Creatine and Improved Athletic Performance: Benefits, Risks, and Regulation

Kaitlyn Paul Ani Govjian English 105 2 October 2012 Creatine and Improved Athletic Performance: Benefits, Risks, and Regulation Abstract Creatine, being a natural building block in fast twitch muscle energy supply, can also be used by athletes as a supplement to increase muscular performance. It can be classified by many athletic associations as a muscle building supplement, much like anabolic steroids, and these associations take that into account when generating use policies for competition.However, there are many risks associated with such use: organ failures, blood clots, and a reduction of the effectiveness of natural creatine stores within the body. The lack of regulation on such supplements also presents the risks of contamination and reactions with other substance ingested simultaneously as well as separately. The implications of creatine supplement use have not been fully developed and further research needs to be conducted to improve the limited knowledge base of the comple te function of this complex substance in order to protect the safety of the athletes using them.Key Terms Creatine, phosphocreatine, type II (fast twitch) muscle fibers, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), ATP (Adenosine-5-triphosphate), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), nutritional supplements Introduction Performance enhancing drugs have been used and abused in sports for as far back as historians can remember. One such substance, creatine, could be considered the non-steroidal anabolic steroid. Use of this supplement has spiked and has spread across various athletic disciplines.While creatine most definitely contributes to muscle performance in athletes, not enough research and regulation to fully consider it safe or even to understand its effects on the body have occurred. Creatine and Improved Athletic Performance Creatine is a naturally occurring amino acid that is produced in the pancreas, liver, and kidneys and is used as an energy source for the body’s skeletal muscles. It is also ingested with the consumption of meats and fish (Creatine Supplements 2011).The body reserves this substance and converts it into phosphocreatine which is stored within the muscles for later use. Phosphocreatine is then converted into ATP (Adenosine-5-triphosphate) when the cells within type II or â€Å"fast twitch† muscle fibers call upon it during brief, high intensity exercise such as sprints or bounds (Jenkins 1998). Using a supplement to increase creatine levels within the body has become widely popular among athletes as it increases strength and helps build lean muscle mass during exercises that utilize type II muscle fibers (Ehrlich 2011).However, due to its classification as a muscle building supplement, much like anabolic steroids, the NCAA prohibits the supply of creatine supplements to athletes by school officials of any kind (Greenwood 2008). Therefore, the athlete is responsible for the selection and consumption of creatine supplemen ts should he/she decide to take them. Risks of Creatine Consumption Creatine promises benefits that are every athlete’s dream such as increased muscle mass and improved performance.However, research has indicated that there are some valid health concerns regarding creatine use that athletes may want to consider before deciding to ingest this particular supplement such as: renal and liver issues, blood pressure, and anterior compartment syndrome (Greenwood 2008). An increased risk of stroke can also be caused by the excessive use of creatine, especially when combined with commonly ingested substances such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve) or caffeine (Ehrlich 2011).The long-term use of creatine can also prove to be dangerous to one’s health with side effects from muscle cramps to seizures, ranging in severity with length of exposure (Creatine Supplements 2011). Dosing and overuse are also important factors to be conside red. With roughly 44% of high school senior athletes having reported using creatine in one particular study, it is evident that a large number of users have not yet reached adulthood (Creatine Supplements 2011).Although creatine has been through some research, there is none that has indicated its safety in users under the age of 19 which is the largest demographic of users that experience overdose (Ehrlich 2011). Because creatine occurs naturally with the consumption of meat products and production within the liver and kidneys from amino acids, when one supplements their diet with exogenous creatine, it slows the production of natural creatine thus increasing their need to take supplements and furthering the original issue (Jenkins 1998).Furthermore, the negative effects of creatine may be compounded by the other contents in the supplements. FDA Regulation of Supplements The Food and Drug Administration in the United States does not regulate the contents of nutritional supplements n or does it regulate/ensure proper labeling on product containers. The FDA simply requires reporting of adverse reactions to the contents of said supplements as they occur. Because of the lack of regulation from the FDA, any supplement, including creatine, could potentially contain substances harmful to the user as an athlete and/or as a human being (Jenkins 1998).For instance, there have been reports of contaminants within creatine such as dicyandiamide and dihydrotriazine, which are both microbiocides: substances that kill microbes or 90% of cells in the human body (Greenwood 2008). Further, since creatine is still mostly a mystery with regards to its effects on important organ systems and its effects when combined with commonly consumed substances such as energy drinks and over-the-counter drugs, ingesting it can prove to be extremely dangerous seeing as how a majority of Americans use these substances on a regular basis.Conclusion The use of creatine, though heavily encouraged by the demands of society on athletes to be stronger or faster than their competitors, has the potential to ruin an athlete’s career because of the multitude of risks. One may see the words â€Å"all natural† on a bottle and assume that creatine supplements are safe to consume, but athletes should be educated about the possible effects on his or her body and athletic career in the long run.Creatine needs to be banned in athletic competition and competitors need to be subject to testing like that of anabolic steroids until further research and innovations have been completed to ensure the integrity and safety of the product. The FDA needs to implement more restrictive regulations on supplements of any kind to reduce the possibility of contamination and/or improper labeling. There is no doubt that creatine had a multitude of effects based on its natural rigins within the body, but athletes, and people in general, need to be smart about what they put in their body and weigh the risks over the benefits.References Ehrlich S, reviewer. 2011. Creatine [Internet]. Baltimore, MD: University of Maryland Medical System; [cited 2012 Sept 13]. Available from: http://www. umm. edu/altmed/articles/creatine-000297. htm Greenwood M. 2008. Creatine overview: facts, fallacies, and future. Essentials of Creatine in Sports and Health. [Cited 2012 Sept 11]; 211-240. SpringerLink [Internet]. Springer, Part of Springer Science+Business Media. date unknown]. Available from: http://www. springerlink. com/content/p5x7536l76h55717/fulltext. pdf. System Requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader and subscription required for access. Jenkins MA, author. 1998. Creatine supplementation in athletes: review [Internet]. SportsMed Web; [cited 2012 Sept 11]. Available from: http://www. rice. edu/~jenky/sports/creatine. html Unknown, compiler/author. 2011. Creatine supplements [Internet]. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; [cited 2012 Sept 13]. Available from: http://orthoinfo. aaos. or g/topic. cfm? topic=a00373

Most Serene about venice

,† is an improbable cityscape of stone palaces that seem to float on water, a place where cats nap on Oriental marble windowsills set in colorful plaster walls. Candy-striped pylons stand sentry outside the tiny stone docks of palazzi whose front steps descend into the gently lapping waters of the canals that lace the city. In Venice, cars are banned every form of transportation floats, from water taxis and vaporetti (the public â€Å"bus† ferries) to ambulance speedboats and garbage scows.Venice is a place where locals stop at the bacaro (wine bar) to take un ombra (literally a little bit of shade,† in practice, a glass of wine) and munch on cicchetti (tapasllke snacks) or linger over exquisite restaurant seafood dinners. It is also a city of great art and grand old masters. Venetian painting featured early masters such as the Bellini clan Jacopo from the 1420s, sons Giovanni and Gentile from the 1460s.By the early 15005, Venice had taken the Renaissance torch fro m Florence and made it its own, lending the movement the new color and lighting schemes of such giants as Giorgione, Tiziano (Titian), Paolo Veronese, and Tintoretto. So much for Venice the Serenissima. There's also Venice the insanely popular and overcrowded. Certainly, the tourists can seem inescapable, and prices can be double or triple here what they are elsewhere In Italy. But visitors flock to this canalled wonder for very good reason: Venice is extraordinary, It Is magical, and It Is worth every cent.Its existence defies logic, but underneath its otherworldly beauty and sometimes-stifling tourism, Venice is a living, breathing, singular city that seems almost too exquisite to be genuine, too fragile to survive the never-ending stream of visitors who have been making the pilgrimage ere for 1,500 years. As barbarian hordes washed back and forth across the Alps during the decline of the Roman Empire (starting in the 4th c. ) inhabitants of the Veneto flatlands grew tired of bein g routinely sacked and pillaged along the way.By the 6th century, many had begun moving out onto the mud-flat Islands of the marshy lagoon, created by what was in ancient times the Po River delta, to take up fishermen's lines or trading ships. When they saw that one barbarian horde, the Lombards, had stayed to settle the upper Po valley (still called Lombardy), these Veneti decided to remain on their new sland homes and ally themselves instead with the eastern remnant of the old Roman Empire, Byzantium. Oddly, what we now consider central Venice was the last area settled.After Attila the Hun rampaged through, citizens of the Roman town of Altino moved out onto Torcello ironic, since Torcello's star has long since fallen and it is now the least built-up of all of greater Venice's major inhabited islands. Townsfolk from Oderzo moved to Malamocco and made it the lagoon's political capital (the original site is now underwater, and the Malamocco that survives nearby is a fishing village on the outhern stretch of the Lido, near the golf course).After barely defeating Charlemagne's son Pepin there in 810, the capital was moved to the more protected Rialto islands now central Venice. Greater Venice's oldest surviving structure is the cathedral on Torcello, founded in 639, but today's site is largely from the 9th and 10th centuries. In fact, sparsely populated Torcello is one of the best glimpses into what early Venice must have looked like scattered buildings and canals banked by waving rushes and reeds, everything outlined by the dotted lines of wooden piles hammered down into the ud.This construction is what underlies all those stone palazzi of central Venice: a framework foundation of sunken tree trunks, hammered down into the caranto (a solid clay layer under the surface of mud and sand) and preserved in the anaerobic atmosphere of their muddy tomb, overlain with Istrian stone. As its power began to peak in the early 13th century, Venice led the fourth and most su ccessful Crusade, capturing Constantinople itself. It went on to conquer territories across what are today Turkey, the Greek Isles, and Crete and eventually became the apital of Italy's inland provinces, now the Veneto, Trentino, and Friuli.By 1300, it was one of the largest cities and the leading maritime republic of Europe and the Mediterranean. Although the Black Death carried off over half the population from 1347 to 1350, Venice bounced back and remained a maritime power until the 18th century, when trade through the new American colonies would increasingly steal much of the city's thunder. By the end of the 18th century, Venice had run out of steam commercially, not to mention militarily, after centuries spent fghting the Turks (who slowly regained most f Venice's Aegean and Greek territories).By the time Napoleon came along in 1797, the Venetian Republic offered little resistance. Napoleon gave control of Venice to Austria, under whose rule it remained for almost 70 years. Da niele Manin did stage an unsuccessful minirevolution in 1848 and 1849, during which Venice was privileged to become the first city attacked from the air by a fleet of hot-air balloons armed with long-fused time bombs. The Risorgimento (unification) movement and its king, Vittorio Emanuele II, defeated the Austrians, gained control of the Veneto, and made t a part of the newly minted state of Italy in 1866.In its position at the crossroads of the Byzantine and Roman later Eastern and Western worlds, Venice, over many centuries, acquired a unique amalgamated heritage of art, architecture, and culture. And although hordes of traders and merchants no longer pass through as they once did, Venice nonetheless continues to find itself at a crossroads: an intersection in time between the uncontested period of afloat. It is a great disservice to allot Venice the average stay of 2 nights and 3 days (it ometimes takes the better part of a day Just to find your hotel).

Chemistry - Fluoridation of Water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chemistry - Fluoridation of Water - Essay Example The world has realized the importance of regular fluoride intake. Hence there are many dental products are available in the markets that have fluoride as chief component. With the changing climatic conditions, high mobility rate of the population and availability of wide range of fluoridated products, people have started experiencing side effects of fluoride. Hence water fluoridation needed or not is still controversy. About Fluoridation Water fluoridation process is defined as â€Å"the adjustment of the natural fluoride concentration of fluoride-deficient water to the level recommended for optimal dental health† ("American Dental Association").Fluoride is an ionic form of Fluorine which is thirteenth naturally found element in the soil. Fluoride is abundant near the mountainous area where it can readily get dissolved with groundwater or surface water. Fluoride has great affinity towards calcium and hence found at the bones and teeth. ("Oral Health in America†).As per t he facts sheet released by American Dental Association (ADA), fluoride has capacity to reduce incidences of dental cavities in children up to 60% whereas for adults it is 30-35 %. (â€Å"American Dental Association†). ... Dr McKay was startled to see so many patients having brownish spots on their teeth. This was something he never experienced before. He kept observing such patients for almost 6 years while having discussions with fellow dentist but he failed to diagnose correctly. He started suspecting drinking water supply. Later on these mottled enamel stains were coined as â€Å"Colorado brown stain†. ("NIDCR") Further Dr McKay got opportunity to work with Dr G.V Black, who was a renowned Dental research scientist. They put immense efforts to solve brown stains mystery came up with two distinct findings. The first finding was children whose permanent teeth are yet to erupt are getting more affected with Colorado Brown Stains than the adults. Second finding was that brown stained or mottled enamel teeth are less susceptible to decay. In spite of so much of thesis both these geniuses could not identify the prime causative factor and continued doubting drinking water. Dr Black worked on the sa me topic till his death ("NIDCR"). Later on, in 1923, Dr McKay was invited to Oakley, Idaho to inspect some pediatric cases where children were having similar brown stains on their teeth. Parents told that brown stains appeared only after they started drinking water through newly created pipeline of nearby water source .Dr McKay asked the civilians to cut off this water supply and he got the hint that drinking water could be the probable cause of mottled enamel. Water samples were sent for lab investigations but there were no conclusive findings ("NIDCR"). In 1931, Dr. McKay and Dr Grover Kempf started investigating Bauxite water sample with the help of chemist of Mr. H.V Churchill. They conducted â€Å"photo spectrographic analysis† with the water sample couple of times to make sure the

Formulate a Budget Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Formulate a Budget - Assignment Example Since our store is located in the main shopping hub in the downtown area therefore, we strongly believe that this factor would help us grow and to achieve success on the longer run (Longenecker, Petty, Palich, & Hoy, 2013; Ray, 2010). Furthermore, the company also aims to receive a 15% growth in the sales  and  50%  gross  profit margin is also expected by the end of the third year. Since, our major assets are residing in the inventory therefore we have to come up with a budget plan that helps us to survive in the market for at least three years (Shapiro, 2008; Longenecker, Petty, Palich, & Hoy, 2013). Although there have been numerous issues related to the business as the on-hand cash  for apparel was very low,  the company has decided to formulate a fresh budget plan focusing on all the key elements and factors that may or may not become an obstacle for the company in the coming future (Atrill & MacLaney, 2011; Gibson, 2010). The purpose of this budget plan is to ensure that the $50,000 loan is secured. The purpose of this loan / supplemental financing is necessary as it is required for the decoration of the outlet and its furniture and other operational expenses. The investment by the owner includes $60,000. It is forecasted that if the company works as per the expectation then the budget plan would allow the company to become profitable by the end of the first year. The budget plan that has been formulated for the coming three for ABC contemporary couture is presented as below. Thus, it can be concluded that if the aforementioned budget plan turns successful than the company can easily generate an increase of 10% in the second year and 25% increase in sales by the end of the third year. However, if the company plans to expand then the net income may increase as per the demand and expansion. It should be noted that once the

CASE 11.2 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

11.2 - Case Study Example It is therefore evident that any acne patient who comes across proactiv and gets to see the results is more than thankful for the product. Using infomercials was the best decision for the marketing of proactiv for various reasons as Dr. Rodan and Dr. Kathy came to understand. First, Acne was an embarrassing issue therefore selling the product openly would not produce positive results, as patient turnout would be very low. Second, people need to be educated on how to treat their acne something that could not just work in a 30-60 second advert. Thirdly, infomercial audience was a good target as it consisted of women between their 20s to their 40s who would do anything to get rid of the acne problem therefore providing a good market segment. Through infomercials, the product has the opportunity to air testimonials from people who have experienced positive results. It is clear that Rodan and Kathy were ready to throw in the towel after unsuccessfully seeking for investment capital with no success. The deal with Guthy-Renker was their key to success and if it had not happened then proactive would have had very low chances of existing in the market today. Infomercials were a better choice for Proactiv than print and media advertising because it was necessary to educate people on the product rather than just advertise (Agree and Martin). Infomercials offered more time to make this possible as compared to advertising through media and print where not many people would pay attention and most probably would assume it not to work as the ones already in the market. Proactiv’s positioning strategy has made it to be a success in the market as these strategies were able to distinguish it from the other products that were already in the market. Categorizing their product under skin care product rather than acne products enabled them to tap into a more attractive and larger market share. Coming up with the name Proactiv also played a major role for the product

Communication theory related to a famous song Research Paper

Communication theory related to a famous song - Research Paper Example Songs such as â€Å"Now I’m that Chick† reinforces the complexity of the female psyche and their views on self-identity versus emotions on soured romantic relationships. This song best fits the profile of symbolic interactionism, which is best defined as a direct response that occurs not as a product of their views on another’s personal actions, but on the significance they give to the action itself (uregina.ca, 2000). Under this theory, meaning is created based on the direct social interaction that occurs with others in society and then meaning is further interpreted using various coping strategies or direct emotional outburst; whether negative or positive. Symbolic interactionism describes the various cultural symbols that help to shape both identity and a person’s reaction to various social stimuli (McClelland, 2000) such as the termination or hopeful renewal of what might have been a bad romantic relationship. The social norm for handling this situation might have been reinforced on the individual through various media formats or experience with peer reactions in similar situations and the individual develops their own symbolic meaning about these situations and then applies what they believe to be appropriate action. One line from â€Å"Now I’m that Chick† states, Cause you thought that I was pure as snow, guess you didn’t know, which is a form of self-reinforcement to another party, in this case an old romance, that the individual is emotionally strong and largely defiant. The lyrics seem to point toward the return of an old flame that wants to renew this poor romance and Franc identifies that such a thing would be impossible for her to endure based on the symbolism she attached to the experience. Another line states, Now I’m that Chick, and you’re just a clown, in a further effort to either create her own defense mechanism (a psychological view) or to stab cruelly at the receiver’s

The Problem-Solution Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Problem-Solution Speech - Essay Example It is true that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder but then again beauty is also dependent heavily on the person who is being looked at – as to how he or she presents his or her own self towards the appreciating individual (Author Unknown, 2011). Beauty surely is skin deep as the world has come to this notion after much thought and consideration. The problem here is how beauty has gained so much significance that it is seen as the most aspired characteristic of the personality that one talks about (Czarniawska, 2011). The problem thus seems to bother the best of us, and even you and me, which is nothing but a quagmire for all and sundry. Similarly, facial looks and sexiness of the body does not actually count towards what we know as beauty. My dear ladies and gentlemen I need to tell you that beauty is more within than being outside. It is comprised of thinking ideologies than facial cuts and dimples. This is indeed true because beauty within any person is difficult to judge since it is hidden deep down inside. I believe that beauty could be judged by this person’s actions, behaviors and talks (Holbrook, 2005). He or she could be written off as an ugly person if he or she does not know how to talk to people, how to interact with them and how to be considerate towards their issues. The solution is that beauty is just present because the beholder believes it so. There would be no beauty if he knows that the face of the body cuts are for a certain period of time, and would vanish away quickly. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to suggest that beauty must not be looked inside people with an exterior eye alone. It needs to be based on past events, present understanding of matters and how things would shape up within the future. Beauty comprises of all these tangents to be called as beauty in essence (Anastasia, 2010). I would like to end my speech by making a point here. Beauty of face and body could vanish with