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Thyroid Suspicions

I am 0% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

10 votes

I am 10% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

3 votes

I am 20% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

1 votes

I am 30% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

6 votes

I am 40% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

3 votes

I am 50% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

1 votes

I am 60% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

2 votes

I am 70% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

1 votes

I am 80% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

0 votes

I am 90% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

0 votes

I am 100% certain Jose Reyes' thyroid condition is linked to improper substance use.

0 votes

Edgy DC Mar 09 2010 09:45 PM

I ask you people, vote with your heads and not your hearts on this one.

MFS62 Mar 09 2010 09:49 PM Re: Thyroid Supicions

I voted zero because of the way the choices were worded. I'm not sure if tracing, muchless proving, the link is scientifically possible. Later

Edgy DC Mar 09 2010 09:51 PM Re: Thyroid Supicions

How would you have had me word the choices? Forget about "can be traced" and go with "is linked."

Edgy DC Mar 09 2010 09:53 PM Re: Thyroid Supicions

There, I changed them all.

MFS62 Mar 09 2010 10:03 PM Re: Thyroid Supicions

Yes. From the references that were posted in the other thread on the subject, "can be linked" is a better choice. But in Reyes' specific case, I'd still vote none. Thanks. Later

themetfairy Mar 10 2010 05:56 AM Re: Thyroid Supicions

I am sure of nothing. As in, I have no idea whether Jose used an improper substance.

metirish Mar 10 2010 06:30 AM Re: Thyroid Supicions

This didn't work out all that well....

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 10 2010 06:39 AM Re: Thyroid Supicions

Went with 30 percent, representing 10 percent each for "These are the exact effects that HGH use/other hormonal tweaking would have" and, "He sought treatment from a guy being investigated for smuggling the stuff into the US," along with a 10 percent "bonus" for "you never know" (essentially, my baseline).

metirish Mar 10 2010 06:42 AM Re: Thyroid Supicions

I too went with 30% although I didn't put a whole lot of thought in to it like LWFS.

TransMonk Mar 10 2010 07:11 AM Re: Thyroid Supicions

Without reading the thread and just voting in the poll, I went thirty as well. My heart says "zero".

Frayed Knot Mar 10 2010 07:12 AM Re: Thyroid Supicions

I think it's the result of a plot among Miami-based Cubans and the mob.

Edgy DC Mar 10 2010 07:36 AM Re: Thyroid Supicions

[quote="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":vxe89csk]Went with 30 percent, representing 10 percent each for "These are the exact effects that HGH use/other hormonal tweaking would have" and, "He sought treatment from a guy being investigated for smuggling the stuff into the US," along with a 10 percent "bonus" for "you never know" (essentially, my baseline).[/quote:vxe89csk] I didn't plot it out as such, but this probably represents my thinking as well. Strange how we're getting clusters. One vote for 60% Three votes for 30%. Four votes for 0%. (Really?)

MFS62 Mar 10 2010 07:43 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

You can link anything to anything (e.g.- by using it in the same sentence). But that doesn't mean they are truly connected. Without proof, it is all speculation. Later

Benjamin Grimm Mar 10 2010 07:44 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

I voted 40. I think there's a 40 per cent likelihood that HGH has something to do with this.

Edgy DC Mar 10 2010 07:51 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

[quote="MFS62":152yw87d]You can link anything to anything (e.g.- by using it in the same sentence). But that doesn't mean they are truly connected.[/quote:152yw87d] That's why we have percentages. Certainty exists on a continuum. What's with the internet and semantics lessons?

duan Mar 10 2010 08:01 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

well in my head there's about a 10% chance that any player is using performance enhancing substances and then something like this inflates my suspician considerably so I got to 30%. of course this is all just thinking out loud and putting numbers against ideas in my head.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 10 2010 08:06 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

I went with 60% since I'd be more surprised to discover that Reyes was clean than not clean, but that's how I am with all jocks -- none of them deserve the benefit of the doubt. I am clueless as to the mysteries of the thyroid, and would prolly vote 60% guilty even without that condition.

Ashie62 Mar 10 2010 08:09 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

20% Just because to me there is some reasonable doubt. I just hope Jose regains his health baseball or not

metsmarathon Mar 10 2010 08:26 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

i put down 40%, but i'm not so sure about it. my heart says it should be lower, but my head screams that it could be higher. the only way it really matters is that determining the cause determines the cure.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 10 2010 08:32 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

[quote="metsmarathon"]the only way it really matters is that determining the cause determines the cure.

Understanding that Jose's health is more important than his career, the other way that it matters is that the cause may also lead to a suspension.*


*I confess that I don't know exactly what the rules are regarding PED use and suspensions, what would constitute proof in Jose's example, and whether HGH is covered by the current rules.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 10 2010 10:15 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

[quote="Edgy DC":y2z1itz5]One vote for 60% Three votes for 30%. Four votes for 0%. (Really?)[/quote:y2z1itz5] Though I'm not quite as hardbitten a Numbah-Crunchah as JCL over there, the only person who gets a 0 from me is me. I mean, I don't have access to G-Fafif's training room, so I have no idea what "beverages" he's pumping in his system before churning out BOCs.

Edgy DC Mar 10 2010 10:20 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Yeah, I mean it's maddening how seemingly every time I put up a poll, I get folks (usually MFS62) trying to elude the purpose of the poll by doing some half-smart reading of the question, when the meaning should be quite clear. I know "we mustn't jump to conclusions" and all, but by voting 0%, it should be clear to anyone reading reasonably fairly, you're saying you're 100% certain that his condition has no link to performance enhancing drug use.

MFS62 Mar 10 2010 10:37 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Edgy, I wasn't trying to be a smartass. I was probably unclear in my comments. Prior to this stuff about the Canadian Doctor, there was never any link I know of Reyes to PEDs. I don't know whether the reason Reyes went to the Doctor was that his American treatment wasn't working and he felt he needed another kind of treatment. And we don't know if the reason those (American) treatments weren't working well was because he already had undiagnosed thyroid problems prior to that treatment. And the Doctor is claiming that he only did blood spinning and did not add any PEDs. I don't know if thyroid problems happen overnight or if they are from birth. So, in absence of any resolution to the chicken/egg question (did taking PEDs cause the thyroid problems) , I voted 0% from my head, not my heart. Later

Edgy DC Mar 10 2010 10:39 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

So you're saying you're 100% certain that his condition has no link to performance enhancing drug use?

Benjamin Grimm Mar 10 2010 11:15 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

He seems to be saying that since Jose had never before been linked to PED's, then there's no reason to think that he took anything illegal. It's like saying that O.J. couldn't have killed his wife and her friend because he had never previously murdered anybody.

Edgy DC Mar 10 2010 11:31 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Well, ten voters are now on board with that 0% figure. I'm at least a little suprised. You have no suspicion that Jose has used and this might be a complication? Or is that you have a suspicion that is closer to 0% than 10%?

Benjamin Grimm Mar 10 2010 11:38 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

I think, despite your instructions, they're voting with their hearts and not their heads. How could you possibly be 100% certain that Jose didn't take anything illegal? I remember reading in Rookie how Dwight Gooden said he'd never use drugs, because he was brought up right. I was naive enough back then to think that that statement meant something. Not anymore.

holychicken Mar 10 2010 11:39 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

If my knowledge of the facts is correct. . . He unnecessarily went to a Canadian doctor to get a procedure done that he could have had done in the states. That doctor is now linked with HGH. On top of that, unless ADHD is a benefit to a baseball player (which would make taking adderall a performance diminisher), we pretty much know that a good chunk of players are lying about having ADHD to get their hands on sweet, sweet adderall considering the fact that they are prescribed adderall at 2 times the rate of the normal population (who is almost certainly over prescribed themselves). So I believe it is naive to think that HGH, the undetectable steroid, is not being used by a large percentage of MLBers. All that being said, I voted that there is about a 70% chance that this is related HGH and, honestly, I think my heart is bringing that number down a bit.

Edgy DC Mar 10 2010 11:41 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Well, I guess you can certainly over-read the question and say "Well, I'm not 100% certain that hasn't used PEDs, but I am 100% certain that his thryoid condition isn't linked to him using PEDs" or something. I guess sure, if you were fooled by Rookie, sure, I figure one or two would say 0%. But ten?

TransMonk Mar 10 2010 11:41 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Never let it be said that Mets fans don't have heart.

metirish Mar 10 2010 11:43 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

I don't know much but I know this thread is hilarious

Frayed Knot Mar 10 2010 11:44 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

I'm 100% certain that Jose Reyes didn't murder O.J.'s wife.

metirish Mar 10 2010 11:45 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

But if he did this is how he would have done it.

TransMonk Mar 10 2010 11:51 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

If he doesn't hit, we must acquit?

metirish Mar 10 2010 11:55 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Jose is absolutely, l00 percent, not guilty.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 11 2010 07:28 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Thyroid gland may be good indicator for human growth hormone use BY Michael O'Keeffe, Teri Thompson and Nathaniel Vinton DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS Thursday, March 11th 2010, 4:00 AM Major League Baseball may not have a urine test to detect human growth hormone, but signs that the drug is being used might be lurking right under the players' noses - specifically in their necks, where the thyroid gland is located. Anti-doping experts have long wondered whether abnormal levels of thyroid hormones can indicate doping. At least one clinical study has linked HGH injections to fluctuations in thyroid hormones, and it's clear that the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 have become popular among bodybuilders - often a reliable indicator of what doping methods are on the horizon for pro sports. Gary Wadler, an associate professor of medicine at New York University and an adviser to the World Anti-Doping Agency, said the organization periodically considers adding thyroid hormones to the list of substances prohibited in sports abiding by the WADA code, which includes all Olympic sports. "It is something I will bring up when the WADA board meets again in April," Wadler said. Wadler said WADA has been reluctant to classify thyroid hormones as performance-enhancing drugs because they are naturally occurring substances. Measuring an athlete's T3 (triiodothyronine) or T4 (thyroxine) levels would likely require collection of a blood sample - and while WADA tests blood, professional sports leagues in the United States do not. "It is something that is not considered worth testing for, although it is worth keeping up with the science," Wadler said. New scrutiny of thyroid hormones and their interaction with HGH has come amid the confusing reports on the health status of Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, who either has an overactive thyroid (as the Mets claim) or is perfectly fine (as Reyes himself claimed on Tuesday). Reyes underwent a round of diagnostic tests Tuesday in New York. More tests are forthcoming, and doctors are likely to examine records of blood tests Reyes has undergone earlier in his career. And while those efforts may reveal Reyes has a natural illness, they also come on the heels of his admission that he received treatments from Anthony Galea, a Toronto doctor who has been charged in Canada with several drug offenses and is under investigation in the U.S. for conspiring to smuggle drugs, including HGH, across the border. Reyes, like his teammate Carlos Beltran and Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez and golfer Tiger Woods, was treated by Galea. Dr. Lewis Maharam, past president of the American College of Sports Medicine, says his interest in whether performance-enhancing drugs affect thyroid levels was piqued by the Reyes case. Theoretically, Maharam said, an athlete could receive an injection of HGH right before a blood test, which might raise the T3 levels. Chronic use might lower the levels, he said, adding that he has no knowledge of the Reyes diagnosis. "The reason we are all concerned is that the people who used performance-enhancing drugs are always ahead of the testers," Maharam said. "That is why everybody is suspicious when these things come up." The link between HGH and abnormal thyroid hormone levels was made nearly 30 years ago by medical researchers at the University of California/San Francisco. The results of their study, entitled "The Acute Effects of Human Growth Hormone Administration on Thyroid Function in Normal Men," were published in 1988 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. WADA, meanwhile, is also interested in finding out if athletes are using synthetic thyroid hormones in an attempt to enhance performance, according to Wadler. Synthetic T3 and T4 are easily purchased over the counter in Latin America, and Internet sites such as buycytomel.com offer 25-microgram T3 pills to anyone with a credit card. Shaun Kelley, a weight-loss consultant in Houston with close ties to the bodybuilding community, said bodybuilders swear by such products, using such drugs to get the "cut" look that defines their muscles. "It's about getting that silhouetted look," Kelley said. "You really want to get that fat layer out so you can see the tendons and the cuts."

Benjamin Grimm Mar 11 2010 07:32 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

Good thing we've ruled it out in Jose's case!

Ceetar Mar 11 2010 07:36 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

David Lennon made a really good point. He was on with Kay yesterday, not sure if he wrote this anywhere though, but he said a lot of doctors he talks to say it doesn't really have any coorelation from HGH->thyroid. He also pointed out that with how rampant HGH probably is and has been, if there was a link we'd have seen a lot more guys having their spring blood work flagged for thyroid problems.

Valadius Mar 11 2010 07:37 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

I am 100% certain that the overactive thyroid has nothing to do with HGH. The only drug I think he's done is cocaine in all those nightclubs he loves to go to with Luis Castillo. Of course, he might have done HGH, but if that's the case I still think it's got nothing to do with his thyroid. We should have seen many more instances of overactive thyroids in baseball if there was any serious correlation, no?

Edgy DC Mar 11 2010 07:42 AM Re: Thyroid Suspicions

[quote="Ceetar"]...if there was a link we'd have seen a lot more guys having their spring blood work flagged for thyroid problems.

We should have seen many more instances of overactive thyroids in baseball, if there was any serious correlation, no?

Maybe. Or maybe the Mets doctors are looking where other doctors aren't. I'm really surprised how you young turks can feel so certain of anything. Maybe you haven't had your youths shattered yet, but let me do the honors. The world is one big pack of lies. Your politicians, your parents, your churches, your sports heroes, your poets, ... Sting --- all weaving a web of bullshit to protect their own interests. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but really the only one you can trust is me.

Good thing we've ruled it out in Jose's case!

Good thing our polling mechanism allows for vote changing.