Marshall Brain's Blog

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Enhancing your body

David had surgery this week, and so far he is OK. See A Day at the Hospital for details. Being in a hospital waiting room leaves you with lots of time to read magazines. I coincidentally read two very different articles on enhancing your body.

The first was in Outside magazine. Entitled Drug Test, it is an account of one man's experiences with performance enhancing drugs. Under a doctor's supervision, he takes:

• Human Growth Hormone (HGH), at a cost of $750 a month - he noticed an improved look to his skin (sun blotches gone, scars healing and disappearing), he felt rested and his eyesight got better.
• Testoterone - The theory: "Muscle cells create more protein, hence more muscles". It should also increase energy. He didn't notice any big immediate differences.
• EPO, at $400 per month - This drug increases red blood cell production, giving your blood more oxygen-carrying capacity.

According to the author:

I remained skeptical about all the drugs until March 29, when I rode an event along the central coast of California, the Solvang Double Century, at what for me was a fast and hard pace, finishing in around 11.5 hours. About ten hours in, it dawned on me that something was definitely happening. Sure, I'd been training hard, but I'd done enough of that to know what to expect. All around me were riders—good, strong riders—who looked as worn out as you'd expect after ten hours in the saddle. I was tired, but I felt curiously strong, annoyingly talkative and fresh, eager to hammer the last 40 miles.

The last time I'd ridden 200 miles, I felt awful the next day, like I'd been hit by a truck. After the Solvang race I woke up and felt hardly a touch of soreness. I also felt like I could easily ride another 200, and I realized that I'd entered another world, the realm of instant recovery. I'll be frank: It was a reassuring kind of world, and I could see why people might want to stay there.

Then he started on an anabolic steroid called Deca. He dropped 6 pounds of fat and acquired 12 pounds of muscle. And it helped with joint pain.

He trains and is able to complete a 1,225 kilometer ride (over 700 miles). He says, "The next morning, if it weren't for my saddle sores, I could have easily done it again. Obviously Dr. Jones's program had worked."

I forgot to mention that he's in his late forties.

After the ride he stops all of the enhancement drugs. In his assessment, he would continue taking the HGH "if it weren’t so expensive". He would continue with the testosterone cream to avoid problems encountered by older athletes with osteoporosis when testosterone levels get too low. He would not take the EPO or the anabolic steroids because of the side effects.

After reading that I switched over to Time magazine, where they had an article entitled After the Makeover. It's about several people who appeared on the show Extreme Makeover and how they did long-term. The plastic surgery enhancements on Extreme Makeover cost as much as $80,000. The interesting part about the article is the fact that superficial changes to outer appearance had significant long-term effects. Even something as simple as hair color and a hair cut makes a difference.

There is a very interesting paragraph at the end of the article:

Another problem with the program is that it may be manufacturing a new form of dissatisfaction among people — particularly those without the money for a full face-and-body overhaul. In the growing list of American wants that, once identified, turn into needs, the desire for a radically new appearance just as the old one is showing signs of wear could be a source of unfathomable resentment. Already, specialized clinics devoted to remodeling the rich in the manner shown on Extreme Makeover are springing up. One of these, the Advanced Aesthetics Institute, based in West Palm Beach, Fla., intends to open branches soon in Dallas, Miami and Beverly Hills, Calif. Given that list of ritzy addresses, it's not unreasonable to imagine that one's ZIP code may someday determine one's appearance.

This all meshes with the recent push to declare obesity a disease -- once it is a disease, then its treatment can be covered by health insurance. The reasoning behind the new designation is simple, as noted in articles like this one:

In 1980, about 45% of U.S. adults were overweight or obese. That rose to 55% in 1990. Today, the proportion is 65% (half of whom are obese, meaning about 30 pounds or more above a healthy weight for their height). Yes, an incredible two-thirds of U.S. adults weigh too much. So do many of our children. Fifteen percent of 6- to 19-year-olds - about 9 million - are overweight, up from 10% a decade ago. The price tag is about $120 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity.

The $120 billion is coming from the cost of treating things like high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Obesity has a huge negative effect on health and quality of life, and it will only get worse. Right now there is way too much economic pressure to make people fatter, and we need to find a solution to that pressure.

If we can declare obesity a disease, can we do the same with ugliness and aging? They certainly affect quality of life, and in the case of aging there is certainly a big health effect. Should HGH supplements be provided to everyone over 40? Should plastic surgery be universally available to everyone?