A marathoner died after using a supplement in the London Marathon. The girl's death was tied to a banned energy drink.
According to ESPN.com, Claire Squires, a London Marathon runner who collapsed near Buckingham Palace in April towards the end of the race, may have died due to a dietary supplement she took, a corner said on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old was running the marathon to raise money and an investigation into her death found that Squires water bottle included a scoop of the supplement Jack3D, which contains a stimulant called DMAA or dimethylamylamine.
CLICK HERE for pictures of Claire Squires from the marathon.
According to the Daily Mail, Squires collapsed less than one mile before the finish line in the marathon and purchased the supplement months before the race using her computer. The report noted that her boyfriend Van Herrewege said she planned to take some on the day of the marathon.
The Daily Mail report continues: "Dr. Nicola Drake, an A&E consultant at St Thomas's Hospital who tried to save Miss Squires, said DMAA had been linked to the deaths of two US soldiers." She added: "It would give someone a racing heart, increasing heart rate and make the heart work much harder than it naturally would."
According to ESPN, DMAA is on the list of substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, but Jack3D was legally available to buy in Britain before being banned in August because of potential risks to public safety.
"DMAA ... on the balance of probabilities, in combination with extreme physical exertion, caused acute cardiac failure, which resulted in her death," coroner Philip Barlow said.
The supplement was banned in the United Kingdom after being linked to multiple deaths and now Squire can be added to that list. According to the Daily Mail, before it was banned, the supplement was one of the most popular in Britain.
The substance was bought legally online, according to the report. It is on the list of substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Organizers of the event are working on new guidelines and advice to give to runners about the use of supplements and are taking Squire's death into consideration.
"The substance is on the (WADA) banned list, but the only athletes to be tested would be elite athletes," London Marathon spokeswoman Nicola Okey told The Associated Press. "We just ask the rest of the runners to be medically fit. We don't make any other inquiries about what substances they are taking.
"We will be amending our medical advice following the inquest's verdict. We obviously give medical advice, but it hasn't mentioned before the use of supplements."
Jack3D's manufacturer, Ultra-Premium Supplements, on Wednesday defended the safety of its product.
"USPlabs sympathizes with the family of Ms. Squires for their tragic loss," the Dallas-based company said in a statement emailed by London publicists. "We continue to stand by the safety of the dietary ingredient 1, 3 DMAA. The ingredient has been the subject of seven clinical trials supporting its safety when used as directed. These studies place 1,3 DMAA among the most studied dietary ingredients on the market."
According to the Daily Mail: "Jack3d is said to boost energy, concentration and metabolism. But DMAA, most commonly used as a workout aid or dietary supplement, can have a physiological effect on the body by narrowing the arteries and raising the heart rate, said the MHRA."
Banned substances have been dominating the headlines lately, with Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and the Alabama Crimson Tide football team being accused of using deer antler spray and other performance enhancing products.
A report in Sports Illustrated detailed a company that sells certain products called Sports with Alternative to Steroids and said that Lewis approached the company's owner Mitch Ross to obtain deer-antler velvet extract, which contains IGF-1, which is on the NFL's list of banned substances. Using the spray would be a violation of the NFL's steroids policy.
The report also said that Alabama players received the same types of banned substances produced by Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (S.W.A.T.S.) that Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis reportedly did, including deer antler spray. The report says that several Alabama football players received S.W.A.T.S. products prior to the Crimson Tide's January 2012 win over LSU in the BCS national title game.
The report also says that LSU players used S.W.A.T.S. products prior to beating Alabama in November 2011, according to SI. Many SWATS products, including the deer antler spray reportedly used by Ray Lewis, contains IGF-1, which can help with muscle growth and is banned by the NFL. Auburn has also been tied to the controversial company in the past.
But what exactly is deer antler extract?
The spray can help athletes recover from injuries faster due to the presence of small amounts of deer IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1), which is what the liver converts HGH into, resulting in artificially enhanced muscle regeneration and growth, according to ESPN.com.
DeerAntlerSpray.org says the substance can be a great help to athletes:
"The side effect of this is that by using deer antler spray one can improve athletic performance, simulate the metabolism, improve the overall condition of the heart, and help fight off colds and flu, the site says. "By allowing the body to burn off more stored sugars and require the burning of fat stores to fuel increased muscle use, this spray can do a lot in way of rejuvenation on the body. This may help with nerve damage repair as well."
Banned substances have proven to be a great harm to athletes and competitors around the world, just like Squires. While the spray Lewis reportedly used has not caused deaths like the one Squires did, all athletes need to be cautious about what they put in their bodies.
