Reports leaking out of several sports pages indicate 5 - 10 or more NFL players may be excreted from playing because of the use of a banned diuretic. The drug is 'bumetanide' a potent diuretic (referred as a 'water pill' in one newspaper, a diuretic stimulates kidneys to produce more urine...which can dilute out any traces of steroids).
Deuce McAllister, the All-Pro running back for the New Orleans Saints leads the pack in suspensions. Others Saints hit hard include defense ends Will Smith (loved him in 'Men in Black') and Charles Grant. Houston Texans center Bryan Pittman also allegedly may be sitting out 4 games.
Interesting that the sports pages have this wrong. Several sources scream about 'steroids'; bumetanide is not a steroid, although the drug can mask steroids use. One columnist called the drug 'a weight loss drug' which sends us into uremic spasms. A diuretic is not a weight loss drug per se. If a patient suffers from heart failure, the heart cannot push blood strong enough through the kidney to excrete a normal amount of urine; a diuretic will push our more urine to reduce water gathering as 'edema'. The heart failure patient may lose weight as the edema is reduced.
A normal athlete is not going to lose weight on a long term basis by using a drug like bumetanide; he will weigh less for a couple hours as he dehydrates himself, however will gain the weight back if he drinks water. It is ludicrous to say that a diuretic is a weight loss pill. That's as bad as saying amputation is a weight loss procedure. To the New Orleans Picayune.
Saints running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant have tested positive for a drug on the National Football League's list of prohibited substances, two NFL sources Friday.
Those positive tests mean that all three likely will miss four consecutive games each sometime soon.
The reports of the positive tests for McAllister and Smith originated early Friday with Fox 31 television in Denver, which quoted "a highly placed NFL source" as saying that McAllister and Smith were among six to 10 NFL players who tested positive. Many of them, including McAllister and Smith, tested positive for a weight-loss diuretic and possible steroid-masking agent called Bumetanide, according to the Denver report.
"Weight loss diuretic. Do not rush out to take a diuretic to lose weight. Bad idea.
Two days before Sunday's high-profile game between the Saints and San Diego Chargers at Wembley Stadium in London, McAllister and Smith were the only players specifically named in the Denver report. The Fox-TV source was also quoted as saying that three or four players who tested positive were from the Saints.
Separately, an NFL source confirmed to The Times-Picayune that McAllister and Smith tested positive. That source and another NFL source confirmed that Grant also was among those who tested positive.
Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said "this is a league matter and we have no comment." NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said "we have no comment on the report."
From the Houston Chron comes the report on Pittman:
Texans deep snapper Bryan Pittman has tested positive for a banned substance that’s a violation of the NFL’s steroids policy, and if he loses his appeal, he could be suspended for four games.
Pittman, who has been with the Texans since 2003, declined comment.
Atlanta attorney David Cornwell, who has been hired to represent Pittman at his appeal on Nov. 3, issued a statement Friday that said: “Bryan did everything humanly possible to comply with the NFL steroid policy, including obtaining doctors’ written authorization to take weight-loss medication. He did not use steroids.
"Written authorization to take weight-loss medication". That's hilarious. How about written authorization for a healthy athlete to deplete fluids thus causing cardiac arrhythmia's? Right.
“Thus far, the only violation of the NFL steroid policy is the breach of Bryan’s absolute right to confidentiality while his appeal proceeds. Whoever is leaking this story is attempting to put their thumb on the scale (of) justice to harm Bryan.”
Because the collective bargaining agreement is supposed to guarantee a player confidentiality, no one from the Texans or the NFL would comment on Pittman’s situation.
Cornwell’s statement said Pittman had written authorization to take weight-loss medication. He could have tested positive for Bumetanide, a diuretic that flushes the system and belongs to a subset of medicines called water pills.
Uses of the drug include the treatment of fluid retention and the reduction of swelling from liver and kidney diseases. Diuretics also have been used by athletes as masking agents. They can dilute urine, which makes it more difficult to detect substances banned by professional sports.
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