Introduction
It is significant that the article by Escalante et al. (2022), “Dead Bodybuilders Speaking from the Heart: An Analysis of Autopsy Reports of Bodybuilders That Died Prematurely,” was published in the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. The authors’ main goal is to investigate cardiovascular disease as a cause of death among athletes (Escalante et al., 2022). There is a widespread belief among individuals that athletes are necessarily in good health, while doctors assume that sports involve stresses that can destroy the body. Millions of people observe the victory of sporting achievements, while only a few experts are aware of the disappointing statistics. Thus, it is essential to summarize the article and critically evaluate it.
Article Summary
This study examines the problem of bodybuilders’ use of additional nutritional supplements and drugs to improve their performance. Accordingly, these medications contain steroids and testosterone. Thus, Escalante et al. (2022) attempted to investigate reports of cardiac deterioration, focusing on autopsies of male bodybuilders under 50.
The authors used the data they could find in the public domain to collect data. The information search method included using the Google search engine with the tag “dead bodybuilders,” then the authors excluded those cases that did not have cardiovascular diseases (Escalante et al., 2022, p. 102). Accordingly, in February 2022, six main reports were found and taken as the central affirmations for the analysis (Escalante et al., 2022, p. 99). This resulted in a general sample that included men with an average age of thirty-six intensely involved in sports.
Meanwhile, their average height and weight were respectively one hundred and eighty-three centimeters and one hundred and three kilograms, and their heart weight ranged from six hundred grams on the median. Hence, after collecting primary data on the physical condition of bodybuilders, Escalante et al. (2022) compared their results with men who did not lead a very active lifestyle. Consequently, the authors noticed a significant difference in autopsy reports and concluded that bodybuilders have more than half the heart weight of average men.
Moreover, the bodybuilders also differed in left ventricular myocardial thickness, which was one hundred and twenty-five percent greater than the average person. After that, Escalante et al. (2022) began to investigate the causes of significant changes in the cardiovascular organs of bodybuilders. The authors found that even the constant use of stimulant drugs for muscle growth and increased physical endurance could not create such a significant anomaly. Furthermore, the authors analyzed medical reports and found that similar symptoms and abnormalities were found in those athletes who performed strength training but did not take additional drugs. Therefore, the research by Escalante et al. (2022) did not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, but the authors caution athletes against the intentional use of stimulant drugs.
Critical Analysis
The initial information used by the authors was found on Google. Escalante et al. (2022) did not contact healthcare facilities to obtain data that is not freely available online. Therefore, this may have significantly limited the quality and variability of the information, as hospitals do not publish data that contain unproven information about the effects of supplements and muscle growth drugs on the health of sporadic users. This is because deceased people also have the right to protect their personal data, and the publication of such information without clinical trials and verification does not contain scientific justification. Consequently, to establish links between bodybuilders’ deaths and the use of steroid and testosterone-based drugs, more reports are needed, and professional opinions of heart disease doctors who have encountered such problems should be taken into account.
Another limitation is that the exact doses and duration of muscle growth drugs’ effects on athletes are still unknown. In addition, since doctors in prescribed doses do not prescribe these drugs, it is essential to determine whether bodybuilders have not abused them using doses that are dangerous to their health. Hence, the reports found by Google did not specify the specifics of each person’s death, so Escalante et al. (2022) did not have enough information to analyze. Moreover, the authors did not take into account the possibility that athletes who performed strength training used additional drugs such as insulin, human growth hormone, or recreational drugs and were prone to cardiovascular problems. Accordingly, these additional factors affect the interpretation of the results of this study.
The cardiac hypertrophy found in all these bodybuilders was also reported in weightlifters who did not use any medical preparations or thunderbolts. This suggests that the authors could not know the causal relationship between the deaths of athletes and the use of bodybuilding drugs. Consequently, the study by Escalante et al. (2022) should be analyzed with caution, as the data presented by the authors are contradictory and unreliable. To address these shortcomings, future studies should be conducted to clarify further the potential risks of cardiovascular complications with ongoing supraphysiological drug abuse in bodybuilders and collect more medical data.
Conclusion
In summary, the article by Escalante et al. (2022) found a pattern between death due to cardiovascular disease and the abuse of muscle-stimulating drugs by male bodybuilders over long periods. The authors’ conclusions could not prove that there was a connection between cardiac abnormalities in these bodybuilders and the abuse of the drugs. Moreover, they used insufficient professional data and did not consider the opinions of doctors who had worked with such cases. Therefore, the study by Escalante et al. (2022) does not establish a causal link between the development of heart disease and the death of athletes due to this cause due to the use of muscle-building agents.
Reference
Escalante, G., Darrow, D., Ambati, V. P., Gwartney, D. L., & Collins, R. (2022). Dead bodybuilders speaking from the heart: An analysis of autopsy reports of bodybuilders that died prematurely. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology, 7(4), 96-105. Web.