According to the 2022 barometer of UCPA-Crédoc, bodybuilding is the favorite sport of young French people. An activity a priori healthy, but which hides certain unknown dangers. The taking of muscles is often accompanied by doping substances, to improve its physical performance but whose side effects are too often minimized. A documentary from the team relays the story of a young deceased after taking DNP, supposed to burn fat. Dr. Gérald Kierzek, medical director of True Medical, tells us more about these dangers.
“”He burned his wings by taking this product“”
Matteo, a young 20-year-old sportsman died after taking DNP (2.4-Dinitrophenol)-an industrial chemical diverted as a grain-class because of its thermogenic properties. A molecule known initially as a highly dangerous herbicide and explosive, which will be the source of his death on January 4, 2020.
“”At the start, Matteo wanted to lose weight“, confides his mother. But,”Very quickly, he lost fat, he gained in muscles but he needed more. He then began to go to the gym every day. “
In his sports club, the young man manages to find dinitrophenol (DNP), a fat burner, however prohibited since the 1930s. After having ingested it, he joined the SAMU at 9 am, but it is already too late: Dinitrophenol has done his job.
“”We were called when we were on vacation 650 kilometers away telling us that he was in serious condition. I immediately felt that he was dead“Recalls his mother in the columns of the Parisian. “Two days after his death, I am looking for information on the DNP, we couldn’t find anything but we could buy it. In my opinion, he took that uninhibited (…) he burned his wings by taking this product. But at 20, we do not know that we are going to die … We cannot die at 20 years”, regrets Pascaline.
If Matteo is not the only one to have been the victim of this substance (originally used in explosives, pesticides and dyes), DNP continues to circulate everywhere in France, attracting sportsmen in search of quick results.
Because – should it be emphasized? – The DNP presents highly sought -after qualities: “It disrupts energy production in cells, increasing body temperature and forcing the body to burn calories uncontrolled “, warns Dr Gérald Kierzek. So many great powers that unfortunately hoisted him to the rank of “Miracle product ” To lose weight …
Dinitrophenol (DNP): What risks does it present for the organization?
The dangers are multiple and varied. According to Dr Gérald Kierzek, Dinitrophenol, “toxic“, can cause:
- Landy hyperthermia (uncontrollable temperature increase,> 42 ° C);
- Excessive sweating, accompanied by nausea and vomiting;
- Tachycardia and/or respiratory failure;
- Destruction of muscles and organs (rhabdomyolysis);
- A death by overdose (while no antidote exists).
“”With an unpredictable lethal dose (the margin between the “effective” dose and the fatal dose is very low), a cumulative effect, because the substance remains for a long time in the body, and no antidote, the DNP is a poison for the body and Its use for weight loss is illegal and deadly “, concludes the medical director of True Medical.