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A dietary supplement is any product that is intended to supplement the diet and that contains at least one of these ingredients: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, glandulars, metabolites, or a combination of these ingredients. If you choose to take a dietary supplement, read the supplement label carefully. The label will show how much of a specific vitamin, mineral, botanical, or other is in each dietary supplement. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition developed regulations for manufacturers in order to help consumers make informed choices when choosing dietary supplements. Manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their supplements’ facts label and ingredient list are accurate, that the dietary ingredients are safe, and that the content matches the amount declared on the label. Here is the information that must be on a dietary supplement label: A descriptive name of the product stating that it is a supplement. The name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. A list of each ingredient contained in the product, listed in the order of predominance by common name or proprietary blend. Ingredients not listed on the facts panel must appear in the other ingredient statement beneath the panel. The net contents of the product. The manufacturer’s suggested serving size. There are no rules that limit a serving size or the amount of a nutrient in any form of dietary supplements. Information on nutrients when they are present in significant levels, such as vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, and sodium, and the percentage Daily Value (% DV) where a reference has been established—this is similar to the nutrients listed in the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels. The Daily Value is essentially the same as the DRI (RDA or AI). All other dietary ingredients present in the product, including botanicals and amino acids—those for which no Daily Value has been established. Multiple and Single Nutrient Supplementation When you choose a general multivitamin and multi-mineral supplement, consider those that offer the full nutrient spectrum, the full range of B-complex vitamins, and antioxidants like beta-carotene and vitamins C and E. A good rule of thumb is to look for daily value percentage ranges from 50 to 150 percent. If a multivitamin has some but not enough of the other vitamins, you can take additional doses of those particular single supplements. Typically, a multivitamin cannot hold enough calcium. In addition to this basic multivitamin and mineral supplement, you may want to take single supplements to boost your health for specific conditions. To be sure that you will not be taking excessive amounts over what is already in the basic supplement, subtract the amount in the basic supplement from the larger amount listed for that single supplement. The difference is the amount of the single supplement you need to add. For example, if your basic supplement provides 200 milligrams (mg) of calcium, you would only take 800 mg of single supplement calcium to receive 1,000 mg of calcium daily. Botanicals Common in High-Potency Supplements Common herbal supplements are sometimes found in the formulation of high-potency or a health-benefit specific multivitamin and mineral supplement. Some herbs are used as specifics and are taken for brief periods or only when symptoms are present. Some herbs are used as tonics and are taken long term, sometimes with short breaks in between. For more information on using herbs and their health benefits, read about them from a reliable source and then discuss them with your health practitioner. Become informed! Here are a few common herbs and their unique properties that you may find in your supplements: Ginkgo Biloba (Ginkgo Biloba) is an antioxidant and improves circulation and memory. It may interact with monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors and blood-thinners and may cause gastrointestinal upset and headaches. Ginseng (Panax ginseng, P. quinquefolius) helps increase energy, and is used as a tonic for fatigue and athletic performance. It may worsen the side effects of stimulants, such as caffeine. Some people experience over-stimulation or stomach upset when taking this herb. Avoid this herb if you have high blood pressure, heart palpitations, insomnia, asthma, or a high fever. Siberian Ginseng or Eleuthero (Eleuthero senticosus) helps increase energy and is used as a tonic for fatigue and stress. Its use may increase the effectiveness and side effects of some antibiotics. Saw Palmetto (Sernoa repens) is effective in the treatment of prostate enlargement or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Some people experience stomach upset when taking this herb. Echinacea (Echinacea augustifolia, E. pallida, E. Purpurea) is known for its ability to stimulate the body’s defenses against minor vial and bacterial infections such as colds and the flu. Persons allergic to the pollen of other members of the aster family, such as ragweed, may also be allergic to echinacea. Its use may counteract immune-suppressive drugs. Green Tea Extract (Camellia Sinensis plant extract) has antioxidant properties, particularly the phytochemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and is used as a tonic. Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) is considered a liver protector and healer and is used as a liver tonic. Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) has been shown to be effective for premenstrual and menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes. It may cause stomach upset. Pregnant and nursing women should avoid using this herb. Copyright 2006. Mary El-Baz. All rights reserved. does penis enhancement work vimax penis enlargement before and after penis enhancement result penis elargement before and after penis enlargment product pennis enlargement penis enlargement pills product vimax penis enlargement before and after

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I understand that Saturday afternoon is the equivalent of Chernobyl for television and cable stations. Just after the last Saturday morning cartoon finishes and before the game there is absolutely nothing on. So I can understand how something like "Bibleman" oozed its way onto the air. What I didn’t know was that "Bibleman" has been around for at least ten years. And to be honest with you, I could of slept better at night if I had remained oblivious to this fact. I don’t care if there are shows out there preaching to people. I don’t have anything against religion. You have the right to say what you’re going to say, and I have the right to turn that channel faster than “Stella” flopped. Just don’t tell Comedy Central about that last part. They still cling to the idea that Michael Ian Black is funny. We will also ignore the fact that the people behind "Bibleman” and their fans would possibly have the FCC and conservative Republicans crush our secular programming than flip the channel themselves. In the case of "Bibleman" though, I don’t think these people should be let off the hook. I wouldn’t mind the show if it had some balls. You know, make Bibleman a raging alcoholic with a dingy office next to a strip club, and have episodes with him going into hell every so often to slap Hitler and Stalin around with his penis. Instead you’ve got some old guy running around in a suit that looked like it was inspired by an acid induced viewing of “Robocop.” Instead of saying things like “I’m going to rip your heart out and eat it for Jesus”, you get lines like “Bibleman is victim of a plot to make him disobey god!” And while that line may make George Bush Jr. clap his hands in delight, it makes the rest of us wretch. Even the villains, the sign of a great superhero show, are as bad as the poorly written, self-important hate mail I sometimes get. Instead of Satan, complete with thirty heads and a Boston Red Sox cap, we have this guy who looks like a gay version of the Borg from Star Trek. How do we know he’s gay? Because of his mannerisms, his constant attempts to give fashion advice to Bibleman, and a quick cut to Bibleman in bondage having something awkward done to him during an episode with this character. Not to mention on the Bibleman website all of his villains are described as “flamboyant.” What kind of message are we being sent from this show? That muscular men in purple suits can beat up gay people in homoerotic encounters because the Bible says he can? The theme song is on par with a high pitch squeal on repeat for eternity. And we know how enjoyable that is. Not only does the theme song suck, but also "Bibleman" again pumps the "Star Trek" well by ripping off the transporters. He even goes the extra mile and rips off George Lucas’s light saber for his weapon. The creators of the show were smart enough to not use the Star Wars sound effect. But they might as well use it at this rate. Do you really think George Lucas is going to pick a fight with Jesus Christ in the media? Not only is Bibleman a homophobe, he’s also an out and out racist. His partner Cipher is black, and every time Cipher says something Bibleman blows him off or just repeats what Cipher just said as his own idea. This doesn’t add to the “comedy” of the show. It is another example of a white man ripping off a black man’s good ideas. And to make matters worse, Bibleman went out and found a Latino girl to be Bible girl. Who, you guessed it, acts like a stereotypical Latino woman. Don’t you love how loving and accepting the producers of this show are? The rampant product placement in this show is outrageous. Almost every scene somehow manages to include a shot of Bibleman’s own bible, which you can probably purchase if you look hard enough. Where does the money go for this bible? Not to a charity for blind orphans! Not to animal shelters for Dalmatians after the Disney craze ended! I wish the producers of this show would create a fund for people who accidentally watched episodes of "Bibleman" and had a stroke. This whole show smacks of low profile and low cost management. Do you know who Bibleman is? No! Of course not. Because you have s former cocaine addict, Willie Aames as Bibleman. Some of you might know Mr. Aames as “Buddy” from “Charles in Charge.” And what did Aames do after his fifteen minutes were up beating up gay people, doing blow, and preaching about Jesus in this show? He went on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club. The producers could have gone for a star, or at least someone who seriously believed the stuff they were spewing on the show. Instead they gave us “Buddy.” I wonder what Charles thinks about all this? The bottom line here is that a show that promotes racism, intolerance, includes product placement for something that is supposed to be free (the Bible), and sucks harder than a late night meal at Dennys. It is a total disservice to the religion, and I even argue the show makes Jerry Falwell appealing. Nothing this bad should be allowed on television. penis enlargement pic before and after penis enhancement tip natural penis enlagement exercise cheapest penis enhancement pills free pnis enlargement pills surgical penis enlargment easy enlagement free penis surgery way compare pnis enlargement pills vigrx hoax

Tantra is a spiritual tradition that originated in India some 4,000 years ago. It is a way of life that celebrates and strives for the union of body, mind, heart and soul. Tantra is a form of yoga. Yoga means union. The ultimate purpose of Tantra is the union of lovers, and ultimately union with the Divine. In the Tantric tradition, sexuality and spirituality are joined. Lovers actually invite God into their bed! Many cultures have a variation of this challenging and delightful practice, the Taoists in China and the Cheyenne in North America. There are differences in these practices, but all forms of sacred sexuality share the intentional cultivation and use of sexual energy for spiritual growth, healing, creativity and enhanced pleasure. The practices of Tantra were first introduced to the west in the 1800s, but a Tantric revival in the ashrams of India during the late 1960s has led to a gradual popularization of these practices in Europe and North America. Recent testimonials by celebrity musicians and movie stars like Sting and Woody Harrelson have promoted it and Tantra is becoming the sexual learning of choice for those who want to have it all: a passionate sex life, a healthy body, and spiritual growth. Tantric lovemaking involves breathing exercises, muscle contraction exercises, sound, visualization, affirmations, creating a sacred loving space and other ceremonial practices, meditation, sensual massage, and sexual play. In order to build a high sexual energy charge and to move into ecstatic states of divine connection Tantric lovers extend lovemaking over several hours, experiencing extraordinary levels of pleasure along the way. Part of the delight of Tantra is that you can continue to learn and advance throughout years of practice; it is never-ending in its potential for growth. At the same time, it is a practice that yields immediate results. You can experience a difference in your lovemaking right now if you follow these nine simple steps. Tantric Loving Step by Step 1. Intention Regular lovemaking has a goal, orgasm. If you both come at the same instant, many believe this is as good as it gets. However, this approach often results in a great deal of frustration and performance anxiety. With Tantric sacred loving there is no goal, but there is a purpose, union. Your intention is to merge with your lover in all aspects, body, mind, heart and soul, not just body. You can help this along by looking at your lover differently, by seeing your partner as a god or goddess, as a living expression of the divine. Look for the glory, the beauty and the wonder in your playmate and in yourself and let that shine. 2. Creating a Sacred Loving Space Set the mood; transform any ordinary space, bedroom, living room, etc., into a sacred space. It takes only a few minutes and costs little or nothing. The important thing is your intention, not the specific items you use. First, clean the room; vacuum, dust, and put away any clutter lying about. In the evening dim the lights and use lots of candles. Bring in plants or fresh cut flowers. A bowl of fruit is very sensual. You may wish to have a bottle of wine to share. Bring special objects that have emotional importance for into the room. Make up a lover's bed using your finest clean linens (silk is exquisite) and have lots of pillows handy. When you have finished creating the space, take a few moments to purify it energetically. That means consciously sending away negative or fearful thoughts and feelings, and inviting in those that are joyous, passionate and safe. Create your own rituals with sweet grass, incense, and musical instruments. 3. The Lover's Purifying Bath Cleanse each other in preparation for your joyous union. Wash away the dirt and cares of the world. A hot bath with essential oils and bath salts is perfect, especially if you can both fit into the tub at the same time. A shower is the next best thing, but perfectly acceptable. The essential thing is to be squeaky clean. After all you will be eating off that skin! Make the bath a slow, luxurious affair giving complete attention to your lover. Wash and dry each other with playful abandon. Men shave or trim facial hair and apply scent. Women apply their best perfumes and lotions. Sensually prepare your bodies for the delights ahead. 4. Honor, Respect and Permission Trust, surrender and opening your heart are essential if you want to reach the heights of bliss. It is not just technique that will get you there. You must join together as loving equals on the sexual journey. Men, think of the yoni (vagina) as a potential opening, don’t ever take your lady for granted! Speak softly how much you adore, love and respect her as you gently blow on her ears and nibble on her ear lobes. Let her know that you think of her constantly and how strong your desire is to make love with (not to) her. Also, let her know that you invite her to awaken sexually and to express her sexuality fully. Let her know that you are NOT caught in that tired old cultural conditioning that still insists "good girls" do not enjoy sex, the Madonna/Whore split. Make her believe you when you tell her that you know she can be all she wants to be: a successful career woman, a respectful daughter, a faithful wife, a caring mother, a passionate lover and a sincere spiritual seeker all at the same time. Tell her how beautiful she is, how wonderful she smells, and all the things you appreciate most about her. Finally, ask permission to be her passionate Tantric lover. Ladies, let your man know that he is safe! He may act macho and tough, showing little emotion, but inside most men are afraid of emotional intimacy. The tougher a man acts the greater this fear of trusting and surrendering will be. Let him know that you admire his strength, but that it also turns you on when he allows himself to be vulnerable by showing his feelings. Tell him how handsome he is and how talented. Mention all the things you like most about him. Tell him why you love him so deeply. Tell him how much you think about him when he is away, and how you have fantasies about making love with him and touching him when he returns. Make him believe that you really want him sexually. Finally, ask permission to be his passionate Tantric lover. 5. Foreplay Two simple ways to tune into each other are harmonizing your breathing and gazing deeply into each other's eyes. By matching your breathing rhythms and making soulful eye contact you connect emotionally and energetically as well as physically. Begin to explore each other's bodies with wonder, lust and playfulness. Remember, in Tantric sacred loving there is no goal. You are not trying to get somewhere. Each touch is complete in and of itself. Once you master how to work with your sexual energy both lovers will discover they can have orgasms just by touching fingers together, or looking into each other's eyes across a crowded room! So men are not in a hurry to get at the woman's breasts or into her yoni. When touching her body, start at the extremities, fingers and toes, and work in toward the hot spots. Go slowly! Generally men enjoy having their genitals touched at any time, but women usually only enjoy having their breasts and genitals touched after they are already sexually excited from other touching, stimulating conversation, or emotional connection. Make sure the woman is well lubricated before any attempt at intercourse. If possible, help her to have a clitoral orgasm before moving on to intercourse. 6. Intercourse Five to fifteen minutes of lovemaking is usually not satisfying for women. Men can learn to delay ejaculation so that lovemaking can be extended for hours. A man can delay ejaculation for weeks or months at a time, not just during one lovemaking session. A man who masters his ejaculation response can separate orgasm from ejaculation and become a multi-orgasmic-man! Such a man can last long enough in lovemaking so that his female partner will have enough time to also have multiple orgasms. Although Tantric loving lasts several hours, this does not mean you are having active intercourse during that entire time. Intercourse is interspersed with touching, oral play, quietly holding each other, dancing, massage, etc. It is a good idea for a man to allow his erection to subside every 30-45 minutes to exchange the blood supply and recharge his oxygen and hormone levels in the lingam (penis). 7. Moving Your Energy: The Passion Pump Riding the wave of bliss happens when the lovers become totally aroused sexually, maintaining that arousal for a period of time. They build up intense hot sexual energy. For the man, if this energy has nowhere else to go, there will be such great pressure in the prostate, that it will go into involuntary spasm and ejaculation will end the lovemaking. However, with a combination of breathing, relaxation, and muscle contraction exercises both men and women can learn to circulate sexual energy through their own and their lover's body. Ultimately the ego boundaries disappear and the lovers become one in ecstatic union. The muscle contraction exercise is very simple. If you were urinating and stopped the flow of urine in mid-stream you would be contracting exactly the right muscles in exactly the right way. This squeezing and relaxing of muscles around your genitals is called the PC Pump. It's the first and most important exercise in learning to circulate your sexual energy. At the peak of sexual arousal, either during intercourse or manual/oral stimulation stop your normal lovemaking movements and focus on moving the sexual energy that's pulsing in your genitals. Move it up and through your body. Use slow, deep abdominal breathing to keep your body relaxed. Add the PC pumping action and visualize moving energy up your body in a ball of fire or a wave of light or a current of electricity. Through your eyes, your hands, your genitals pass this powerful force on to your lover. At first, this may seem difficult because we are not accustomed to paying attention to our internal energy. With practice, you will be able to recognize and direct it. 8. Afterplay Regular lovemaking usually ends (often abruptly) when the man ejaculates, but Tantric sacred loving often ends while the lovers still have desire. This assumes the man has some mastery over his ejaculation response so that ending lovemaking is a conscious choice, sometimes including ejaculation, sometimes not. With Tantric loving you wind down your lovemaking with slow caresses, words of endearment and honoring each other with food and drink. 9. Sharing Wine, Food and Other Sensual Pleasures The sharing of good food, wine and other intoxicants, sensual massage, dressing up in costumes and playing sexual games are part of the ancient Tantric tradition. While Tantra is serious, it need not be heavy. Lighten up; be playful, lusty and daring! Tantra lovers know that they are personally responsible for their own sexual fulfillment and their own spiritual progress. This may be especially important for men. Many men experience a great deal of performance anxiety. But even the greatest, most sensitive, highly skilled Tantric lover cannot make a woman have orgasms. She must be able to go to that place in herself that is orgasmic. Sexual/spiritual ecstasy has little to do with control. It requires trust, surrender and letting go. Both lovers must learn to do this. If there is some psychological work to do before you will allow yourself to open in this way, then get on with it! In the meantime, please each other with the preparation, serving and consumption of fine food and drink. Lavish each other with touching in sensual massage. Dress up (and down) for each other. Take on different personalities with different costumes; wear masks. Play and laugh together. Celebrate your spirit through your sexuality. Open your heart. Let your lover in and your love out! vigrx pic penis enhancement video best penis enlargement surgery manual pennis enlargement penis enlargment herb penis enhancement picture penis enlargement surgeries penis enhancement exercise vigrx hoax

Benign prostatic hyperplasia is the medical name for a swollen or enlarged prostate which will affect half of all men by the time they reach the age of 60 and ninety percent of men by the age of 80. As its name suggests benign prostatic hyperplasia is a benign or non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland and can often be treated with medication or with minor minimally invasive surgery. The first step however is to confirm that the problem is indeed benign prostatic hyperplasia and that your symptoms are not being caused by something else, such as a urinary tract infection or problems with the bladder or kidneys. It is also important to check for the presence of prostate cancer as, although benign prostatic hyperplasia does not cause prostate cancer, it is possible for both benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer to be found together. Initial testing will normally involve a physical examination known as a digital rectal examination (DRE) together with an evaluation of the symptoms reported by the patient and his medical history. As the prostate gland is situated between the bladder and the rectum it is a simple matter for the doctor to insert a gloved and lubricated finger into the rectum while the patient lies on his side and to feel the prostate gland for signs of enlargement or abnormality. This is not perhaps the most pleasant of procedures but is more uncomfortable than painful. It is also common at this stage for the doctor to order a series of laboratory tests. These may include a blood test to check PSA levels, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine and a urine test (urinalysis and urine culture). PSA, which stands for prostate specific antigen, is present in the blood and is specific to the prostate with levels being raised slightly in the case of benign prostatic hyperplasia and markedly in response to prostate cancer. The remaining tests are designed to look for the presence of a urinary tract infection or for problems with the kidneys, both of which can produce symptoms similar to those seen in cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia. In certain cases a doctor may also order additional tests such as an ultrasound examination, to determine the size of the prostate and to measure the volume of urine in the bladder, or a cystoscopy (an examination using a thin flexible scope) to check the condition of the urethra and bladder. If none of these tests produce conclusive results the doctor may order a prostate biopsy in which one or more small samples of tissue are taken from the prostate for microscopic evaluation. result review vig rx easy enhancement free penis surgery way surgical penis enlarement enlargement manhattan pnis penis enargement drug penile enlargment before and after vimax penis enlargement exercise penis enargement surgery photo vigrx hoax

Excerpt from The Steroid Deceit Having abused steroids for three and a half years, I was always afraid of being found out. I took pains to keep my steroid use hidden from my parents. They thought my newfound muscles were the result of all the time I spent at the gym, as well as the various supplements and powders that I always seemed to be taking. Little did they realize that some of those pills I called “vitamins” were actually oral steroids. The façade to my life of deceit began to crack, when I received a panicked phone call from my mother. She had evidently found one of my syringes. I rushed home. Since using steroids, I had become a much better liar than I ever could have imagined, and naturally I was ready to give her an Academy Award winning performance. My mother was waiting for me at the front door, and started in on me as I made my way up the pathway. “Are you using heroin?" “Mom,” I told her, offering her a big smile. “You’ve got it all wrong.” She waved the syringe in her hand as if to say, “How could this be wrong?” I didn’t stop smiling, even though inwardly I was cursing myself for having been careless with my needles. I had slipped up. Until that mistake I had always cleaned up after my usage and secreted everything away. While my mother brandished the syringe, I was doing some waving of my own, showing her a prescription form. By this time we were in the house. “I am not a junkie, Mom,” I told her. “I was given a prescription from a doctor.” “What for?” she asked. “For steroids,” I said, “only steroids.” She still looked doubtful, so I said, “I’ll go show you.” I went up to my room and returned with a vial. “See,” I said, showing her the vial, and then repeated, “It’s only steroids.” It’s only steroids. As a parent I can tell you that if I heard those words from one of my two boys I would be as concerned as if my child had announced, “Don’t worry, it’s only heroin.” I made a big show of throwing out the syringe and vial in front of my mother, My mother appeared pacified. Luckily, she didn’t know anything about steroids, and what I was saying must have sounded reasonable. Besides, my tossing out the vial and syringe clearly demonstrated that I didn’t have a problem. What she didn’t know was that I had a secret stash in my closet with dozens more vials and needles. It was also a good thing she didn’t look closely at the prescription, or she might have wondered why a vet was prescribing a drug to a human. In my hunt for bigger and better steroids I had found a veterinarian willing to write me a scrip for equipoise, a steroid prescribed for horses. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had made copies of the prescription. I didn’t even have horse sense. I was a drug abuser with an illegal prescription covering up his habit by lying. I wish my mother hadn’t trusted me. I wish she had challenged me. I wish she had taken note of all the warning signs my body and behavior were giving off, and had pulled me up short. According to the U.S. Center of Disease Control, up to 6% of high school students have tried, or are using, steroids. Even if that figure is wildly exaggerated – even if it’s only half of that number – we are still talking about an incredible number of young people using steroids. Teens typically use steroids to get buff, or try and get an athletic edge. What they don’t take into account is the potential hazards that come with the drugs. Some of the side effects include: Psychological addiction; Depression and mood swings; Insomnia; Severe acne; Hair loss; Infertility; Liver disease; Testicular atrophy; Arteriosclerosis; Heart disease; Permanent stunting of growth; Feminization of males including breast swelling (gynecomastia – also known by steroid users as “bitch tits”); Stretch marks; Water retention; High blood pressure; Tendon and ligament damage Specific side effects of females are: Virilization (becoming more masculine) of females, with such symptoms as excessive face and body hair, deepening of the voice which is irreversible; suppression of menses; decreased breast size; and enlargement of the clitoris; It is hard to believe that given all the health risks associated with steroids that they continue to grow in popularity. I am afraid that either the message of their dangers isn’t getting out, or maybe it’s just that the other “message” is so much more prevalent that it’s hard to refute. When people look at the hard, muscled bodies presented by smiling, oversized human beings, they see a tempting portrait. Users and potential users are seduced by this picture of health and vitality. The picture doesn’t show the strain on the arteries, the wear and tear on the heart, or the pinball effect on the psyche. Because society has not yet raised enough red flags over steroid use, the burden for this scrutiny has to fall on parents and loved ones. At the time I abused steroids they were an “under the radar” drug; my parents didn’t even know what they were. Public awareness about steroids has grown, but judging from their increased popularity, teens and adults have not yet come to the realization that using them means playing Russian roulette. To protect their children from the dangers of steroids, parents need to be vigilant. For their own good, no child should be able to get away with what I did. It was wrong of me to pretend indifference about my drug habit and proclaim, “It’s only steroids.” Steroid use is the hidden epidemic. Somehow the war on drugs has missed this target. Parents can’t afford to turn a blind eye, though. Among the warning signs parents should be looking for in a child who might be using steroids is: A rapid increase in the musculature of your child; Your child’s preoccupation or obsession with “getting big”; An outbreak of acne (predominately on chest and back) far and above the usual; Pronounced mood swings;The presence of muscle magazines (look for the usual smiling steroid figures on the cover). There’s an old axiom: if it’s too good to be true, beware. Those bodies are too good to be true; Vials and pills and syringes – it is up to you to read the labels. I told my parents that the oral steroids I was taking were vitamins. Watch out for the following pills: Anadrol; Dianabol; Winstrol; tamoxifen; clenbuterol; clomifen citrate; masterolone Anything in a vial is suspect (if it is in a vial, it is usually vile). The brand names are many and varied, but look for the following substances: stanazalol; nandrolone decanoate; nandrolone phenilpropionate; dromastolone dipropionate; and testosterone. Despite all those misleading advertisements which claim you can lose 10 pounds of fat and put on 10 pounds of muscle in just a few days, it doesn’t happen that way. The human body doesn’t change overnight. When not using steroids, professional athletes are hard-pressed to put on 10 pounds of muscle in a year, even with rigorous workouts. If your child suddenly sprouts muscles, it is your job to be suspicious. Don’t be surprised if your teen credits those muscles to his or her pumping iron, and taking protein shakes and supplements. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that those pills and shakes are all but worthless. Invariably, the spokesperson for those kinds of products is a steroid abuser. The fact is that those supplements will not pack on the pounds and muscles as the manufacturers claim. Steroids will do that. They might also cause you to die or go crazy getting those muscles, but that’s not something you are ever likely to hear coming out of the mouth of Mr. Big Biceps. What should a parent do if they discover that their child is using steroids? One of the first priorities is opening up a dialogue with your child and start discussing this risky behavior. One of my favorite sayings is, “There is nothing uglier than truth when it is not on your side.” Truth is a great antidote to combating steroid usage. From the onset I would impress upon the child that what they are doing is both illegal and harmful. If you take a steroid, in the eyes of the law it’s the same thing as popping an amphetamine or Quaalude. Possession of steroids is a federal offense, and can result in jail time of up to one year in prison along with a fine up to a thousand dollars. If you manufacture or distribute steroids, the penalties are much more severe. It is common for many steroid users to sell or distribute their drugs. Doing a “favor” for another user can now result in a jail sentence. Expect your child to be defensive. When you start explaining about health risks associated with steroids, you are sure to hear, “I don’t know anybody who has had those kinds of problems.” It is entirely possible they’ll be telling the truth. You will have to explain that sometimes the effects are not immediate, and sometimes they can’t be seen. Tell them that steroids are like cigarettes; often they debilitate over time. You also have to try and impress upon them what I think of as “the X Factor.” Every day more evidence comes forward showing the detrimental effects of steroids. It’s only recently that steroids have been linked with depression, just as there have only been preliminary studies on steroids being a possible “gateway” drug. Before the mid-nineties, though, no one was talking about ‘roid rage. And before that no one had any idea about the potential for kidney damage and arteriosclerosis due to steroid usage. Your child will tell you that steroids work, and he’ll be right. They do work, but it’s one of those cases of their working too well. Your child might not want to hear about heart disease or liver tumors or hardening of the arteries. You will hear about the strength gains, and the “incredible” workouts. Your response should be, “At what cost?” The human body is designed for certain maximum levels. Those who abuse steroids can, and do, spend more time at the gym or on the playing field, and are able to push themselves harder and longer. Sooner, usually than later, though, the human body rebels; joints tear and ligaments rip. It isn’t surprising that sports medicine has seen an epidemic of career ending injuries in the past decade. Steroids have given athletes a false platform upon which to perform; when that platform collapses, too often it is game, set, and match. This trend of serious injuries extends from high schools to the professional levels. Sports doctors say they are seeing a huge increase in tendon and muscle ruptures. That isn’t a coincidence. When bodies get pushed too hard, they snap even harder. Student athletes are under enormous pressure to perform and that makes steroids tempting. Non-athletes feel their own pressures; everyone wants to look “buff” and fit. Parents should also tell their children that steroids are cheating. In simple terms of right and wrong, they are wrong, and you don’t want your child to be a cheater. If your son or daughter is looking for an athletic advantage, tell them that you don’t believe in winning at all costs and neither should they. Stress to them that the muscles they think they are getting are artificial and temporary, and if they want the real thing then they are going to have to work for it. Talk to your child and make sure his or her self-esteem is not dependent on body image. This will probably be another case where your child thinks you are old-fashioned and out of it; when your child grows up he will see how wise you were (but don’t expect to get thanked any time soon). It is possible your child has body dysmorphia, with a resulting skewed view on what his/her body really looks like. Harrison Pope established a formula to calculate what he called the “fat-free mass index” (FFMI). Based on those calculations, the upper limits of musculature and build can be defined by their scoring system. The researchers found that a drug-free individual could be muscular, but in a proportional and natural way. Unfortunately, these days we see so many images of bodies accomplished through steroids that we don’t realize them for what they are – fakes. Teens need to have a realistic idea of what is normal body image, and what is abnormal. When confronting a child’s usage of steroids, the natural reaction for any concerned parent is to ban steroids from the household. That prohibition won’t work, though, unless your child realizes it is in his own best interest to quit. Going off steroids is something that can be fraught with problems; consult with a doctor. Going “cold turkey” can have tragic consequences. If you get steroids out of your house, be aware that your child might seek out steroids through friends and find a way to try and hide further usage from you. Don’t be afraid of looking like the “bad guy.” Your child might not understand the serious consequences involved with steroid usage. If you suspect continued use of steroids, take your son or daughter to a physician and have them tested. I would also strongly encourage you to get your child into counseling. Most males will resist this, and will no doubt insist that it’s unnecessary. These are the same males who might suffer severe depression in silence, not doing anything about it. Unfortunately their ultimate solution might be suicide. Without being overly dramatic, parents need to be on a “suicide watch” for a child that is using steroids, or has recently stopped. Coming “down” from steroids can be a perilous time, especially for young people. They need to understand what is happening to them. Because they have tinkered with their body chemistry, stopping steroid usage might result in considerable physical and mental shocks to the system. When young men act rambunctious, people often roll their eyes and say, “Too much testosterone.” Imagine, then, too much testosterone for months and years at a time. Your child needs to know that’s what they wreaked upon their system, and that sometimes body and mind take time to find their way back to normal. Take it from me; it will be one of the most important journeys they ever undertake.