East German athlete study: Children of 69 doped athletes have special needs

Above is a before/after picture of East German heptathlete Birgit Dressel. More on what happened to her below. Very sad!

It's been a depressing week despite all the great swims by Natalie, Libby, Roland etc. . (Ahh, maybe it is just me!!! I have been sick and have not been in the water. I may miss a meet this weekend as a result too!)

The title of this Australian article from the Sydney Morning Herald borders on offensive but that is the hyperbolic nature of the Australian press. Here is the title: 'Children of doping athletes deformed.'

Well, not all of them. Of the 69 athletes; (Oops), children followed, four had mental delays and/or handicaps; (it is not specified what types of mental issues such as ADD or autism), and seven had physical deformities. (Again not specified to what extent.) The remaining 50-or-so had allergies or asthma higher than the general population. The article title makes it sounds as if all 69 were deformed in some freakish way which is wholly not accurate.

Every solution has a consequence albeit aspirin, alcohol, or steroids. To bad these individuals were either not informed or unable to predict these consequences. [Link]

Check out this hideous doping result from the Globe and Mail. The article is full of these sorts of tragic events:

"... Twenty years ago, East West German heptathlete Birgit Dressel died from a toxic-allergic shock. When she died on April 10 1987, there were more than 100 different medications in her body. Her internal organs simply shut down in chemical confusion. ..." [Link]