Iowa Mystery

[tornado]

did you read about this???

There's a real "medical mystery" going on at Iowa...actually now TWO mysteries...
how did it happen and who's trying to hack and steal the information??

THIRTEEN Iowa football players who were doing off-season conditioning ALL suddenly got severely ill and were hospitalized with an extremely rare muscular disorder...
they had rhabdomyolosis...or the sudden, severe breakdown of muscle cells, which dumps a large amount of potentially damaging proteins intot he bloodstream and overwhelms the body's ability to remove the proteins and make repairs...
Thus...generally the patient gets quite ill and has acute kidney failure....

BUT it is an extremely rare disorder unless the patient suffers a crushing injury to muscle or some toxic damage from a chemical poison or drug.

So how do 13 guys from the same team at the same time get this exceedingly rare disorder....but the team is insisting it just happened and that there is absolutely NOTHING at all suspicious and that there's not even a reason to check if drugs were being used!!

The Iowa people are laying this off to heavy workouts and conditioning..but that's BS...every football program everywhere does that exact same thing and NONE have ever seen ONE single case of this condition!

Now their football coach is claiming that this is due to the fact that their football program is the best and works out players harder than everyone else..


AND yet -- in the very same breath -- he says his conditioning program is safe -- even though it just sent 13 healthy young men to the hospital with a life-threatening and kidney damaging medical condition for which there is virtually NO treatment other than to dialyze the patients (put them on artificial kidney machines!).

Many of the players' partents are very upset and demanding answers that they believe are not being given.

http://qctimes.com/news/local/article_a0517628-299b-11e0-bd60-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.kcrg.com/sports/hawkeyes/Ferentz-What-We-Do-Here-is-Very-Competitive-115158609.html

http://www.startribune.com/sports/115155489.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUoD3aPc:_2yc:a_ncyD_MDCiU

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2011-01/hawkeyes-in-hospital/story/ferentz-insists-iowa-conditioning-program-safe

In a separate yet related story.....the medical records of the thirteen hospitalized football players were hacked and stolen......proving just how dangerous the federally mandated process of keeping everyone's health information online can be --

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2011/01/iowa-hospital-investigating-possible-breach-of-football-players-records/1

http://www.cryptzone.com/news/article.aspx?category=Document-security&title=Iowa-Uni-suffers-possible-data-loss-incident&id=800381737

My take -- FWIW...but something this odd happening all as a single outbreak of this many players simultaneously getting the same serious and complex condition from supposedly the same workouts that they've been doing for years...is beyond credibility....
there has to be some undisclosed fact...

[BuBraves55]

It says they were all sent home. Does that mean they're better now? If not, is this something that's life-changing at all?

[Da Coach]

I think it means they all recovered and are OK now. Mild cases usually resolve with intravenous fluid rehydration.

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

This issue was covered pretty well by the national media. Their strength coach sounds incompetent. ESPN radio reported that they were doing squat sets of 100 reps. This was either their first or one of their first practices back from winter break. Idk what you think is going on there. 13 people wouldn't all require hospitalization at the same time following drug use. Do you know what IOWA stands for? Pretty self explanatory situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

http://www.businessinsider.com/exertional-rhabdomyolysis-iowa-football-players-hospitalized-after-their-workout-2011-1

("I" word edited for some reason) Out Walking Around

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

It says they were all sent home. Does that mean they're better now? If not, is this something that's life-changing at all?

They should be fine.

[PTownHawkeye]

A few thoughts from someone is well informed on the situation...

-From a medical standpoint, there must be another, outside factor involved, but nobody has come forward saying what this variable is or may be. As a FACT, it is not a drug issue...all 13 players tested negative for any and all illegal drugs which as been reported by most media outlets. My personal guess is that some type of supplement caused this.

-There was parent concern and frustration in the first couple days of the hospitalizations...how could there not be? Yet all 13 players are still enrolled in school and many parents (DiBona, Poggi, Morris, Davis, and Donatell for sure) have already come out and said they stand behind the school and coaching staff. I would bet 1 of the 13 leaves school, but because he is entering his 3rd year of eligiblity and is buried 4th on the depth chart at his position, not because of the hospitalization.

-Strength coach is anything but incompetant. Doyle is very highly regarded in his profession and has been offered positions at Michgan and Florida in recent years. He is considered to be one of the main reasons that Iowa has a reputation of turning undersized high school linemen, both offensive and defensive, into NFLers. Dallas Clark? Came into Iowa as a 200lb walk-on LB and is now one of the top TEs in the NFL. There are about another dozen other stories like this.

-The drill in question has been used every year and has been defended in the press by several of the 34 Hawkeyes in the NFL. A colleague of mine who played 5 years at Michigan St said they did the same drill there and at other schools he is familiar with. He said it is extremely tough, but not unreasonable.

-Looking at the situation as a whole, something just doesn't add up...the condition they were diagnosed with is rare and 13 simultaneous cases is unheard of. Players at all levels in all sports are worked just as hard as these Iowa players were, but nothing like this has ever been reported. I will be very curious to see if any further info comes out of this.

[AZ BU Fan]

Sounds like a case of eating bad pizza!

[Future Walk-On]

This issue was covered pretty well by the national media. Their strength coach sounds incompetent. ESPN radio reported that they were doing squat sets of 100 reps. This was either their first or one of their first practices back from winter break. Idk what you think is going on there. 13 people wouldn't all require hospitalization at the same time following drug use. Do you know what IOWA stands for? Pretty self explanatory situation. Nothing to see here. Move along.

http://www.businessinsider.com/exertional-rhabdomyolysis-iowa-football-players-hospitalized-after-their-workout-2011-1

("I" word edited for some reason) Out Walking Around

I love how one can say "pissed off" but not ***** I D I O T

[Da Coach]

That answer should be obvious. One is a slightly vulgar description, the other is an insulting term often directed at another poster.

[tornado]

A few thoughts from someone is well informed on the situation...

-..all 13 players tested negative for any and all illegal drugs which as been reported by most media outlets. My personal guess is that some type of supplement caused this.....

PTown--
drug/supplement/whatever....first off -- you cannot possibly test for "all illegal drugs"....
read the first link below -- showing that numerous "legal supplements" contained illegal steroids that were exceedingly difficult or impossible to test for....

And the reason numerous substances such as illegal steroids are very difficult to test for is because those tests may not yet be available -- many of the newer designer steroids cannot even be tested for...this is why guys routinely get away with it in many sports...
then only later -- sometimes years later when more is known about the designer drug, then tests are devised and indeed many saved specimens test positive -- but it might be past the statute of limitations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101701622.html

Here's two other reports on how the world's TOP lab for testing steroids still has great difficulty finding them all.

http://www.collegesportsscholarships.com/steroids-genetic-doping.htm

http://www.ehow.com/about_5502951_tests-performance-enhancing-drugs.html

and here's an ESPN story about how many states and other athletic governing bodies simply cannot catch anyone because their testing is years behind the development of the stealth steroids that are undetectable...

All those millions of dollars spent trying to test and/or catch kids doing drugs...and they haven't caught a single one yet anywhere!!!

It's because if a kid knows he's going to be tested -- you think he's stupid??
Of course he's going to hide or mask the drug use with another drug or he's going to use one of the drugs that cannot be detected...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=3951039

it is no coincidence that virtually every medical expert who reads or comments on this story says the same thing...that there's only ONE possibility -- that some yet-to-be-disclosed toxin or drug is responsible.



Lastly -- the Iowa people are saying it cannot possibly be steroids since rhabdo is NOT caused by steroids...
but I beg to differ, as do lots and lots of others who reports that it does...
All causes are rare...after all, rhabdo itself is rare..but steroids and drugs do cause it...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16733985

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/313842-overview

[FlyingSpaghettiMonster]

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/313842-overview

Corticosteroids are not similar to anabolic steroids. Mild cases aren't that rare but often do not require hospitalization. It seems like a severe over training issue.

Exercise induced rhabdomyolysis is certainly not common, but it is not exceptionally rare.

http://www.charlydmiller.com/LIB04/1994exerciserhabdo.html

It has happened in college football players before:

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2009/07000/Rhabdomyolysis_in_a_Collegiate_Football_Player.1.aspx

Think horses not zebras. The obvious answer is probably the right one unless you have evidence or specific knowledge otherwise.

Note that most studies are case reports, which are of extremely evidence.

[BUBrave28]

About the illegally accessed medical records -- University of Iowa uses a EMR in its hospitals and clinics that tracks and stores patient information across time. The information isn't on-line and wasn't really hacked. Just about everyone that works in the hospitals or clinics has access to this system to complete different tasks related to their job. One thing that most of these people can access is the patient's historical "chart" at varying levels of depth. While most employees have access, they are only allowed to access a patient's information for professional purposes. It is against hospital policy to access any patient's information for personal reasons -- even your own personal information (and constitutes some sort of HIPAA violation). The software that U of Iowa uses keeps track of who accesses what, when. The hospital can run reports to gather this data. That's how they found out that there were 13 illegal accessions of the chart and were able to take action (usually immediate termination and being black listed in the medical arena, at least locally).

All in all, it might be true that storing the patient information electronically makes it more accessible in general (that's also it's biggest advantage in a lot of respects), at least the information is trackable reportable, and auditable. You'd have no idea how many people's eyes came across paper chart, but now you'll always know who accessed what, when and can do something about it.

[jasonpeoria911]

Yah, the Iowa hospital medical records system wasn't hacked. It was just 5 Hospital workers that accessed the players records. 3 have been fired and 2 suspended. Doesn't say what they planned to do with that information though. Incidents like this probably happens many many times, but when it comes to high profile cases, hospitals decide to take it seriously. 3 or 4 workers were also fired at the Tucson Hospital where Giffords was taken to after the shooting for accessing her medical records. Link to the Iowa Hospital firing is below...

http://tinyurl.com/4r69hjm

And here is a story from this past August where 18 Oregon High School football players suddenly had extreme swelling in the arm tissue after an extreme workout. This was called compartment syndrome but also releases dangerous proteins that hurts the kidneys. Doctors & Medical Experts said this was likely from a bodybuilding supplement and that their bodies had to much creatine built up.

http://tinyurl.com/4ovclsg

Jason

[tornado]

jason -- the compartment syndrome is actually a little bit different from what happened here....we've probably all had some element of it in shin splints when exercising vigorously...
In the compartment syndrome - the damage to the muscles only occurs after the muscle swells from extreme exertion, then, when it gets severe and there's no room within the muscle's compartment and the pressure builds up causing blood supply to cut off to the muscle, thus muscle damage...

True exertional rhabdomyolysis is the spontanteous damage to the muscles generally from some cause other than compromised blood supply.
The players at Iowa did not have compartment syndrome....something else caused the muscle damage.


Many of the steroids & supplements that are being abused or used illegally for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance...
are new, synthetic steroids (bought illicitly from sources in the US and Europe) that have not been very thoroughly tested...because they are intentionally being kept secret so they will remain unknown and impossible to detect.
Thus..you cannot possibly say anything with certain about their effects...and some may well have undesirable effects.

During the US Senate hearings on illegal steroids....a lot of the testimony was quite interesting...

--they admit it is virtually impossible to find many of the "designer steroids"

--some have "risk of serious health problems"

--even if a new substance is discovered, it may be months before it can specifically be outlawed since it is not within the realm of the government to outlaw something that is unknown

--many of these designer anabolic steroids DO exist in over-the-counter "dietary supplements" that are VERY easy to get and NOT currently outlawed

--"Chemists continue to create new derivative products by substituting and altering the testosterone molecule and then market them as “dietary supplements”. Often, these new formulations have never been clinically tested and any adverse reactions in humans are simply unknown. In some instances these products have been linked to serious ..health issues"

--"Recently, DEA has identified products in the dietary supplement market that contain small amounts of schedule III anabolic steroids. The presence of these anabolic steroids was not listed on the label of specific products and the consumer was not aware that the substance that he or she had purchased from the local nutrition shop contained a controlled anabolic steroid. Analyses of some dietary supplements by DEA labs as well as independent analytical labs have identified controlled anabolic steroids in products purchased directly from the local nutrition shop."

--"An analysis of more than 600 dietary supplements revealed that approximately 15% contained anabolic steroids.
Two-hundred and forty of these supplements were from the United States"

--"..survey of 500 AAS users (androgenic anabolic steroids) revealed that 26% of the respondents started use during their teenage years with 95%reporting poly-drug use."

--some of those supplements are even tainted further with products that can cause organ failure...

--these reports specifically link a common supplement to rhabdomyolysis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19139478

http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/100509p56.shtml

http://www.hydroxycut-recall-lawsuit.com/article-what-is-rhabdomyolysis.aspx

[SFP]

Something does not add up but let's not jump to any conclusions until the facts are in. My guess they were taking some over the counter supplement that caused the problem. There are plenty of tainted supplements out in the market.