Start here, from 1994 after Alberto's Comrades Marathon win: http://www.si.com/vault/1994/06/20/106786636/scorecardMy favorite part (remember this article is from 1994):
Salazar, 35, says he started taking Prozac last August, after consulting with Paul Raether, a friend and sports-medicine physician from Portland, and with Jan Smulovitz, an endocrinologist from Eugene, Ore. According to Salazar, years of intense training, coupled with episodes of heat exhaustion in a few races, had "suppressed [his] body's endocrine system," leaving him unable to run at his accustomed level and also chronically fatigued, listless and susceptible to illness.
"It wasn't that I was depressed or sad," says Salazar. "I just never had any energy or zest. I knew there was something wrong with my whole system."
Raether theorizes that overtraining can cause hormonal changes deep in the brain that are closely related to those seen in certain forms of depression. Such "atypical depressions," says Raether, are being treated with Prozac. "I'm leery of putting myself out on a limb and getting crucified by the medical community," he says, "but I think it's important to get the message out to athletes who are going from doctor to doctor trying to find what's wrong with them and are being told, 'It's all in your head.' Maybe it is in their heads, but it's chemical."
Notice any similarities from the above article 22 years ago with this article about Dr. Brown from 2013?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323550604578412913149043072.htmlAmong endocrinologists, Brown stands almost alone in believing that endurance athletics can induce early onset of a hormonal imbalance called hypothyroidism, the condition with which he diagnosed Lewis and Rupp. Brown said he knows of no other endocrinologists treating athletes for hypothyroidism, a fatigue-causing condition that typically strikes women middle-aged or older.
Several endocrinology leaders had never heard of hypothyroidism striking young athletes.
"To see large numbers of young, athletic males being treated for thyroid deficiency would be certainly considered unusual, if not a bit suspicious," said Ian Hay, a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist who has practiced for 40 years. P. Reed Larsen, a Harvard Medical School endocrinologist, said, "I can't remember hearing or reading on [thyroid disorders in athletics] and I tend to be more of an investigator-type physician."
In athletic circles, Brown is a medical hero. He's a paid medical consultant to Nike Inc. The most renowned running coach at Nike, Alberto Salazar, calls Brown the best sports endocrinologist in the world. And athletes in growing numbers are coming to share Brown's belief that heavy training can suppress the body's production of the thyroid hormone, leaving them too exhausted to perform at peak.
AlSal has been playing with this stuff forever. Dr. Brown's (an endocrinologist) hypothyroidism is just a rehash of Dr. Smulovit's (also an endocrinologist) "depression" with both being blamed on hard training causing exhaustion. Yet, curiously, the only people on the planet for last 22+ years who seem to know this or think it's a thing are AlSal and his minions. Huh. Wonder why that is?