AAS Use and Death in Powerlifters (Study)

[J DUB]

While the authors admit there was no definitive proof of steroid use among these lifters, we all know that they probably did given their rankings. While this is intersesting, there are some problems that I have with this study:

1) Experimental group size =62 and control group= 1094...why such a large discrepancy?

2) Were the individuals in the population control of similar weight and health background to the powerlifters? If they chose 1094 165 lb. distance runners, then the results would obviously be misleading.

3) While not a problem, it is interesting to note the 3 suicides in the pl'ing group,,,just as many as those who had heart attacks. Any explanation for this, or is it attributable to the type of people who sometimes use steroids to possibly compensate for other problems (like body dysmorphia resulting in depression, etc.)?

4) I do not know anything about hepatic comas or lymphoma, so maybe someone can fill me in here.

While some of these questions might be answered by seeing the entire study (which I will try to find), it should be interesting to go ahead and debate these findings.

Parssinen M, Kujala U, Vartiainen E, et al Increased Premature Mortality of
Competitive Powerlifters Suspected to have used Anabolic Agents Int J
Sports Med. 2000; 21(3):225-227

Misuse of supraphysiological doses of anabolic steroids is claimed to have
serious side effects. The aim of the study was to determine the mortality,
and the cause of premature deaths among a group of subjects who are strongly
suspected to have used anabolic steroids for a non-medical purpose over
several years. The mortality of 62 male powerlifters placed 1st-5th in weight
series 82.5-125 kg in Finnish championships during 1977-1982 was compared
with the mortality of population controls. The mortality during the 12-year
follow-up was 12.9% for the powerlifters compared to 3.1% in the control
population. By 1993 eight of 62 powerlifters and 34 of 1094 population
controls had died, thus the risk of death among the powerlifters was 4.6
times higher (95% CI 2.04-10.45).

The causes of premature death among the powerlifters were suicide (3), acute
myocardial infarction (3), hepatic coma (1) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (1).
These findings add to the growing amount of evidence of an association
between anabolic steroid abuse and premature death, and support the view that
measures to decrease AAS misuse among both competitive and amateur athletes
are justified.

[J DUB]

Below is a good response to this abstract from a site which I frequent (Supertraining). Mr. Darkes is an MD, and maybe the press should interview him instead of Linn Goldberg.


Any attempt to link steroid use to suicide mist address the potential for at
least a third, confounding variable. What other characteristics might
individuals who are powerlifters and use illicit drugs have that could be
linked to this outcome? This association between AAS use and suicide proves
nothing about causality. At best it might indicate that there are shared
causes for both AAS use and suicide in %5 of powerlifters. Drugs do not
cause suicide, even when they are the method of choice. Certain factors
enhance the probability of drug use and some of those might also enhance the
probability of suicide. Of course knowing the manner of the suicide might
explain this further. Similarly, coronary complications are seen in those
under consistently high levels of stress, such as competition.

I have concerns, given this potential confound between training and AAS use,
regarding the appropriateness of the control group. How would the AAS using
powerlifters compare to a non-using sample of powerlifters? Not having read
the article I do not know whether they address such concerns. If they do
not then this seems either a failure of the peer-review process (someone
should have asked this in their review) or the result of the desire to
publish anything that places AAS use in a negative light (an editorial
decision).

Jack Darkes

[Millard Baker]

Originally Posted by J DUB

Below is a good response to this abstract from a site which I frequent (Supertraining). Mr. Darkes is an MD, and maybe the press should interview him instead of Linn Goldberg.

Jack is great. I got to know him at USF. He wrote several articles for MESO.

If we get an AAS lobby going, then I want to have Dr. Darkes involved. At the very least I want to hire him to write some more articles for MESO (very soon) on the AAS --> suicide issue.

So, is the supertraining forum going strong since Siff's passing? I haven't checked it out in a very long time.

[J DUB]

Admin, I will e-mail you sometime tonight or tomorrow regarding the lobby idea, and at some point I might need some advice on the webpage if you wouldn't mind. I had to update my e-mail on here, as my other account expired.

Dr. Darkes seems like a smart guy, and I think he would be an extremely valuable member of such a group.

The ST forum has diminished greatly in quality since Siff's passing, but I am simply going through all of the posts from #1 and organizing all of them as a reference source. I am 6 months into this, and 1/3 done . I think I actually saw some of your posts on there from around 2000, can't remember what they were about but they are somewhere in the 13 4" binders I have compiled so far.

[Millard Baker]

Originally Posted by J DUB

Admin, I will e-mail you sometime tonight or tomorrow regarding the lobby idea, and at some point I might need some advice on the webpage if you wouldn't mind. I had to update my e-mail on here, as my other account expired.

Dr. Darkes seems like a smart guy, and I think he would be an extremely valuable member of such a group.

Oh, I forgot, Jack has a PhD in clinical psychology, not an MD

Yes, I look forward to your email.

[J DUB]

Oh, it said in one of his posts that he was a doctor...I forget some Phd's call themselves doctors, although I would want none of them performing any sort of medical treatment on me. Sorry, that annoys me.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by J DUB

I forget some Phd's call themselves doctors,

If I had a PhD, I would call myself a doctor too. Its typical reference for anyone with that degree.

[Millard Baker]

Originally Posted by Bob Smith

If I had a PhD, I would call myself a doctor too. Its typical reference for anyone with that degree.

By definition... "doctor of philosophy"

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by administrator

By definition... "doctor of philosophy"

Scalpel not included.

[J DUB]

I know, it's just one of those things that I feel should be reserved for MD's. Most professors I have ever had did not want to be referred to as Dr. Smith or whatever, and I personally wouldn't either. It's just not my style, although I do plan to get my Phd after grad school.

[Bob Smith]

Beyond the fact that "doctor" is part of their degree, calling them a doctor is a sign of respect that they have completed some of the most rigorous schooling available. I called all of my professors with a PhD "doctor." When you think about it, PhDs do complete about the same amount of schooling as medical doctors.