HIV and ID Observations

Texas slugger Nelson Cruz is one of the Biogenesis gang just suspended from baseball for use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

For those who care about these things, he’s also probably the most important player from the banned list, since he’s 1) very good and 2) on a team in contention for a playoff spot.

For those who don’t care about baseball, we have this from Cruz himself:

From November 2011 to January 2012, I was seriously ill with a gastrointestinal infection, helicobacter pylori, which went undiagnosed for over a month. By the time I was properly diagnosed and treated, I had lost 40 pounds. Just weeks before I was to report to Spring Training in 2012, I was unsure whether I would be physically able to play.

Now with the caveat that we ID doctors are woefully uneducated about all things helicobacter, it’s pretty clear that guidelines for treatment of H pylori don’t include testosterone, growth hormone, and whatever other garbage Biogenesis was peddling.

But could they make you a better right fielder?