I've recently started weight training again after a long hiatus and I was motivated to write about the topic. Thinking back to my undergrad years, I remember talking to some of my gym buddies and I was surprised to hear how many of them had experimented with or were currently using anabolic steroids. When I asked them if they were aware of the side effects, many of them assured me they were, but the "gains" were well worth it. According to the Mayoclinic, 1 in 20 teens report using anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass, increase their performance in sports, or to combat negative body images (2018). Despite all the known negative side effects, many people are still inclined to using performance-enhancing drugs. I couldn't help, but wonder what else people were doing to increase their "gains"? So I did some digging on the internet and came across an interesting read: Viagra Before a Workout? Yup, It's a Thing. According to the article, some people are taking Viagra to increase performance and muscle mass gain.
As a student of science, I decided to read the study mentioned in the article and found some interesting things. First, the study conducted by Sheffield-Moore and colleagues reported that 8 days of administering 25mg of Sildenafil (Viagra) per day along with resistance training increased protein synthesis and reduced muscle fatigue (2013). In fact, they observed a two-fold increase in protein synthesis in the test subjects compared to the placebo group and claimed that the stimulus was equivalent to administering 100-200mg of testosterone every week (Sheffield-Moore et. al., 2013). Its details, like the ones mentioned above, caught the attention of bodybuilding forum authors and Reddit sharers and started a trend of using Viagra as a pre-work out supplement. After thorough analysis, I can confidently conclude that the researchers proposed this therapy as a means of combating muscle dysfunction caused by numerous diseases and they did a good job of acknowledging all their shortcomings of the experiment. What's funny to me is how this novel study was wrongly translated as a miracle pre-workout supplement that rivals anabolic steroids. Context matters. So should you take Viagra for the gains? I think not. There's not enough evidence to support or disprove any of this.
Science can be a marvelous thing that helps us understand many unknown things in the world. But science should always be looked at through a critical lens and it's never a good idea to take anything you read on the internet for face value.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you know of an instance where scientific literature was wrongfully communicated to the public?
References:
Glass, J. (2018). Viagra Before a Workout? Yup, It's a Thing. Men's Health. Retrieved from https://www.menshealth.com/health/a23550766/viagra-before-workout/
Performance-enhancing Drugs and Teen Athletes. Mayoclinic. (2018, March 22). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/tween-and-teen-health/in-depth/performance-enhancing-drugs/art-20046620
Sheffield-Moore, M., Wiktorowicz, J. E., Soman, K. V., Danesi, C. P., Kinsky, M. P., Dillon, E. L., … Durham, W. J. (2013). Sildenafil increases muscle protein synthesis and reduces muscle fatigue. Clinical and translational science, 6(6), 463–468. doi:10.1111/cts.12121
I know for science related topics that are posted on the subreddit science, they need to be primary research articles. However, that doesn't mean that the original poster necessarily understands what the article is saying, or may mislead the post by putting up a false title and in true Reddit fashion, the replies don't always read that paper and or understand the underlying meaning behind it. I honestly think a majority of the time scientific articles are misconstrued in the media and parts that are understood are grasped at, even if those parts are not significant to the whole understanding of the publication. You see this a lot with Reddit and AOL/Yahoo. Anything that gets posted on Reddit is then seen as top news three days later on AOl news or Yahoo - and these "journalists" who are grasping for a new story do not always understand and interpret primary literature in a way that portrays to their audience in an effective manner.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Viagra, I know (from Reddit - go figure) that you can receive a prescription for it from online pharmacies. I wonder if primary care physicians would prescribe Viagra in more quantities if they knew that some men were using it as pre workout instead of to help their ED. I would think not....but that won't stop them from still getting the prescription from somewhere else or just requesting more frequent refills from their PCP. Also, the study performed was a small sample and not reflective of the true potential for "gains." I think it's dangerous to infer that certain drugs, especially ones that are meant to target one or two areas are being manipulated to also conform to other areas of interest. Maybe if more studies are done that can show the dose differences that Viagra and Cialis have on "gains" then it may be a suitable option. However, right now it's just a fad to see fast results without understanding the implications that could result from the misuse.
As both you and Alex alluded to, I think scientific research is presented in misleading ways more often than not. I think this is often due to the fact that media uses information out of context. I've noticed that media will often takes snippets of information from scientific articles and relate them to unrelated topics as well as make generalized assumptions (which may make sense logically but are not supported).
ReplyDeleteI read men's health article linked within your post and was intrigued by the fact that Brandon Marshall admittedly used Viagra as an ergogenic aid. Knowing that Viagra may be an ergogenic aid, should athletes be screened for this drug?
If we're talking about the things people do for gains, then I believe that taking viagra is one of the less severe things people can do. For example, injecting synthol which is oil that is injected into the site of interest. It's purely a cosmetic enhancement that causes muscle fibrosis and muscle disfigurement(Ghandourah, S., Hofer, M. J., Kießling, A., El-Zayat, B., & Schofer, M. D. 2012). I agree with Alex and Danielle in how easy it is to give misleading information from a scientific article, but I also think that it's up to the individual to do their own research and perhaps ask their physician before taking viagra as a pre-workout. I'm also aware that not everyone will do their own research, but instead take redditor's word for it.
ReplyDeleteGhandourah, S., Hofer, M. J., Kießling, A., El-Zayat, B., & Schofer, M. D. (2012). Painful muscle fibrosis following synthol injections in a bodybuilder: a case report. Journal of medical case reports, 6, 248. doi:10.1186/1752-1947-6-248