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Steroids Vs. Supplements; Starving in Plain Sight

Aired August 02, 2005 - 13:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The suspension of Baltimore Orioles' slugger Rafael Palmeiro is thrusting the issue of steroid abuse back into the spotlight. Palmeiro has been suspended from baseball for 10 days after testing positive for steroids. It was just months ago Palmeiro went before Congress and denied ever using steroid. Yesterday, Palmeiro was back on the defensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL PALMEIRO, BALTIMORE ORIOLES: I am here to make it very clear that I have never intentionally used steroids. Never, ever, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So is it possible Palmeiro could have taken a prohibited substance without even knowing it? My guest, Dr. Tracey Ray, says it is. Dr. Ray is with the Alabama Sports Medicine Orthopedic Center.

Great to have you with us, doc.

DR. TRACEY RAY, SPORTS MEDICINE SPECIALIST: It's good to be here.

PHILLIPS: Well, so you believe it's very possible he did not know what was going into his body?

RAY: I think that's a possibility. You know, I think as Major League baseball looks at increasing their -- the teeth in the program that they're doing to try to get steroids out of baseball, that's not an excuse, whether it's intentional or unintentional. The fact is, is that it was there, and they have to enforce that.

PHILLIPS: So, Dr. Ray, when you've worked with athletes and sat down with them, do you ask them what they're taking? Do you school them on, OK, if you take this and that or if you mix A and B, that it could cause a false positive?

RAY: Well, think you got to change your terminology. These labs don't produce false positives. It's a true positive. If steroid is in the system, these labs are calibrated to the nth degree to find it. So you can't really call it a false positive. It's a true positive. And what I tell athletes is, without going into all of the different supplements they take, because they're taking different ones at different times, I just make it very clear to them there's really no regulation on these supplements and anything and everything can be in them. So unless you've got a lab that can actually spin it down and look at what the ingredients are, you're taking a risk by using them that they may be tainted.

PHILLIPS: Okay, so it's -- and I guess what I was asking with regard to the false positive is if you're taking some of these supplements, is it possible that mixing one with another might create a false positive? Or is that just impossible? I mean, no matter what, if you test positive, it is definitely a steroid that is in your body?

RAY: Right.

PHILLIPS: OK.

RAY: Some of the products have what we call hormone precursors. In other words, they get into your body and then they're broken down further and then they actually become an anabolic steroid.

PHILLIPS: OK, so you could actually take something and you think it's a hormone precursor, you don't think it's a steroid, but it could develop into a steroid.

RAY: Most of the -- well, most of the banned lists -- whether it's NCAA, Major League Baseball, the International Olympic Committee -- lists not only the hormones, but also the precursor pro-hormones that are being broken down. So no, there's really no excuse. The only thing would be is if you took something and you were not sure what's in -- what you're taking. And that's pretty much true of all supplements all across the board.

Manufacturers of supplements are trying to manufacture a product that gives the taker of the supplement some sort of benefit that's noticeable, so that that patient will then come back and re-use that product. They're trying to sell a product, and if that means putting something into the product that is beyond what is on the ingredient label in order to get that benefit, then that's what they do. And there's no government regulation of it, and it happens.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Ray, can you effectively train an athlete, somebody as amazing as a Rafael Palmeiro, without any type of supplements? I mean, could you set him down and say, look, I can train you, you can have the power, the strength, the ability to get that, you know, 2,000th home run, without any supplements at all?

RAY: Well, I think so. I mean, it was done for years. And before we were as sophisticated as we are with chemistry and everything else, that's what athletes did, and they were on a level playing field. And to me, that's what's at issue here, is those that are unwilling to taint their bodies are at a disadvantage to those who might be willing to take on some of the medical baggage that goes along with taking some of these illegal supplements.

So from my standpoint, it's an ethical issue, trying to get an unfair advantage over someone else. The training and good nutrition and that kind of thing -- and believe me, genetics plays a huge role in an athlete's ability to rise to the level of a Rafael Palmeiro. PHILLIPS: Point well made. Cherish those genetics. Dr. Tracey Ray, thank you so much.

RAY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Emotions running high in Chicago, where an elderly man is on trial for allegedly helping the Nazis during World War II. The outcome could cost him his citizenship. Reporter Larry Yellen from CNN affiliate WFLD has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY YELLEN, WFLD REPORTER (voice-over): This is 86-year-old Osyp Firishchak after the first day of a hearing which will determine if he should lose his U.S. citizenship and be deported. The retired carpenter has lived in Chicago for more than five decades. He's been a U.S. citizen from 1952. But Justice Department Nazi hunters claim that ten years before that, in 1942, Firishchak was a member of an auxiliary Ukranian police unit which helped the Nazis send thousands of Jews to their deaths.

Dieter Pohl, German historian, testified today that Firishchak's name shows up repeatedly in payroll records of a police unit which helped segregate thousands of Jews in the Polish ghetto in L'Viv, then packed them into freight cars and sent them to a concentration camp in Belzec, where they were killed.

The records comes from the Ukranian National Archives and The Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C. Firishchak's attorney says they don't prove a connection.

JAMES MAHER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, we're in the middle of a trial, but our position is that he's innocent and that the evidence will prove that, and that will be the ruling of a court.

YELLEN: Firishchak's Northwest-side neighbors find the allegations difficult to believe.

DARA SALK, NEIGHBOR: He's a wonderful man. And whatever happened back then is a long time -- I don't think he could ever do anything that would hurt other people.

BILL PEKLO, NEIGHBOR: There were a lot of people put in that situation where, if you didn't do what the Nazis told you, you would be shot. So you did it, to save your life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the United Nations Food Agency is appealing for $4 million in emergency aid to help millions of people on the brink of starvation in Niger. Children are dying every day, and it's difficult to comprehend the enormity of the crisis until you see it yourself.

CNN's Anderson Cooper is in Niger. He filed this gripping and, we warn you, disturbing piece from inside a relief camp that's doing all it can to save the children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On a plastic covered mattress, in a makeshift hospital ward, a 10-month-old child fights to stay alive. His name is Habu Rabyu (ph). His tiny body riddled with infections from months of severe malnutrition.

So he came in on the 19th of July?

DR. MILTON TECHTONADISH (ph): Yes.

COOPER: And by the 30th . . .

TECHTONADISH: And did well until about the 23rd and then he crashed.

COOPER: So he's actually worse?

TECHTONADISH: And now he came up a bit and, yes, he's worse than when he came in.

COOPER: Worse than when he came in.

Dr. Milton Techtonadish works for the relief group Doctor Without Boarders. Since January, in Niger, they've treated more than 14,000 children at risk of starvation. They know there are many more too sick to make it to the hospital.

Mothers bring their children here from out of the bush. And there's one child here who is probably going to be admitted to the hospital.

What do you look for?

TECHTONADISH: Well, usually in a kid, you look for sunken eyes and skin that doesn't come back, decreased skin turger (ph). Skin that -- see like that, doesn't go right back. It stays folded.

COOPER: This child's name is Rashido Mamal (ph). He's two years old and his pain is beyond tears.

TECHTONADISH: This is a maraznic wash (ph). Actually, it's the worst case possible.

COOPER: So there's fluid in . . .

TECHTONADISH: His fluid. You can feel it. If you will, as you can feel, he's got water in his tissues. I think we'll get him. And they will give him fluid. They will give him sugar right away to make sure that he's not hypoglycemic and then antibiotics and milk. And if he makes it through the first day or two, he'll be -- he'll -- and you'll see him running around in another week.

COOPER: Really?

TECHTONADISH: Yes, yes, yes. It's miraculous.

COOPER: A few beds away, covered with a blanket, we find Ameno Yahaya (ph) watched over by his mom.

TECHTONADISH: How are you? How are you doing? Huh? How are you doing? Oh, move your hand a bit. OK. OK. Shh.

So, he came in with edema everywhere.

COOPER (on camera): Edema is -- is what?

TECHTONADISH: Water in the tissues. So, water every where. Water in the tissues. Water around his eyes and their skin desquamates. Desquamates the skin.

COOPER: Desquamates means...

TECHTONADISH: Comes off. It comes off because of a zinc deficiency.

COOPER: So his skin is literally just peeling off?

TECHTONADISH: Yes. Here it's gotten -- it's back down to normal again. It's gotten better, but there are some places it hasn't completely finished and he's, unfortunately, developed some lesions of pressure sores from being sick so long. But he's getting better fast. I'm sure we're going to save him. If he makes it through another day or two.

COOPER: That's a question: Whether he would make it through a day or two?

TECHTONADISH: Yes. For sure. He can get -- in an hour, he can die if he gets too much bacteria in his blood. What a life, huh? What a life.

COOPER (voice-over): If a child in this intensive care unit is able to drink milk formula, there's a good chance they'll live.

(on camera): He's drinking.

TECHTONADISH: He's going to drink the whole thing. Bravo. Bravo, bambini (ph). Bravo. Bravo. Bravo. All finished. Bravo. Bravo. Bravo.

COOPER (voice-over): Rashido (ph) is trying to drink milk as well, but he can't take as much.

TECHTONADISH: Slowly, slowly. He's hungry. You have to go slowly, slowly. But he wants it, which is a very good sign.

COOPER: Habu, however, can't drink at all. Doctors don't think he'll live through the night. The next morning when we return, the arrivals tent is once again filled; children getting weighed and measured. Some immediately receive milk.

Inside intensive care, Amino (ph) is still asleep. Rashido (ph) is awake and Habu (ph) is alive. His breathing, shallow and quick, but the nurses say he's stable. This is the last time we'll see him. When we return later in the day, Habu's bed is empty.

(on camera): It's shocking how quickly things can change here, how in the blink of an eye, a child can simply vanish. When we came in this morning, the three kids we met yesterday were doing OK. At least they made it through the night. They were still alive. Well, now it's the evening, several hours later and things have changed. Amino (ph) is OK and his mom is pretty confident, but Rashido (ph)is in septic shock and Habu -- well, Habu died several hours ago. He was just 10 months old.

(voice-over): On the bed, Habu's cup and bowl are all that remain. His mother lives more than 100 miles away and is already returning home. She left Habu behind, buried in an unmarked grave somewhere on the outskirts of town.

(on camera): Do you get used to seeing this?

TECHTONADISH: Yes, there's two or three a day. So, we know which ones are going to go. There's some surprises. Those are a bit harder. You have to keep going. You can't stop for a -- one death. The mothers understand. They don't expect you to show sympathy. They expect you to try your best. If you cry in front of the mothers, what good is that? They just start worrying about their own kid. So, if you start doing that in front of the mothers, they start: What's going to happen to my kid?

COOPER (voice-over): Tomorrow, it's likely Habu's bed will get filled. In Niger, in this terrible time, there's always another child fighting to stay alive.

Anderson Cooper, CNN, Niger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, after -- a couple hours after CNN's Anderson Cooper filed that report, another bed was empty. Little Amino, the child whose skin was peeling off, has died. That fight against starving in plain sight continues in Niger.

Anderson Cooper's going to have more stories on this struggle live from there tonight, at 7:00 Eastern, on "AC 360." And if you want to help the children in Niger, go to our Web site, CNN.com. We do have a list of aid organizations that will greatly appreciate any of your donations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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