He was placed in a medically-induced coma for two weeks before he died. Jansen told People that she gave him chest compressions until an ambulance arrived, but that doctors told her he “was gone before he even hit the floor” as a result of a heart attack. What we do know is that he collapsed while his girlfriend, Chanel Jansen, was giving him a haircut. Related: The Six Secrets to Transforming Your LegsĪs for Piana, his autopsy has yet to confirm his cause of death. It found that insulin use was becoming very popular among bodybuilders-and that it becomes especially dangerous when a bodybuilder keeps their insulin use private. Related: Your Biceps and Triceps Are Going to Hate This WorkoutĪ study conducted by the British Journal of Sports Medicine looking into insulin abuse among bodybuilders drew similar conclusions.
Of the total number of cases, 94.7 percent made a full recovery, 2.7 percent experienced cerebral defects and just 2.7 percent died. The study found that 89.4 percent of the reported cases were suicide attempts, 5 percent were accidental overdoses, 1.9 percent were criminal overdoses and the remaining 3.7 percent were unknown. While insulin overdoses are common, especially among those with diabetes, the likelihood of death as a result of an insulin overdose is actually rare-particularly in cases where the patient receives rapid medical treatment.Ī study published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics looked at 160 cases of insulin poisoning and found that deaths from insulin poisoning were not only rare, they were also most often a result of deliberate overdose in an attempt to take one’s own life. Related: The One Workout That Will Completely Shred Your ArmsĪn overdose of insulin can cause hypoglycemia, which can lead to seizures, comas, neurological brain damage and death. "It's not a controlled substance, like other (performance enhancing drugs)," Pope said. He acknowledged that taking insulin can be “dangerous,” but said the danger is easily avoidable if you take the right amount of sugar.Ī study published in Current Sports Medicine Reports that looked at weightlifters who use insulin to supplement their weightlifting found that insulin use is on the rise-not only for the reasons listed above, but because it's so easily accessible. Piana himself was vocal about his use of insulin, going into detail about the practice in a YouTube video posted four years ago. Harrison Pope, M.D., a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School who's conducted extensive research on substance abuse amongst bodybuilders. Though the rumors about Piana's death remain wholly unverified, it's true that insulin use is on the rise among bodybuilders, according to Dr. “We have not finalized a cause and manner of death, so it sounds like the insulin issue is just a rumor,” Florida’s District Six Medical Examiner’s Office, which is currently conducting Piana’s autopsy, told Men’s Health. People who inject insulin and who already produce the hormone naturally can see their blood glucose levels drop dangerously low-and if they don't ingest additional sugar to bring their blood glucose back up, the consequences can be fatal.īut first things first: It's important to note that the medical examiner's office tells us it hasn't yet determined how and why Piana died. Now, there are rumors that Piana might have died from using insulin, the hormone that regulates your body's blood sugar.
First, there were reports that an overdose might have been to blame. The exact cause of his death has yet to be determined, but that certainly hasn’t stopped people from speculating about potential causes. In his own words.After collapsing and spending two weeks in a medically induced coma, celebrity bodybuilder Rich Piana died in August at the age of 46. Part tribute to his legacy, part revealing look into the man behind the persona - the Rich Piana Chronicles is an intimate look at a man who left a permanent mark on the fitness industry. From the Director of "Generation Iron" the Rich Piana Chronicles documents a raw and uncut look into the final year of his life.
A bodybuilder who gained massive fame as a controversial YouTube personality, Rich Piana sadly passed away in 2017 due to heart complications. Rich Piana is a man known for having a personality as big as his massive physique.