes. With respect to HIV, these treatments have been used successfully by thousands of sufferers in combating wasting, a condition which in the past was among the leading causes of death from AIDS. Since use of anabolic steroids and growth hormone to combat wasting began in the late 1980s, even before development of Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) used to combat HIV, thousands of lives have been saved.
The difficulty now is that anabolic steroids are becoming much less available legally because of Federal pressure upon producers. The anabolic steroid most successfully used over the years to combat wasting has been nandrolone decanoate. Up until recently, this product was produced by Watson Pharmaceuticals. In 2007, however, Watson stopped producing nandrolone. Instead, it is promoting Oxandrine, an oral steroid that is less effective and has more adverse side effects, but is also proprietary and therefore commands a higher price. Since then, anyone who needs to use nandrolone must go to compounding pharmacies, which will then produce the medicine on a custom order. At this time, the only anabolic steroids that may be used legally in the United States are Oxandrine and nandrolone. So the choice is Watson’s expensive, less effective, propriety product or use of the compounding pharmacies.
This situation presents two major problems for patients who need anabolic therapies. The first is that a prescription filled by a compounding pharmacy is not covered by insurance or AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), so use of nandrolone is an out-of-pocket expense. Many patients suffering from HIV are in difficult economic circumstance. The added expense frequently puts the medicine out of reach.
The other problem is that compounding pharmacies are now under heavy scrutiny by the Drug Enforcement Agency to ensure that prescriptions are for legitimate medical needs. In theory, this would sound reasonable, but, in practice, the added delays, pressure and bureaucratic requirements have caused many compounding pharmacies to shy away from production of nandrolone. The most popular, Applied Pharmacy of Alabama, was providing the product reliably and at a reasonable price. However, the DEA insisted that the pharmacies verify the medical necessity of each prescription. That is not the role of a pharmacy. That is the role of the doctor writing the prescription. So the DEA regularly comes into the Applied Pharmaceuticals, gathers up all their records and keeps them for an unreasonable amount of time for review purposes. This amounts to blatant harassment solely to suppress production of a legitimate medication. For this reason, Applied Pharmacy has announced that it will no longer provide nandrolone or other hormone-based products. Other compounding pharmacies have similarly so halted production, and this has caused an increase in prices among the remaining producers and confusion among HIV prescribers who wrongly assume that nandrolone is no longer available in the U.S.
The result, then, of Representative Waxman’s hearings has been an attack on an important, powerful, beneficial and legal therapy solely because professional athletes use it improperly. Patients with legitimate medical needs should not be made to suffer because of the improper actions of a few. As for young athletes, for which use of anabolic steroids is a concern, I believe that virtually all of the drugs used by them are from black market sources. Legitimate pharmacies filling prescriptions for legitimate medical needs should not be harassed into curtailing production when they are not even the source of the problem.
What I would therefore request is that Representative Waxman hold hearings on the legitimate use of steroids and human growth hormones and the need to ensure that enforcement action against illegal use does not impede appropriate and necessary supplies. I would also ask that efforts be made to publicize these hearing to the same level as those held to highlight improper usage by athletes.
For more information on the impact current actions against anabolic steroids and human growth hormones have had on HIV treatment, I would recommend contacting Nelson Vergel and Michael Mooney, coauthors of Built to Survive, subtitled, “A Comprehensive Guide to the Medical Use of Anabolic Therapies, Nutrition and Exercise for HIV(+) Men and Woman.” This book summarizes all the years of medical research using anabolics to improve health in people with HIV. Mr. Nelson and Mr. Mooney may be contacted through their web site at www.medibolics.com.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Meier
cc: Representative Henry Waxman
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
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