Mysterious death of scared steroids user (holy smokes!)

[jbryand101b]

scary stuff for all you peeps that dont want to do research before using. posting questions isn't enough, you gotta really research.
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We’ll probably never know exactly what happened to the 23 year-old bodybuilder who died in St Thomas’ Hospital in London. The doctors who tried to save his life wrote an article which will appear soon in Rheumatology International. However, the article raises more questions than it answers. Are there ‘bad’ steroids on the market? Was the bodybuilder experimenting with lethally dangerous substances? Or did he just have bad luck?


The bodybuilder was born in Sri Lanka, but lived in England and had not travelled anywhere where dangerous diseases are prevalent. The doctors therefore had no reason to suspect viruses or other pathogens when the man arrived at hospital showing pretty bizarre symptoms: he had a cold and the muscles in his upper legs and upper arms were losing strength rapidly. He had a raised creatine kinase level – 28519 U/L – indicating muscle damage. The doctors’ diagnosis was inflammation of the muscle fibre as a result of a heavy cold or flu, which had made the man’s immune cells attack his muscles. So the doctors gave the guy prednisolone and methyl prednisolone to suppress his immune cells.





The photo below shows the man’s muscle cells under a microscope. The dark patches are inflammations.

After five days the bodybuilder’s creatine kinase level had gone down. He was released from hospital, only to return again three days later. By now he was even weaker and his creatine kinase level had risen to 52459 U/L. The doctors gave him methyl prednisolone injections again, but this time they didn’t help. The guy lost control over his body. When he could no longer talk, the doctors transferred him to intensive care, where they fought for his life for 37 days.


The bodybuilder’s creatine kinase level soared to 210,000 U/L. The doctors had to put him on a dialysis machine to fish the organic material from the decomposing muscle cells out of his blood; otherwise his kidneys would have been destroyed.


The man’s cold symptoms developed into an infection that caused his lungs to fill up with fluid. Breathing became difficult and pathogens developed in the fluid, which then entered the man’s bloodstream. The doctors gave the man breathing assistance, but this was hampered by a new complication. The bodybuilder’s abdomen started to swell. An exploratory operation revealed that the man had a severe stomach ulcer and that his gut wall had torn in some places. Faecal material had leaked into his body and was causing infections.


In the end the man died when his heart ceased to function. The doctors tried to reanimate him by operating, but were not successful. The post mortem revealed a heart defect which has been reported a number of times in relation to steroids users. The left ventricle of the bodybuilder’s heart was enlarged. Friends and family members reported that the deceased had grown considerably in the previous year, and that he had speculated about the effects that steroids might have on his body. Just before he died, the doctors did ask the man whether he had used steroids. He gave no reply, but asking the question “produced a severe stress response”, the doctors noted. The man was obviously scared. But what about? The answer remains a mystery.


In the absence of other unusual findings, the doctors concluded that steroids had caused inflammatory reactions that led to intensive muscle decomposition. Animal tests have shown that steroids can kill adult muscle cells. Maybe that’s what happened to the bodybuilder – as a result of hereditary characteristics? Or was it simply bad luck?


Steroids are useful, but if you use them carelessly they are dangerous, write the doctors. If bodybuilders are so set on using them they should be able to do so under medical supervision. Using products from a reliable manufacturer.

Source:
from ergolog, orig from:
Rheumatol Int. 2009 Oct 27. [Epub ahead of print].

 

[n8te]

hmmm...too much of anything is bad. But I want to see more about this.

I've seen quite a few studies that do support the idea of this thickening but none have concluded that it was drastic enough to make it life threatening. And those studies involved bb's that had been on for years. The first one that comes to mind involved men in their 50's

 

[shakindrake]

AIDS

 

[Smiley]

lol you really expect me to believe any of this is because of steroids... That article is a joke.

 

[gamer2be08]

I'll tell you one thing, thats a damn shame...

 

[jbryand101b]

what I was thinking was he had a reaction to something he injected that must been contaminated with bacteria or something, and he just kept injecting it, ignoring it and then it was too late.

but this is all a guess. wish it had happened in america, i'd like to see the autopsy. but the article should be published soon.

and if you dont think steroid abuse can lead to things like this, you are serverely uninformed.

 

[mikkel4700]

what nonsence his symptoms could have been caused by a lot of things.
if he had faecal marerial infecting his body that alone is enough to kill him.
and how did his abdominal wall tear. roids do NOT cause ab wall tearing
crappy article

 

[n8te]

what I was thinking was he had a reaction to something he injected that must been contaminated with bacteria or something, and he just kept injecting it, ignoring it and then it was too late.

but this is all a guess. wish it had happened in america, i'd like to see the autopsy. but the article should be published soon.

and if you dont think steroid abuse can lead to things like this, you are serverely uninformed.

If it happened in the U.S. they would crucify steroid users even more so than they already do. They would do an autopsy, but conclude that the death was due to years of steroid abuse. They would, as in 95% of the cases, ignore the findings that there (more than likely) would be methamphetamines, cocaine and other narcotics or depressants in his/her system.

Gotta love the "unbiased" media.

 

[Movin_weight]

I'm an exercise phys. student and i was just talkin with one of my professors the other day about this

the condition is called exertional rhabdomyolysis and it happens after bouts of intense physical work or exercise. It's when the muscle fibers suffer damage or trauma and release myoglobin into the blood stream, and it also causes CK levels to climb

If anybody has ever had brownish urine after a very intense workout then you have experienced exertional rhabdomyolysis

It is generally only mild to moderate, but for some people they have a genetic disposition that causes and auto-immune response, and it becomes very severe or even deadly

There have been numerous cases of people dieing from this after extremely long intense bouts of exercise

Looks like once they released this guy from the hospital he went right back out and hit the gym the next day and it ended up killin him

could be other complications as well but i doubt steroids directly caused any of this

 

[Rodja]

Rhabdo only occurs when someone is really, really out of shape or in cases of trauma. I'm making a few assumptions here, but it's safe to say that he was not a complete novice. Also, the AAS would have sped up his recovery time and not caused the rhabdo. It sounds more like muscle-death, but the article is far too vague to tell whether or not it was from an infarction or if there was some sort of acute trauma.

 

[A_I_Sports_Nutrition]

What ever the cause it is a sad story.

 

[Movin_weight]

Rhabdo only occurs when someone is really, really out of shape or in cases of trauma. I'm making a few assumptions here, but it's safe to say that he was not a complete novice. Also, the AAS would have sped up his recovery time and not caused the rhabdo. It sounds more like muscle-death, but the article is far too vague to tell whether or not it was from an infarction or if there was some sort of acute trauma.

thats not neccessarily true at all... you tend to here more about it with undertrained people such as during the first week of bootcamp and what not, but there are numerous reports of highly trained athletes that have been hospitalized for it, and even died. It's related to over-exertion, not really what kind of shape your in

He most likely would have had to dramatically increase his training volume and intensity for the issue to suddenly show itself... but then again some people train twice as hard juiced as when their off

 

[SRS2000]

thats not neccessarily true at all... you tend to here more about it with undertrained people such as during the first week of bootcamp and what not, but there are numerous reports of highly trained athletes that have been hospitalized for it, and even died. It's related to over-exertion, not really what kind of shape your in

He most likely would have had to dramatically increase his training volume and intensity for the issue to suddenly show itself... but then again some people train twice as hard juiced as when their off

You're right. I saw someone with rhabdo once time who wasn't a beginner. He was dieting down for a BB show. He increased his training volume significantly at the same time as he started dieting down. He lost 30 lbs. in a month and ended up hospitalized with rhabdo.

 

[Rodja]

You're right. I saw someone with rhabdo once time who wasn't a beginner. He was dieting down for a BB show. He increased his training volume significantly at the same time as he started dieting down. He lost 30 lbs. in a month and ended up hospitalized with rhabdo.

This is an extreme situation. To lose 30 lbs in a month, you have to be in a serious caloric deficit and I imagine there was a huge water loss in there as well. I would not use this as an example for rhabdo. This is essentially the same type of shock to the system as my example. Obviously, it can occur in trained athletes, but there generally has to be either a pre-existing condition or an extreme situation. This is a situation of muscle-death, which leads to kidney failure since myoglobin is toxic to the kidneys. If he was using injectables, he could have caused some sort of thrombosis, which would lead to the muscle death and subsequent high CK and renal failure.

 

[bezoe]

thats not neccessarily true at all... you tend to here more about it with undertrained people such as during the first week of bootcamp and what not, but there are numerous reports of highly trained athletes that have been hospitalized for it, and even died. It's related to over-exertion, not really what kind of shape your in

He most likely would have had to dramatically increase his training volume and intensity for the issue to suddenly show itself... but then again some people train twice as hard juiced as when their off

A buddy of mine was telling me about his being hospitalized due to similar symptoms. Come to find out, his CK levels were excessive. It's been awhile since he told me about this and after reading this thread I would say that he's got some predisposition to this condition. He's definetely not an amateur... quite a beast. He told me the doc urged him to take ample time off from working out. This scares me. If I was susceptible to this disease, would I know it by now, or could symptoms just happen suddenly one day after a workout?

 

[Movin_weight]

This is an extreme situation. To lose 30 lbs in a month, you have to be in a serious caloric deficit and I imagine there was a huge water loss in there as well. I would not use this as an example for rhabdo. This is essentially the same type of shock to the system as my example. Obviously, it can occur in trained athletes, but there generally has to be either a pre-existing condition or an extreme situation. This is a situation of muscle-death, which leads to kidney failure since myoglobin is toxic to the kidneys. If he was using injectables, he could have caused some sort of thrombosis, which would lead to the muscle death and subsequent high CK and renal failure.

seems unlikely it would be a thrombosis since he had muscle weakness in his upper and lower limbs...plus rhabdo produces the exact same response with elevated myoglobin in blood and renal failure etc..

This doesn't look like something that would be caused by localized ischemia

 

[Movin_weight]

A buddy of mine was telling me about his being hospitalized due to similar symptoms. Come to find out, his CK levels were excessive. It's been awhile since he told me about this and after reading this thread I would say that he's got some predisposition to this condition. He's definetely not an amateur... quite a beast. He told me the doc urged him to take ample time off from working out. This scares me. If I was susceptible to this disease, would I know it by now, or could symptoms just happen suddenly one day after a workout?

unfortunately it tends to just show up without warning, but generally after a rapid increase in exercise volume or intensity

i'v read case studies about elite endurance athletes, who train year around, that just drop half-way through a marathon.

But not everyone who experiences it drops dead, and many don't even realize it and pass it off as DOMS or extreme fatigue

I'v actually pissed dark brown urine a few times after hard workouts and realize now that it was prob myoglobin

 

[bezoe]

unfortunately it tends to just show up without warning, but generally after a rapid increase in exercise volume or intensity

i'v read case studies about elite endurance athletes, who train year around, that just drop half-way through a marathon.

But not everyone who experiences it drops dead, and many don't even realize it and pass it off as DOMS or extreme fatigue

I'v actually pissed dark brown urine a few times after hard workouts and realize now that it was prob myoglobin

Yea, my dad runs marathons and he's briefed me about instances of people dropping dead. Usually, it's an underlying congenital heart condition from what I understand- that or heat exhaustion. But this rhabdo is scary s***. I've never pissed brown, but if I ever do I'll know to slow the f*** down.

 

[jbryand101b]

well, I dont normally post articles i read that somehow involve steroid users. I just am hoping to scare some of the younger people who jump into steroids blindly, that they need to research what they are using.

whether it will cause this or not, atleast they will better know their chances, and hopefully use caution.

infact, if i had the article im sure i could pick alot of holes in it. we already know they dont really know if he was even using steroids, just assumed it based off of family responses to his sudden increase in size, and his own reaction to being questioned about steroid use.

steroids will always be blamed in someones death if they are using them when they die, even if it is or isn't really why they die.

 

[pcproffy]

The enlarged ventricle points to high blood pressure and heart failure. Could happen if you're juicing and not monitoring your BP.

 

[Rodja]

seems unlikely it would be a thrombosis since he had muscle weakness in his upper and lower limbs...plus rhabdo produces the exact same response with elevated myoglobin in blood and renal failure etc..

This doesn't look like something that would be caused by localized ischemia

That depends completely on where the thrombosis would be. Also, there's no reason that his CK levels would continue to climb while he was hospitalized and receiving the cortico's from simple rhabdo. They're suggesting HCM and/or HTN, but those do not kill someone within a year and he would have to have taken an extreme amount of androgens to have significant HCM and/or HTN.

I wonder if he was taking a high amount of NSAIDs. Those can really damage the kidneys in excess.

 

[jbryand101b]

been reading through the "side effects" section of "anabolics 20009"

if you go to the "kidney damage" sub section, you will see it talk about the possibility of rhabdomyolysis happening in steroid users.

it is very rare, and has been reported in both users of steroids, and non users, but, it can happen.

like I said before, a person should research all aspects of steroid use before starting a cycle so they know they potential risk.

and the potential risk for side effects of abusers of steroids are numerous. btw. read the book. research.



also after reading through the "side effects section" and the sub section on "cardiovascular side effects" I believe this person was using steroid based off of his heart, and the enlarged left ventricle.

 

[Movin_weight]

hypertrophy of the left ventricle IS NOT related to steroids... it is very common in athletes and people that train at high intensities

It is a normal response to the increased demanads for blood circulation especially during power lifting and heavy resistance. It's rarely seen as a problem for trained individuals

Some argue however that steroids can increase the effect to levels that are beyond the normal response, and cause complications

 

[Smiley]

Good comments Movin. Its funny to see some of the old bulk guys here. You take the step up yet?

To the OP. There is no need to post a ridiculous article like this as a reason to stay away from steroids even if your intentions are good. Why didnt you just post up the Chris Benoit article as support too.

 

[jbryand101b]

William Llewellyn's ANABOLICS, 9th ed.

The use of anabolic/androgenic steroids in supratherapeutic (and often therapeutic) doses can have a number of adverse effects on the cardiovascular system.
This may be noticed in several areas including unfavorable alterations in serum cholesterol, a thickening of ventricular walls, increased blood pressure, and changes in vascular reactivity. [...] An increased chance of early death due to heart attack or stroke is, likewise, a valid risk with long-term steroid abuse. In order to better understand this risk, we must look specifically at how anabolic/androgenic steroids affect the cardiovascular system in several key ways.

Enlarged Heart

The human heart is a muscle. It possesses functional androgen receptors, and is growth-responsive to male steroid hormones. [...]
Physical activity can also have a strong effect on the growth of the heart. Resistance exercise (anaerobic) tends to increase heart size by a thickening of the ventricular wall, usually without an equal expansion of the internal cavity. This is known as concentric remodeling.
Endurance' (aerobic) athletes, on the other hand, tend to increase heart size via expansion of the internal cavity, without significant thickening of the ventricles (eccentric remodeling).

Even with concentric or eccentric remodeling, diastolic function usually remains normal in the athletic heart.The heart muscle is also dynamic.When regular training is removed from a conditioned athlete, the wall thickening and cavity expansion tend to reduce.

Anabolic steroid abusers are at risk for thickening of the left and right ventricular walls,94 known as ventricular hypertrophy. Hypertrophy of the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber) in particular is extensively documented in anabolic/androgenic steroid abusers.951

While left ventricular hypertrophy is, again, also found in natural power athletes, substance-abusing athletes tend to have a much more profound wall thickening.
They also tend to develop pathological issues related to this thickening, including impaired diastolic function, and ultimately reduced heart efficiency.96 The level of impairment is closely associated with the dose and duration of steroid abuse. A left ventricle wall exceedinc 13mm in thickness is rare naturally, and may be indicative of steroid-abuse or other causes.97 It may further suggest that pathological left ventricular hypertrophy has developed. Additional testing of such patients d recommended. [...]

Studies examining the effects of steroid use and withdrawal on left ventricular hypertrophy noted that athletic subjects who abstained from steroid abuse for at least several years still had a slightly greater degree of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy compared to non-steroid-using athletic controls.104

heart damage
Furthermore, a number of case reports have found such pathologies as myocardial fibrosis (scar tissue buildup in the heart), myocardial inflammation (inflammation of heart tissue), cardiac steatosis (accumulation of triglycerides inside heart cells), and myocardial necrosis (death of heart tissue) in longterm steroid abusers.

kidney damage

[...] Kidney health should be a concern for long-term steroid using bodybuilders and power athletes.
To begin with excessive resistance training can produce some strain on the renal system. A condition called rhabdomyolysis is caused by the extreme damage of muscle tissue, which releases myoglobin and a number of nephrotoxic compounds into the blood.165
In high levels this can damage kidney tissue and even cause renal failure. There have been rare case reports of severe clinical rhabdomyolysis in bodybuilders, both with and without mentionofsteroid abuse.166 167 168 169Steroid use may also cause hypertension, which can lead to kidney damage.170
While anabolic/androgenic steroids are generally not regarded as direct kidney toxic drugs, they may be used to support a lifestyle and long-term metabolic state characterized by extreme training, heightened daily muscle protein turnover, and elevated blood pressure. Over time this may compromise kidney health. Regular monitoring of kidney function is recommended.
--------------------

Again, I say, there are a number of side effects from steroid abuse. and if you think it isn't possible, you are stupid. -->:32:
I rest my case. get you a copy of anabolics 2009.

 

[citystreets]

getting dirty gear is a real possibility as well, after injecting severe internal infection occurr, and sometime attack the heart itself causing parts of it to die and by the time they get to the hospital they are at risk of death at any moment and need a heart transplant, the symptoms of it such as micro strokes ( red spots appearing all over the limbs) are easy to ignore but are actualy pieces of your decompsed ventricle walls breaking off and clogging blood vessels.. Scary stuff, you really dont know the quality of the **** you inject.

 

[Movin_weight]

The use of anabolic/androgenic steroids in supratherapeutic (and often therapeutic) doses can have a number of adverse effects on the cardiovascular system.
This may be noticed in several areas including unfavorable alterations in serum cholesterol, a thickening of ventricular walls, increased blood pressure, and changes in vascular reactivity. [...] An increased chance of early death due to heart attack or stroke is, likewise, a valid risk with long-term steroid abuse. In order to better understand this risk, we must look specifically at how anabolic/androgenic steroids affect the cardiovascular system in several key ways.

Enlarged Heart

The human heart is a muscle. It possesses functional androgen receptors, and is growth-responsive to male steroid hormones. [...]
Physical activity can also have a strong effect on the growth of the heart. Resistance exercise (anaerobic) tends to increase heart size by a thickening of the ventricular wall, usually without an equal expansion of the internal cavity. This is known as concentric remodeling.
Endurance' (aerobic) athletes, on the other hand, tend to increase heart size via expansion of the internal cavity, without significant thickening of the ventricles (eccentric remodeling).

Even with concentric or eccentric remodeling, diastolic function usually remains normal in the athletic heart.The heart muscle is also dynamic.When regular training is removed from a conditioned athlete, the wall thickening and cavity expansion tend to reduce.

Anabolic steroid abusers are at risk for thickening of the left and right ventricular walls,94 known as ventricular hypertrophy. Hypertrophy of the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber) in particular is extensively documented in anabolic/androgenic steroid abusers.951

While left ventricular hypertrophy is, again, also found in natural power athletes, substance-abusing athletes tend to have a much more profound wall thickening.
They also tend to develop pathological issues related to this thickening, including impaired diastolic function, and ultimately reduced heart efficiency.96 The level of impairment is closely associated with the dose and duration of steroid abuse. A left ventricle wall exceedinc 13mm in thickness is rare naturally, and may be indicative of steroid-abuse or other causes.97 It may further suggest that pathological left ventricular hypertrophy has developed. Additional testing of such patients d recommended. [...]

Studies examining the effects of steroid use and withdrawal on left ventricular hypertrophy noted that athletic subjects who abstained from steroid abuse for at least several years still had a slightly greater degree of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy compared to non-steroid-using athletic controls.104

heart damage
Furthermore, a number of case reports have found such pathologies as myocardial fibrosis (scar tissue buildup in the heart), myocardial inflammation (inflammation of heart tissue), cardiac steatosis (accumulation of triglycerides inside heart cells), and myocardial necrosis (death of heart tissue) in longterm steroid abusers.

kidney damage

[...] Kidney health should be a concern for long-term steroid using bodybuilders and power athletes.
To begin with excessive resistance training can produce some strain on the renal system. A condition called rhabdomyolysis is caused by the extreme damage of muscle tissue, which releases myoglobin and a number of nephrotoxic compounds into the blood.165
In high levels this can damage kidney tissue and even cause renal failure. There have been rare case reports of severe clinical rhabdomyolysis in bodybuilders, both with and without mentionofsteroid abuse.166 167 168 169Steroid use may also cause hypertension, which can lead to kidney damage.170
While anabolic/androgenic steroids are generally not regarded as direct kidney toxic drugs, they may be used to support a lifestyle and long-term metabolic state characterized by extreme training, heightened daily muscle protein turnover, and elevated blood pressure. Over time this may compromise kidney health. Regular monitoring of kidney function is recommended.
--------------------

Again, I say, there are a number of side effects from steroid abuse. and if you think it isn't possible, you are stupid. -->:32:
I rest my case. get you a copy of anabolics 2009.

My mistake, I meant to post LVH is not ONLY related to steroid use. Just trying to relay that it does occur naturally as well. And i did not say that their are not side effects from steroid abuse.

It can be argued though that the excessive LVH found in bodybuilders and power lifters that use AAS, stems from the increased muscle mass and training intensities they endure. There has not been much research done on how AAS effect the heart in un-trained people.

 

[jbryand101b]

hey, np, it's cool, maybe i should delete the thread. isn't like it's really going to help hell bound people bent on using steroids.

 

[Movin_weight]

hey, np, it's cool, maybe i should delete the thread. isn't like it's really going to help hell bound people bent on using steroids.

Nah man nothing wrong with debate. I just like arguing the scientific aspects behind steroid use b/c too many people just repeat bandwagon jargon an bro-science they here on these boards, and have little understanding or the ability to think for themselves.

And not saying that is you in any way

 

[jbryand101b]

i feel ya. yea, i always like discussing steroids in all their aspects. never too late to learn something new.

what I hate is when someone pm's me, or negs me saying im wrong, but then doesn't post in the thread why, or anything. it's like, wtf, how about we discuss this. lol