For any youngster in the Capital, the path to acquiring
those rippling muscles or perfect abs appears to be littered with steroids and
dubious dietary supplements. At least that’s what Times City found after a
brief recce of some south Delhi gymnasiums.
While the more upmarket gyms in Malviya Nagar, GK and Vasant
Kunj maintained they prescribe only a rigorous exercise regime, healthy food
coupled with a few ‘‘natural’’ dietary supplements, the relatively less
expensive gyms’ coaches — once prodded — were more than willing to provide
‘‘something extra’’.
With a physical appearance that doesn’t exactly give Arnold
a run for his money, this correspondent had little difficulty in convincing a
gym owner in Munirka that he was an ideal candidate to enrol.
‘‘You need to begin with light weights which we will
gradually increase over time. Within six months you will be a beefcake, ready
to take on the world,’’ Ajay (name changed), the coach assured. In as delicate
a manner as possible, it was explained to him that six
months would be unacceptable, as this correspondent’s (fictitious) impending
marriage in December meant he had to be in perfect shape in the next 40 days.
‘‘In that case, you would need some dietary supplements like ‘Endura’, ‘Body’
‘Cultivator’ etc. We don’t recommend the ‘desi’ supplements but the ones
imported from USA, Australia and UK. And if you wish I can also get you tablets
and injections,’’ Ajay explained.
The problem with dietary supplements, experts say, is that
regulatory bodies like Food and Drug Administration (FDA) look into them only
on the basis of specific complaints and energy bars — while okay to be used by
athletes who burn enough calories — can cause unnecessary weight gain in
non-athletes. And not all of that would be muscle mass. Supplements, in many
cases, have no more than a psychological effect.
Incidentally, Ajay’s gym, on the second floor of a rickety
building in the bylanes of Munirka, was the only one still functioning. Nearby
shop owners reported that almost all other gyms in the area have been shut down
as they had become a haven for supply of banned contrabands. Said a police
source, ‘‘Such gyms had started supplying spurious drugs, which led to drug
abuse among youngsters. We received complaints that students from North-east
and Nigerians misused the gym facility to supply banned steroids. So, we raided
these gyms and closed them down.’’ Yet another physical instructor at a famous
gym near the IIT grounds suggested that merely working out at the gym won’t
help much. ‘‘You will require Anabol, Binabol tablets with your food for faster
results. I can also get you salt injections of Nandralone decanoate which help
in giving muscles a perfect ‘cut’ and a polished look. It also increases the
muscle mass,’’ said Ajit (name changed). But, he added in a cautionary tone,
‘‘There may be side effects like baldness, kidney failure, jaundice. Kuch paane
ke liye itna risk to lena padega.’’
Nandrolone decanoate or decadurabolin is an anabolic steroid
that acts on androgen receptors in muscles and makes them grow faster. Side
effects include bleeding, nausea, depression, breast tenderness or enlargement
and pain in the scrotum. Dianabol, the active ingredient of anabol, has been
known to cause acne.
Anabolic steroids may have shot to fame — or infamy — with
the Ben Johnson episode way back in 1988, to make comebacks every now and then
with sports scandals, but in these times of instant gratification, they are
much more a part of our daily lives.
Be it your neighbourhood teenager in the eternal quest for
that perfect body a la Salman Khan, or the aging businessman in his search for
everlasting youth and vitality — anabolic steroids are definitely no longer
just the forte of competitive sports persons looking to break world records.
Because competition is the buzzword everywhere, be it gymnasiums eager to show
quick results or doctors keen not to lose a patient.
Says Dr Anoop Misra, consultant, internal medicine at Fortis
Group of Hospitals: ‘‘It is an increasing trend among doctors to prescribe
anabolic steroids like decadurabolin and nandrolone to patients who come with
complaints of weakness, but diagnostic tests do not show anything amiss. The
hormones give that burst of extra energy and both patient and doctor are happy.
It is only when the side effects start showing that the patient realises what
has been done to him, but by then the damage is already done.’’
In recent years, in
addition to testosterone, a slightly advanced derivative of it,
dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has become popular among doctors for ‘‘restoring
virility’’ to aging male patients — a sort of a parallel, doctors say for the
hormone replacement therapy in menopausal females — but with possibly
disastrous side effects that actually include a loss of fertility and libido.
The other side effects include possible liver and prostate
damage and gynaecomastia — breast development in males — because in high doses,
the male hormone often converts in vivo to the female hormones.
Dr Randeep Guleria, professor of medicine at AIIMS, says
there is one important difference between HRT in females and use of anabolic
steroids in males. ‘‘A lot of doctors prescribe it for loss of muscle mass,
weakness and body ache or even for post-surgery recovery. But the problem is
there is a lack of concrete data. HRT is a properly researched concept. May be
one or two injections do not harm, but long-term use could cause problems. And
in the absence of set guidelines for administration, frequency and dosage
depends entirely on the doctor’s discretion.’’
The other issue in the use of anabolic steroid remains the
fact that its use may not be ‘‘right’’ in terms of after-effects for the user
but is not illegal unless one is participating in competitive sports. Thus be
it gym trainers or doctors prescribing it, there is no question of a run-in
with the law.
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