Athletes Who Develop Bigorexia as a Way to Improve Their Physical Performance

Athletes are expected to show their maximum performance every time they compete. Some of them compete more often than others, that is why some athletes try to find an alternative to improve their performance in a short period of time.

Usually high performance athletes find themselves in the best shape that they can be in, but some of them are still not satisfied. They start by over exercising, this leads the athlete to injuries, so they start using steroids or supplements, that is when the dangerous decisions begin, some cases ending in death.

Believing that anabolic steroids can improve competitiveness and performance, uninformed or misguided athletes, sometimes encouraged by coaches or parents, abuse these drugs to build lean muscle mass, promote aggressiveness, and increase body weight.

http://www.health.state.ny.us/publications/1210/

Specially in baseball, the doping problem has been growing with famous cases such as Barry Bonds or Sammy Sosa, two of the top ten MLB home run hitters, have hurt the credibility of the entire sport..

Beginning in 1998 with injections in his buttocks of Winstrol, a powerful steroid, Barry Bonds took a wide array of performance-enhancing drugs over at least five seasons in a massive doping regimen.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/03/06/news.excerpt/index.html

The past two cases were not fatal, since the both of them are alive, but Ken Caminiti did not have the same fortune. Ken Caminiti was a baseball player for the San Diego Padres. During the 1996 season he won the National League MVP award. Later after his retirement he admitted that during his winning season, he used steroids to maximize his performance.

In a Sports Illustrated cover story in 2002, a year after his retirement, he admitted that he had used steroids during his 1996 MVP season, and for several seasons afterwards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Caminiti

Two years after this declaration he died from a sudden heart attack, if we can not prove that it was caused by steroids, one of the steroids’ side effects is heart diseases, the steroid abuse increased his probability of dying from a sudden heart attack.

The sudden heart attack death of former baseball star Ken Caminiti, 41, highlights the potential link between substance abuse among pro athletes and its dangerous effects on health, according to experts.

http://news.healingwell.com

It is true that steroids will result in better performance, than a normal person, in the short term. It is also true that this type of substances will have a negative effect to your body functions, sometimes leading to death.

http://news.healingwell.com

http://www.health.state.ny.us

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Caminiti

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Vigorexia’s Victims Require Special Treatments to Overcome Health Problems.

Carlos Gerardo Balderas Campuzano

Vigorexia’s victims require special treatments involving family, friends, and society in general to support them and help them to overcome this disease. People who are victims of this illness generally do not realize it, they believe themselves to be healthy and in excellent condition, while the family, relatives and friends see that little by little they are being consumed and deteriorated by Vigorexia.
The treatments used to control or to remove this constant need of exercising are multidisciplinary, meaning that it takes the contribution of several factors or elements to complete this important task:
1) Balanced diet of nutrient and vitamins required by the body and the suppression of anabolic steroids. 2) Psychotherapy, to understand the behavioral aspect of their individual and the distorted perception of reality. 3) Pharmacotherapy, the use of medications to control anxiety, the compulsive conduct and to reduce stress and obsession to workout.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://vigorexia-sm.blogspot.com/2008/09/tratamiento.html&ei=OaHoS5ulC43MsgPeoa3QBw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCIQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dvigorexia%2Btratamientos%26hl%3Den




Vigorexic’s victims rarely accept their disease and the lack of self-steem makes it hard to overcome this illnes:
“A particular problem with the condition is that, rather like anorexics, men rarely see themselves as having a problem and are unlikely to come forward for treatment. The condition itself occurs partly as a response to feelings of depression and lack of self-esteem so coming forward for treatment is admitting defeat”. http://menshealth.about.com/cs/menonly/a/bigorexia_2.htm

The family, love ones, and friend’s support and solidarity during the treatment process play an important role in the victim’s quest to overcoming this illness, helping the affected one to change the perspective they have on their bodies:
“Treatment for vigorexia involves long term psychological care. Counseling is usually recommended, and sometimes psychiatric drugs may be used to manage depression, especially in the early stages of treatment. Support from friends and family members are also critical.”
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-bigorexia.htm


All these aspects must be supervised by professionals in each area, and with the family’s unconditional support at each stage to ensure the effectiveness of the program. The main goal is to change the behavior of the subject and rebuild their self-steem.






Bibliography
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://vigorexia-sm.blogspot.com/2008/09/tratamiento.html&ei=OaHoS5ulC43MsgPeoa3QBw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCIQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dvigorexia%2Btratamientos%26hl%3Den
http://menshealth.about.com/cs/menonly/a/bigorexia_2.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-bigorexia.htm