Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens is had a tendency to on the bench versus the Indianapolis Colts du...

1. Deer-antler spray: What is IGF-1?
Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens is had a tendency to on the bench versus the Indianapolis Colts
during the AFC Wild Card Championship game at M&T Financial institution Arena on January 6,
2013 in Baltimore, Maryland. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Deer-antler spray has actually been propelled into the Super Dish spotlight with a brand-new record
affirming 37-year-old Baltimore Ravens superstar Ray Lewis got the spray together with deer-antler
capsules and various other items from a business with ties to performance-enhancing drugs.
Play Video
CBS Today
NFL linebacker on banned compound report
Baltimore's Ray Lewis blasted a report that said he made use of an outlawed material to recover
from a torn muscular tissue. Norah O'Donnell records.
A Tuesday Sports Illustrated record mentions that Lewis sought assistance from the company Sports
With Alternatives To Steroids (SWATS) in October after the star linebacker tore his right triceps.
SWATS proprietor Mitch Ross tape-recorded a phone call with Lewis hrs after the gamer harmed his
arm in an October video game against Dallas, the journal mentioned. According to the report, Lewis
asked Ross to send him deer-antler spray as well as tablets, together with various other items made
by the business. Many athletes reached by the journal additionally claimed they made use of the
product.
Deer-antler spray and pills include a hormone called IGF-1 that is believed to assist muscular tissue
rehabilitation. The business stated the bodily hormone is gathered from deer in New Zealand.

2. "Their antlers are the fastest-growing compound on
world Earth ... due to the fact that of the higher
concentration of IGF-1. We've managed to ice up dry
that out, remove it, placed it in a sublingual spray that
you beverage for 20 secs and afterwards spray 3
[times] under your tongue ... This work has actually
been around for practically 1,000 years, this is stuff
from the Chinese," SWATS co-founder Christopher
Secret mentioned to SI.
SWATS calls their item natural, like a food, yet the
substance is prohibited by the NCAA and every
significant pro organization, SI records.
Just just what exactly is IGF-1?
Dr. Spyros Mezitis, an endocrinologist at Lenox Hillside Healthcare facility in New York City,
clarified to CBSNews.com that IGF-1 is an insulin-like growth aspect, a hormone that naturally
happens in the body and also circulates in the blood. A person's endocrine device includes a pituitary
gland that creates a chemical called growth bodily hormone that aids children grow into grownups
by making their bones stronger and also aiding their physical bodies develop. The brain's
development hormone then promotes the liver to produce IGF-1, which then binds to receptors in
muscular tissue cells, indicating them to multiply and increase.
In regular varieties, IGF-1 in the body helps growth as well as increases muscular tissue toughness,
he claimed. The bodily hormone additionally increases metabolic process of carbs, bringing even
more sugars to the cells that additionally help muscular tissue development.
Some folks with medical disorders in which they have reduced growth bodily hormone, such as
dwarfism, could be addressed with treatments of IGF-1, baseding on Mezitis.
However, "We do not suggest [IGF-1] on a basis for muscle building," Mezitis, that does not address
sportsmens, said. He included that he was conscious of a spray, however notes it is not as potent as
the injection. If IGF-1 is mistreated, he said, folks may experience additional muscular tissue
strength and problems with aggressiveness.
Sportsmens which take development hormone in the type of HGH-- an additional element outlawed
by the league, yet not currently measured in NFL medication driving tests-- might also experience
additional muscle growth.
IGF-1 is "merely like providing a person human growth bodily hormone," Don Catlin, the former
head of UCLA's Olympic Analytical Laboratory, mentioned to The The big apple Moments. "It goes to
the exact same type of receptors and also transforms them on."
Nevertheless, as SI reports, the spray might not also be reliable in human beings.
Dr. Roberto Salvatori, which studies growth hormone at Johns Hopkins College, told the Baltimore
Sunlight that there's no proof of an effective method to provide IGF-1 in capsule or spray kind.

3. "If there were, a bunch of individuals would certainly be delighted that they do not have to obtain
shots anymore," he said to the paper."
31 Pictures
Ray Lewis
A check out the life as well as job of the 13-time Pro Bowler and also Super Bowl MVP
Lewis deflected inquiries on his usage of the prohibited supplement at Super Bowl media day.
"That was a 2-year-old tale that you desire me to rejuvenate ... so I won't also mention it," Lewis
stated Tuesday, referencing a 2011 Yahoo! Sports tale that former Ravens quarterbacks trainer
Color Jackson was purchased by the NFL to sever ties with SWATS because the company advertised
performing-enhancing items. Jackson supposedly had presented Lewis to Ross. "Due to the fact that
I've been in this business 17 years, as well as nobody has actually ever acquired up with me every
early morning and trained with me. Every test I have actually ever took in the NFL-- there's never
ever been a concern of if I ever also thought concerning utilizing anything. So to even amuse
ignorance like that ..." he claimed.
The team also downplayed the report.
"The team understood about this report. Ray denies taking anything and also has actually always
passed driving tests," included Ravens spokesperson Kevin Byrne.
"He chuckled about it," Baltimore Ravens head trainer John Harbaugh said Wednesday, describing
Lewis. "He informed me there's nothing to it. He's informed us in the past as well as now that he has
never ever taken any one of it."
2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.