Hoots Corner

An interesting commentary appeared in one of the health blogs on the Internet this morning.  I think this is worth passing along.

Don

Does your child use steroids? Of course not. That’s what concerned parents want to believe. Yet scores of young people are consuming a toxic stew, drugs they believe will enhance physical strength, performance and stamina, and build confidence.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows steroid use among male high school students rose 65 percent from 3.7 to 6.1 percent between 1999 and 2003; among female students it jumped from 2.2 to 5.3 percent, or a whopping 140 percent. Many of these young people have as their unfortunate role models certain high-profile athletes who have been implicated in steroid use. So, parents, be wary. Steroids are stealthy predators.

Watch for warning signs: rapidly bulked-up muscles, preoccupation with “getting big,” unusual acne, major mood swings, muscle magazines, pills or powders promising muscle development, and vials and syringes. If you suspect a problem, get between the drugs and your child, impressing upon him or her the fact that what they’re doing is illegal and very dangerous. You may be what saves your child from devastating health problems or from death.

What Are They: So-called anabolic-androgenic steroids are man-made substances related to male sex hormones. “Anabolic” refers to muscle-building, and “androgenic” refers to increased masculine characteristics, as defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Steroids” refers to the class of drugs, often legally prescribed for people with wasting diseases such as AIDS. But illegal use, which can add body size, is just as likely to destroy or impair the liver, heart and kidneys, emotional stability and normal sexual development of kids.

I know all this because I abused steroids for three and a half years in the mid – 80’s — and they almost killed me. They also ruined relationships and hurt my parents, parents who had raised me lovingly. As a user, I learned to lie to my father and steal from my mother’s purse. I had no conscience. I had good reasons for steroid use — or so I thought.

Steroids primarily appeal to young people who are looking for an athletic edge or those who want a quick fix to a better body. All want to “supersize” themselves, to create a new and improved version. I had suffered in school due to my short stature and a stutter, both of which attracted bullies and teasing. Steroids looked like the perfect remedy. My heroes, after all, included The Incredible Hulk and a giant of a man named Arnold Schwarzenegger — who eventually admitted to using steroids.

Finally Broken: Eventually steroid use broke me, literally. My body and mind were in shambles. A long, long road back included physical and mental evaluations, addiction support group meetings, and exercise — workouts not meant to “bulk up” but to help my battered body and mind reacquaint themselves.

I am now the father of two boys. My life has been resurrected from the disaster known as steroids. That is why I am here to caution other parents: It doesn’t just happen to someone else’s kids. When young people look at the hard, muscles bodies presented by smiling, oversized human beings, they see a tempting portrait. Potential users are seduced by this fake picture of health and vitality and virility.

The picture doesn’t show the strain on the arteries, the wear and tear on the heart and the psyche. It doesn’t show the caskets

Steroid abuse is not limited to the United States.  Here is an article from a newspaper in Borneo describing the use of steroids and the deaths that have resulted from the excessive use of these drugs for the purpose of working out harder or looking better.

Don

Bandar Seri Begawan - Racing up to look fit has become an obsession among many locals, with some resorting to the use of "supplements" to aid their quest.

According to Dr Patrick Ang, a consultant cardiologist at Gleneagles JPMC, there have been nine known cases of death during workout due to steroid abuse.

"What is worrying is that some people take it in large dosage to get more `kick' out of it," he said.

Using anabolic steroids increases the risk of heart attack, he said, while damaging the liver, thus elevating the toxicity level in the body.

Some fitness instructors also voice their concerns over the increasing use of steroids among gym-goers.

Jim (not his real name) told the Bulletin that taking steroids give him the strength to train longer and work much harder, especially during group sessions where "you want to show others that you not only can do it, but you are among the best".

The body produces steroids naturally to support functions such as fighting stress and promoting growth and development.

But more and more people use steroid pills, gels and sometimes creams because they think steroids can improve their sports performance or the way they look.

Anabolic steroids are artificially produced hormones that are the same as, or similar to, androgens, the male-type sex hormones in the body. There are more than 100 variations of anabolic steroids. The most powerful androgen is testosterone.

Although testosterone is mainly a mature male hormone, girls' bodies produce smaller amounts. Testosterone promotes the masculine traits that male develop during puberty, such as deepening of the voice and growth of body hair.

Testosterone levels can also affect how aggressive a person is.

Steroid supplements are weaker forms of androgen. Their effects aren't well known, but it's thought that, when taken in large doses, they cause effects similar to other androgens like testosterone.

Here's what is known about steroidal supplements: Companies that manufacture them often use false claims and very little is known about the long-term effects some of these substances can have on the body. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

It is my pleasure to welcome Phil Shryock to the Taylor Hooton Foundation team!

Phil will have the title of Director of Marketing and Development.  In this capacity, his primary responsibilities will involve the overall marketing and growth of the foundation.  For example, he will oversee the web site, all of our collateral, our positioning in the social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

In addition, Phil will lead the product introduction of our new online Hoot's Chalk Talk e-Learning program.  Our first version of this online education program will be targeted at coaches and will be formally introduced later this quarter.  We are hopeful that this program will be adopted by a good number of States and that this will become a mandatory program for many coaches to complete their coaches certification process.

Phil joins our team following a long career in product marketing and product management for companies like HP, Compaq, and GTE.

Phil and his wife Judy reside in Conroe, TX which is in the northern suburbs of Houston.

Welcome aboard, Phil.

Here is a story that ran this week on Dallas Television - it adds to the previous post (below) which describes some of our leaders' push to end steroid testing in high schools.

Note:  The following link contains the video which ran on the local nightly news in Dallas: 
http://www.wfaa.com/sports/Steroid-testing-for-Texas-High-School-kids-may-soon-end-84646682.html 


Don

by GEORGE RIBA / WFAA-TV

Posted on February 18, 2010Gallery

DALLAS - Steroid testing of high school athletes in Texas may soon become a thing of the past next year.

The Texas Education Agency is facing a 5 percent budget cut by the state and to help meet that goal, testing high school kids for drugs will be one of 30 programs affected.

 

"Well the good news is they haven't made the final decision yet," says Don Hooton, an anti-steroid activist. "We would be and are extremely disappointed that we would consider removing what has been a great deterrent."

 

Hooton, who lost his son Taylor and now oversees the Taylor Hooton foundation, says he will do all he can to keep the program alive. "What's the life of a child worth. And if it's not the life, it’s the long term health of our kids that are mixed up with these drugs, and it's hard to put a price tag on that," Hooton says.

 

Gerald Brence, the athletic director for the Plano Independent School district, hopes the testing will continue as well. "It wasn't perfect," Brence says. "There were some issues about it, but overall, I think the studies showed that it was very productive. I personally would like to see it stay but I understand the situation with the state of Texas."

 

Since the program began two years ago, more than 45,000 students have been tested with only 19 positive results. While the number is small, it’s the deterrent that the testing has created that Hooton says is important.

 

"The uneducated citizen or administrator would read these results and come to the conclusion that they want to come to that we don't have a steroid problem and that's a mistake," says Hooton.

 

The drug testing will continue if the legislature decides not to accept the TEA's recommendation, but as of right now, it's on the list of items to be cut.

 

Hooton says, "One of the examples that we use would be of an inner city school that had a gun violence problem and they put up metal detectors around the school. A year went by and the violence problem had gone away. Would any reasonable administrator come to a conclusion that it's time to take the metal detectors down?  Well, of course, not because the problem is going to come right back and we believe that's what's happened here."

 

A spokesman for the TEA says they're not sure when the legislature will adopt the cuts.

Visitors will not be surprised to learn that we will be extremely disappointed if the State of Texas discontinues this nation's largest high school steroid testing program.

Critics of the program point to the low number of positive tests as an indication that there is no steroid problem in Texas high schools - nothing could be further from the truth.  First, the program was never designed to "find out how many kids are using steroids."  The program was designed to be a deterrent - to provide a reason for our kids to say no when tempted to use these dangerous drugs.

Let me offer an analogy:  How about the analogy of an inner city school that had a gun violence problem and they put up metal detectors at every door around the school. A year went by and the violence problem had gone away. Would any reasonable school administrator come to a conclusion that it's time to take the metal detectors down?  Well, of course not!  Because the problem is going to come right back.  We strongly believe that this is exactly akin to what's happening here.


Don

By MATT WIXON / The Dallas Morning News

Two years ago, steroid testing of high school athletes was just beginning in Texas. On Tuesday, after the program produced 19 positive tests out of more than 45,000 samples, the Texas Education Agency proposed that testing be eliminated after this school year.

"I'm surprised because there was such a big push for it," said Frisco Centennial football coach Mark Howard. "Testing is not just a scare tactic. It's to bring to light what some kids could be doing and then getting them help."

Eliminating testing would cut $1 million from the budget. In the proposal, the TEA says that potentially more effective drug-prevention efforts can be facilitated through the agency and the University Interscholastic League, which has a steroid education program.

But education isn't enough, said Don Hooton of Plano, who oversees the Taylor Hooton Foundation to raise awareness about the effects of performance-enhancing drugs.

"I'm disappointed because we're losing a very important deterrent for the kids," Hooton said. "We have been very disappointed that there are some in the state that have read the results of the testing as a determination that there's not a steroid problem among the kids.

"That's a gross misreading of the results."

Of the 45,193 athletes tested during the first two years of screening, only 19 tested positive. Three test results were unresolved, and there were 137 "protocol positives," which includes athletes who had unexcused absences or refused to be tested.

To some, the low number of positive results showed that the testing was a deterrent. Others said the results indicated that there wasn't a significant steroid problem.

The state Legislature originally allotted $6 million to test student athletes for steroids during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, making Texas one of only three states to do such testing. In May, lawmakers slashed funding to $1 million for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years.

"I hate losing one of our weapons," Hooton said of the TEA's proposal to cut testing.

Howard said he would stop short of calling steroids a "problem." But he added that he thought testing was a deterrent.

"There are always going to be kids who try it because they think it's going to give them an edge," he said. "Our job is to tell them otherwise."