Steroid Users Playing with their Health: An interview with Dr. Damion Martins
By Charles Geier Charlie.geier@gmail.com
Steroid abuse in sports not only raises questions with respect to legality and fair competition, it also poses the threat of potentially serious medical ramifications for athletes. Athletes who willingly inject a foreign substance into their bodies may be putting their health -- and their lives -- in jeopardy.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, major side effects of steroid abuse “can include liver tumors and cancer, jaundice, high blood pressure, kidney tumors, severe acne, and trembling”. With these significant health risks, The World of Sports and Steroids (TWSS) went to Hofstra University to determine how the issue of steroid abuse is addressed with its student-athletes.
Damion Martins is a physician who works with athletic teams at Hofstra University. His experience in the field of sports medicine includes serving as team physician for the University of Maryland, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and Coppin State University. He was also on the medical staff of the National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens. Martins, a sports medicine specialist at ProHEALTH in Lake Success, spoke with TWSS about steroid education, prevention, and regulation at Hofstra University.
TWSS: What is your role at Hofstra University?
Dr. Martins: It is a dual role. I am the medical director of the athletic department, and I am also the athletic director of the athletic training education department. I teach the athletic training students, deliver lectures, [and] students shadow me in the training room, and I show them how to do things.
In terms of the athletic department, I am the team physician, and I take care of the athletes, and treat them for medical and orthopedic injuries.
TWSS: What are the rules at Hofstra regarding steroids?
Dr. Martins: These rules are dispensed to all athletes in Health & Safety Guidelines.
TWSS: Besides the distribution of materials, what else does the University do for student athletes to educate them about steroids?
Dr. Martins: Students are informed at health and safety education seminars, athletic- training orientation seminars and through team-physician interaction.
TWSS: How do you feel Hofstra as an institution does in educating athletes about the dangers of steroid abuse?
Dr. Martins: [when compared with] the different colleges, universities, and other professional teams I have worked with in the past, I think they do an excellent job of educating their athletes, and giving them the information and resources they need to understand the use and misuse of steroids.
TWSS: In your time at Hofstra, are you aware of any athletes who have tested positive for steroids? What was/would be the procedure following an initial positive test for steroids?
Dr. Martins: Not to my knowledge, no.
TWSS: Have you seen any other performances-enhancing substances being abused; substances which might not be tested for, or might not be illegal but still provide an enhancement?
Dr. Martins: Not at the college level, no. Designer steroids and human growth hormone are generally used by professional and Olympic athletes, only because of the price. They are cost-prohibitive for most college athletes.
TWSS: In your own medical experience, what do you feel the biggest health risks are for an athlete who uses steroids?
Dr. Martins: There are short term and long- term risks. The short-term risks are well-documented, but in terms of the long-term risks, the data is more fuzzy. There are questions as to whether [steroid abuse] leads to cancer, leads to heart disease. Most scientists believe they do, and most scientific research supports this belief; but similar to smoking, we all know smoking is bad for you, but how long has it taken to prove that?
There are not very many well- controlled, randomized trials that have been done to support or refute the evidence that steroid abuse is bad for you. However, I think most of us in the field will agree that steroid abuse is bad for you, and dangerous.
TWSS: What is your opinion of the public perception of steroids? Do you feel that people have an accurate picture of steroids and their effects, or do you feel there is misinformation?
Dr. Martins: I believe that maybe 20 years ago there was a lot of misinformation, but today I feel that the literature available is fairly accurate. For an athlete today to say that he did not know the significant risks associated with steroid use would be the same as a smoker saying “I didn’t know smoking causes cancer”.
TWSS: As someone in the profession where steroids can be legitimately prescribed, what are your feelings regarding the classification of anabolic steroids as a controlled substance? Do steroids deserve a place next to heroin and cocaine?
Dr. Martins: We leave the classifications up to the federal government. I do think it is appropriate that doctors remember how potent these substances are, and the potential that they have. A federal classification as a drug does help remind the doctors of the significance of what they are prescribing.
Steroid abuse in sports not only raises questions with respect to legality and fair competition, it also poses the threat of potentially serious medical ramifications for athletes. Athletes who willingly inject a foreign substance into their bodies may be putting their health -- and their lives -- in jeopardy.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, major side effects of steroid abuse “can include liver tumors and cancer, jaundice, high blood pressure, kidney tumors, severe acne, and trembling”. With these significant health risks, The World of Sports and Steroids (TWSS) went to Hofstra University to determine how the issue of steroid abuse is addressed with its student-athletes.
Damion Martins is a physician who works with athletic teams at Hofstra University. His experience in the field of sports medicine includes serving as team physician for the University of Maryland, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and Coppin State University. He was also on the medical staff of the National Football League’s Baltimore Ravens. Martins, a sports medicine specialist at ProHEALTH in Lake Success, spoke with TWSS about steroid education, prevention, and regulation at Hofstra University.
TWSS: What is your role at Hofstra University?
Dr. Martins: It is a dual role. I am the medical director of the athletic department, and I am also the athletic director of the athletic training education department. I teach the athletic training students, deliver lectures, [and] students shadow me in the training room, and I show them how to do things.
In terms of the athletic department, I am the team physician, and I take care of the athletes, and treat them for medical and orthopedic injuries.
TWSS: What are the rules at Hofstra regarding steroids?
Dr. Martins: These rules are dispensed to all athletes in Health & Safety Guidelines.
TWSS: Besides the distribution of materials, what else does the University do for student athletes to educate them about steroids?
Dr. Martins: Students are informed at health and safety education seminars, athletic- training orientation seminars and through team-physician interaction.
TWSS: How do you feel Hofstra as an institution does in educating athletes about the dangers of steroid abuse?
Dr. Martins: [when compared with] the different colleges, universities, and other professional teams I have worked with in the past, I think they do an excellent job of educating their athletes, and giving them the information and resources they need to understand the use and misuse of steroids.
TWSS: In your time at Hofstra, are you aware of any athletes who have tested positive for steroids? What was/would be the procedure following an initial positive test for steroids?
Dr. Martins: Not to my knowledge, no.
TWSS: Have you seen any other performances-enhancing substances being abused; substances which might not be tested for, or might not be illegal but still provide an enhancement?
Dr. Martins: Not at the college level, no. Designer steroids and human growth hormone are generally used by professional and Olympic athletes, only because of the price. They are cost-prohibitive for most college athletes.
TWSS: In your own medical experience, what do you feel the biggest health risks are for an athlete who uses steroids?
Dr. Martins: There are short term and long- term risks. The short-term risks are well-documented, but in terms of the long-term risks, the data is more fuzzy. There are questions as to whether [steroid abuse] leads to cancer, leads to heart disease. Most scientists believe they do, and most scientific research supports this belief; but similar to smoking, we all know smoking is bad for you, but how long has it taken to prove that?
There are not very many well- controlled, randomized trials that have been done to support or refute the evidence that steroid abuse is bad for you. However, I think most of us in the field will agree that steroid abuse is bad for you, and dangerous.
TWSS: What is your opinion of the public perception of steroids? Do you feel that people have an accurate picture of steroids and their effects, or do you feel there is misinformation?
Dr. Martins: I believe that maybe 20 years ago there was a lot of misinformation, but today I feel that the literature available is fairly accurate. For an athlete today to say that he did not know the significant risks associated with steroid use would be the same as a smoker saying “I didn’t know smoking causes cancer”.
TWSS: As someone in the profession where steroids can be legitimately prescribed, what are your feelings regarding the classification of anabolic steroids as a controlled substance? Do steroids deserve a place next to heroin and cocaine?
Dr. Martins: We leave the classifications up to the federal government. I do think it is appropriate that doctors remember how potent these substances are, and the potential that they have. A federal classification as a drug does help remind the doctors of the significance of what they are prescribing.
posted by Charlie at 7:19 AM
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