Latest news with #steroids
Associated Press
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Africa's only anti-doping lab has status revoked by WADA for testing flaws
MONTREAL (AP) — The only recognized drug-testing laboratory in Africa lost its right to work in sports, the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday. WADA revoked accreditation for the anti-doping lab in Bloemfontein, South Africa, 'due to its inability to satisfactorily address multiple nonconformities.' The lab has been suspended since September 2023 for issues including detecting steroids in athlete samples. WADA has accredited a network of about 30 labs worldwide and samples collected in Africa can be transported to testers in India, Qatar, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Collecting samples from remote athlete training centers and transporting them long distances increases the risk they will degrade and be unusable for testing. ___ AP sports:
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Ultra-fit man, 32, on the brink of death after taking steroids
A bodybuilder was left fighting for his life after abusing a drug which experts warn more young men are turning to, unaware of its devastating side effects. Zak Wilkinson, 32, spent more than two years using steroids, splashing over $46,000 on the performance-enhancing drugs, injecting himself up to three times daily. The avid gym goer, like a growing number of young men, turned to anabolic steroids, a type of image and performance drug taken, to increase his muscle growth. The drugs mimic testosterone - one of the hormones responsible for boosting muscle mass - but can have devastating side effects, including an increased risk of suffering a heart attack. And experts warn there has been a concerning rise in their use fueled by social media triggering body image issues. Now, Zak hopes to do his part in raising the alarm about the potentially life-changing effects of the drug. On March 23, 2022, the father of one's grueling steroid regime finally caught up with him when he started having seizures, vomiting and sweating profusely. He was rushed to intensive care unit at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, after his sister, Chelsea, 37, called an ambulance. At first, doctors thought he could be suffering from meningitis, but quickly realized the fits were caused by his steroid use. Doctors said Zak was fortunate to avoid suffering long-term neurological damage after being left non-verbal for days. He was put into a medically-induced coma for a week, with his medical team saying it was a 'miracle' he survived. Zak, a scaffolder, said: 'I thought I'd never be able to play with my son again, that I'd never see him again. 'After the coma had ended, one doctor said that he couldn't believe I was speaking with him because he thought I'd have brain complications for the rest of my life. 'I was so frightened that that could be the end of me.' Zak said steroids had 'just got hold of him' and warned that gym goers need to be aware of the risks. 'It was an all or nothing approach - it's frightening. It just gets hold of you. I thought I was the fittest, strongest, healthiest person, but on the inside I wasn't. 'It's sad because I see a lot of young lads becoming affected by it. And that's why a lot of the bodybuilders are dying prematurely, because it's not healthy.' Doctors have warned Zak that he will likely have medical issues for the rest of his life. He has a meeting with his treatment team twice a week, and also has to take anxiety, sleeping, and epilepsy medication, as well as attend frequent appointments for brain scans and blood tests. 'It could still all affect me later on, and I'm probably going to be on constant medication for the rest of my life,' he said. 'I now have PTSD, body dysmorphia, a diagnosed eating disorder, regular flashbacks, and I'm having rehabilitation for trauma. I've also now become epileptic due to the coma.' Anabolic-androgenic steroids are the most common type of 'image and performance enhancing drug'. They are typically injected directly into the muscle, though can also be taken orally in tablet form or even as a cream. Anabolic-androgenic steroids work by mimicking the effects of the male sex hormone testosterone, tricking the body into producing more muscular tissue. But this comes at a cost. Common side effects include: severe acne, kidney failure, high cholesterol, and even stroke. A landmark study published last year by Danish researchers found steroid users have an almost 300 per cent increased risk of death within two decades. Zak said he started taking steroids at 16 after struggling with body dysmorphia - a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about perceived flaws in their appearance. He said: 'The drugs were very accessible and I was weighing everything - even down to the sugar-free syrups in my coffees. 'It started as a hobby and then it became body dysmorphia. I could barely look in the mirror, and I would put jumpers and hoodies on to avoid showing my body. 'And that explains the tattoos. I'm so body conscious. I've tried every diet out there, I've tried protein diet, meat and eggs diet, weight loss diets, the lot. 'It's because social media creates competition and you're constantly comparing yourself to others and looking at others trying to emulate them. It's a vicious circle.' He said: 'The steroids were selfish, I didn't care about my son, my friends, or my family. 'But it happens ever so slowly, you start taking steroids, and the benefits you see on the outside make you want to take more, but it isolates you from your friendships and bonds with people. 'I didn't want to socialize and spend time with my partner. I was just striving for perfection in the bodybuilding game when everything around me was falling apart. 'My family nearly lost someone who was important in their lives - it was a tough time for them. 'There's a real taboo around men and steroid use. There's AA for alcoholics, GA for gamblers, but not really a lot on steroid use and the gym. 'I want to show people who are struggling what I've been through, that these muscles are not worth the comas, seizures, constant brain scans, tubes out your mouth, possibly losing a member of your family - all because you want to look good and compare yourself on social media.'
The Guardian
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Liver King – this hilarious exposé is like Tiger King … but with way more genital eating
For many young men, masculinity is sold as an obsession with protein, and a personality that answers the question 'What if WWE was real, and all the time?' Which brings us to Netflix's explosive new documentary. Untold: The Liver King (out Tuesday 13 May), real name Brian Johnson, is a fitness influencer who promotes 'ancestral living' as the solution to enervating modernity. This includes a great deal of hollering and extreme workouts, saying the word 'alpha' a lot, plus eating a carnivorous diet of raw animal organs, including an unfeasible amount of genitals. Liver King angry that people addicted to phones. Works with marketing agency to pump out stunt videos specifically designed for them. Opening shot shows Liver King pulling truck on chain. Famous caveman activity. Meanwhile, other men push truck from behind. Liver King knows not everyone can go full primal, so sells range of nutritional supplements that help bring in an annual income north of $100m. You'd think he would exclusively trade in shiny rocks, and in a sense he does. Having piously attributed his inhumanly buff, conker-y body to the benefits of eating dicks and going on podcasts, it is proved that Johnson has, in fact, been injecting steroids to the tune of more than $11,000 a month. He does so on screen. He subsequently confesses to a lifetime of grifter behaviour, each extraordinary chapter of which could warrant its own deep dive. The trajectory is inevitable – but Untold: The Liver King has an ace up its sleeve. It's so funny. 'Why eat vegetables when you can eat testicles?' is his mantra. He describes his first orgasm, a spontaneous ejaculation while bench pressing. We feel the film-makers' delight in their subject, who has more quotable moments than the book of Psalms. 'Where does oxygen come from?' Johnson asks his sons, who are invariably checked out or laughing at him. 'Wind.' The Hulk Hogan cartoon fun of it all is complicated by the implications of its reality. Johnson is demonstrably a moron, inveterate liar, a parody of an influencer and paragon of toxic masculinity. The latter, literally. In one disturbing scene, he instructs his teenage sons to dissect a dying bull in a field and eat its pumping organs. You can almost taste the salmonella and E coli. It's jaw-dropping, but I'd advise you to close your mouth. His relationship with his 'weak' children, Rad 'Ical' Johnson and Stryker 'the Barbarian' Johnson is the central heartache. Johnson exhorts Stryker to pronounce the word 'steak' with more guttural emphasis. Stryker doesn't tell his parents when he has broken his leg, knowing they scorn pain medication. The boys eat 15 raw eggs a day, and it is revealed a woman from child protection services pays regular visits. 'She's like: 'Why am I here? These kids are awesome,'' boasts the deluded patriarch. The Liver King's originating grief is that his father died when he was a year old; he remains blind to the fact he has robbed his own children of a stable father figure. They could have called this Flesh Man Is in Trouble. Similar streamer offerings, such as Devil in the Family, split their arc across three episodes or more. The Liver King is a tight 70 minutes, all protein, and leaves one wishing it were longer. The sly wit of director Joe Pearlman shines through, fusing elements of Tiger King, Spinal Tap and classical tragedy. As the sun sets, the show teasingly invites us to question crucial elements of what has gone before – well-structured documentaries and online videos sharing, as they do, a few narrative tricks. Sign up to What's On Get the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday after newsletter promotion Stories of influencers melting down cannot help but be modern parables; they are the hollow totems of what we value. Scandal only damages those who have shame. The documentary leaves an upbeat Johnson who has metabolised his experience, and believes his reign is just beginning. He has turned his ranch into a produce store and meeting place for any 'primals' who still believe in his message. 'People say why don't you have a retreat, something like that?' says Johnson. 'We're gonna have 302 of 'em.' Long live the king.
Washington Post
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Fastest South American marathon runner banned 5 years for steroid doping before Paris Olympics
MONACO — South America's fastest marathoner was banned for five years after testing positive for three steroids one month before the Paris Olympics, track and field investigators said Wednesday.
RNZ News
07-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Performance enhancing drugs more common in checking clinics
Steroids and other performance and image enhancing drugs are becoming more common in drug checking clinics. KnowYourStuff and the New Zealand Needle Exchange programme say the amount of people bringing in steroids and similar drugs has jumped in the past two years. Users are buying substances online through websites and on social media - and Netsafe said it's a growing problem. Bella Craig reports.
