Rich Piana:
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Richard Eugene Piana was an American bodybuilder and businessman. He won the International Federation of Bodybuilders Mr. Teen California title in 1989, IFBB Mr. California in 1998 and National Physique Committee competitions in 2003 and 2009. He had his own nutrition product line called Rich Piana: 5% Nutrition. He publicly admitted that he had been using anabolic steroids and synthetic human growth hormone as part of his bodybuilding regimen during his 25-year career in competition, starting when he was 18 years old. He had said he was aware that the steroids would do damage to his body, but had also said steroid use was a necessary part of competing at the highest levels of bodybuilding and that it was a risk he was willing to take.
He died at the age of 46 after a sudden cardiac arrest. At death his heart and liver weighed over twice the average amount for an adult male, which had put him at risk for such a sudden cardiac arrest. He had been aware that his organs were enlarged, and that this was a known side effect of the steroids and hormones he had been taking. However, the autopsy report was ultimately inconclusive on the cause and manner of his death.
