Creatine is a popular supplement among high school athletes, particularly football players. They think it helps them get bigger and stronger.
Doctors who specialize in sports medicine warn that research is lacking into creatine's effects on children. Neither safety nor effectiveness in children has been scientifically proved, they said.
What's missing from the Doctors argument in this case is an adverse event history to hang their hat on. Since they don't have any hard evidence that creatine poses a threat, they are asking the supplement company to prove a negative:
As it stands, "there's essentially no research into these supplements, what they do for kids or how they harm kids," said Dr. Linn Goldberg of the Oregon Health & Science University.
With creatine that's a lie. There are volumes of studies on creatine, how it reacts to the body, and its efficacy in promoting muscle growth. Most have been favorable, and only a few showed side effects that could be termed: "moderate" (gastro-intestinal problems mostly that went away when the subject stopped supplementing).
The funding mechanisms for most of these "no-drug" groups is unclear, as several of them do not operate as non-profits and are not required to list their funding. Dr. Goldberg is a private citizen and has privacy protections prohibiting the general public from see the funding sources for the education programs, or if a material amount of Goldberg's income is derived from those same products. Those factors would, if proven true, have a great impact on Dr. Goldberg and Mr. Uryasz credibility on the matter.
There is not a unanimous front on this issue however:
Professor Richard Kreider, the director of the Exercise and Sport Nutrition Laboratory at Baylor University, thinks creatine gets a bum rap from the medical profession.
"Because it's a very popular supplement, it gets lumped in with steroids and andro and all these other supplements that people are against," he said.
"You even see Blue Cross Blue Shield talking about the dangers of creatine. I think that's unfortunate. More than 1,000 studies have been done on creatine. If there's something hazardous to it, we would have seen it by now."
Several years ago, Kreider said, his study of college football players showed no harmful effects from creatine.
As for high-schoolers, "There's really no reason why somebody that's 16 or 17 years of age can't take creatine. There are no studies showing it's adverse to kids," Kreider said.
Basically, when science is applied, the arguments being made by Dr's and non-scientists begins to fall apart. It's important to note that the support is coming from University Scientists, and the attacks are coming from people with unrevealed motivations.
As the supplement industry increases in size and big Pharmeceutical companies continue to turn their attention to the weight-loss and fitness regions you can expect more articles such as this, and more "concerns" being aired without the evidenciary backup of scientific research. The same thing happened with ephedra, and its happening again with creatine.
Caffeine is next, and then they'll attack protein supplements.