sport drugs

Personnages:

vétérinaire  (pousse à comsommer)

Sportif

Etudiant chercheur (dit ne pas consommer car dangereux)

V: C'mon my boy!!! Take these pills and you're going to go faster!

S: Yes sir, I'm feeling very well (reçoit une piqure du vétérinaire)

What is doping?

Doping is the use of a drug or blood product to improve athletic performance.

It is also considered "doping" by many to use a substance that masks other illegal products.

Sportsmen hope that the drug will give them an edge over all the other people they are contending against. But it is very risky, as this is cheating and they don't want to get caught. Athletes have many different types of drugs they can take, and they do it to increase their performance.

V: Yeah, I know this very well! I sell my products to dozens of athletes. I maybe had some problems in the past... Indeed...

History

Early years of doping

The word doping is derived from the Dutch word dop, the name of an alcoholic beverage made of grape skins used by Zulu warriors in order to enhance their prowess in battle. The term "doping" became current around the turn of the 20th century, originally referring to illegal drugging of racehorses. The practice of enhancing performance through foreign substances or other artificial means, however, is as old as competitive sport itself.

• Ancient Greek athletes are known to have used special diets and stimulating potions to fortify themselves. Strychnine, caffeine, cocaine, and alcohol were often used by cyclists and other endurance athletes in the 19th century. Thomas Hicks  ran to victory in the Olympic marathon of 1904 in Saint Louis with the help of raw egg, injections of strychnine, and doses of brandy administered to him during the race! By the 1920s it had become evident that restrictions regarding drug use in sports were necessary.

  1. First attempts

• In 1928 the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) became the first International Sport Federation (IF) to ban the use of doping (use of stimulating substances). Many other IFs followed suit, but restrictions remained ineffective as no tests were performed. Meanwhile the problem was made worse by synthetic hormones, invented in the 1930s and in growing use for doping purposes since the 1950s. The death of Danish cyclist  Knud Enemark  Jensen during competition at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, where the autopsy revealed traces of amphetamine, increased the pressure for sports authorities to introduce drug tests.

• In 1966 UCI (cycling) and FIFA (football) were among the first IFs to introduce doping tests in their respective World Championships. In the next year the International Olympic Committee (IOC) instituted its Medical Commission and set up its first list of prohibited substances. Drug tests were first introduced at the Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble and at the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968. In the year before, the urgency of anti-doping work had been highlighted by another tragic death, that of cyclist  Tom Simpson  during the Tour de France.

• Most IFs introduced drug testing by the 1970s. The use of anabolic steroids was becoming widespread, however, especially in strength events, as there was no way of detecting them yet. A reliable test method was finally introduced in 1974 and the IOC added anabolic steroids to its list of prohibited substances in 1976. This resulted in a marked increase in the number of drugs disqualifications in the late 1970s, notably in strength-related sports such as throwing events and weightlifting.

2. Famous doping scandals

• As early as the late 19th century professional cyclists were using substances like caffeine, cocaine and ether-coated sugar cubes to improve performance, reduce pain and delay fatigue.

• In the 1904 Olympics, Thomas Hicks (USA) won the marathon at St. Louis and collapsed. It took hours to revive him; he had taken brandy and strychnine to help him win his gold medal.

• Nazi Germany athletes were rumored to have used the first rudimentary testosterone preparations in the 1936 Summer Olympics.

• During the 1967 Tour de France, Tom Simpson collapsed during the ascent of the Mont Ventoux. Despite mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and the administration of oxygen, plus a helicopter airlift to a nearby hospital, Simpson died. Two tubes of amphetamines and a further empty tube were found in the rear pocket of his racing jersey.

• In 1998 the entire Festina team were excluded from the Tour de France following the discovery of a team car containing large amounts of various performance-enhancing drugs. The Festina scandal overshadowed cyclist Marco Pantani's tour win, but he himself later failed a test. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Walter Mayer fled from the police when, acting on a tip, the Italian authorities conducted a surprise raid to search for evidence of doping.

• Floyd Landis had tested positive for an elevated testosterone/epitestosterone ratio after his stunning stage 17 victory. Secondary tests have also confirmed the preliminary findings of deficient levels of epitestosterone resulting in a skewed T/E ratio, and a decision to strip him of the title is currently pending.

• On July 29, American Olympic and world 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin failed a drug test.

S: Héhé, I don't take pills or injections, but my techniques are really good, and natural!

E: It is not natural!

V: It IS!

S: Pfff... Noway, I took a lot of drugs in the past, just to help me out  a little bit... you know, it's very tiring cycling 300 days a year! I took...

Which products?

There are many types of sporting drugs. Peptide hormones, analogues and anabolic agents all increase the size of muscles or help growth.

Stimulants speed up parts of the body and the brain to improve reactions and stop you getting tired. Narcotic analgesics also stop the effects of tiredness by reducing pain. Beta blockers calm you down and slow your heart down.

Diuretics allow you to lose weight by increasing the amount of urine you pass.

Other drugs and drug types you may have heard about on the news are legal in some circumstances, so are only subject to restrictions. These are:

Beta-blockers

These slow down the rate of breathing and heart rate. These are tested for only in certain sports (like archery, diving, shooting, ski jumping) because they would severely impair performance in endurance sports.

Blood Doping

This is not a banned drug, but a banned practice. Blood doping is the removal of red blood cells from the blood then replaced weeks later to increase the number in the bloodstream and therefore increase the amount of oxygen the body can carry. It is of tremendous benefit in long distance races.

But the risks are great, if blood is taken from another person, of getting an infectious disease (HIV, hepatitis B) or a severe reaction affecting the kidneys if the wrong typed blood is used. There is also the risk of overloading the circulatory system and going into metabolic shock.

E: But all these drugs have really bad side effects for your health!!

S: Are you kidding?! I feel very good when I take a pill of amphetamine or a coke rail!

E: Please Doc, tell him what is normally your role in the sport!

V: okay...

The Role of the Physician

The availability of performance enhancements creates special problems for physicians who have athletes as patients. In general, the anti-doping rules of sport are aimed at athletes, teams, and, to a lesser extent, coaches and trainers, and not at physicians who may be the source of the banned substances. While the Anti-Doping Code of the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibits anyone from administering or attempting to administer a banned substance, or assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up or being complicit in a violation or attempted violation of an anti-doping rule,¹ sports organizations rarely impose penalties on physicians, and then only on team doctors.

Since no drugs have been approved by the FDA to enhance sports performance, physicians who prescribe them to their athlete-patients are engaging in off-label prescribing. With one notable exception -- human growth hormone, discussed below -- this is not illegal under federal law unless the drug is a controlled substance, such as anabolic steroids or amphetamines. It is a felony to prescribe a controlled substance for other than a legitimate medical purpose and doctors have been prosecuted for prescribing them for use by athletes.

Human growth hormone, however, is different. In 1991, Congress amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to make it a felony to distribute or possess human growth hormone "for any use in humans other than the treatment of disease or other recognized medical condition."⁹ Thus, a physician who prescribed human growth hormone for enhancement use by athletes would commit a federal felony even though it is not a controlled substance.

Physicians who prescribe controlled substances to athletes also may be subject to disciplinary action by state medical boards and professional societies. Moreover, physicians in some states may be sanctioned by state medical boards for prescribing certain non-controlled substances.

Effects of important drugs

Amphetamines

Amphetamines are in a class of drugs called Stimulants.
The drug is commonly found in the form of injection, pills, tablets and crystalline powder.
The CLINICAL USE of Amphetamines are to boost energy, mood and confidence, and to suppress appetite. They were commonly prescribed for weight loss but are now reserved for limited treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Parkinson's disease.
ATHLETES USE IT because it helps  improve their endurance, increase their wakefulness and recover faster from injury.
The SPORTS MOST ASSOCIATED WITH ITS USE are cycling and speed skating.

Human Growth Hormone (hGH)

hGH is a Peptide Hormone
The drug is available in the form of  an injection.
CLINICAL USE of hGH has been since the 1950s to help stunted children grow normally. It is also given to AIDS patients to reverse muscle wastage and to adults with growth hormone deficiency.
ATHLETES USE hGH because it stimulates muscle growth and helps reduce body fat. It also allows athletes to recover faster from strenuous training.
The SPORT MOST recently associated with its use is Swimming. Australian customs officials discovered 13 vials of growth hormone hidden in the luggage of Chinese swimmer Yuan Yuan before the world championships in 1998.
hGH was undetectable until WADA recently devised a test for it. As a result, no athlete was ever caught using hGH prior to the new test being developed.

Diuretics

Diuretics are used as Masking agents and also to quickly lose weight.
The drug is commonly found in the form of tablets, injection or oral solution.
The CLINICAL USE of Diuretics  is in the treatment of acute and chronic renal failure. It also can be used effectively to treat mild cases of edema, which is swelling caused by an abnormal accumulation of fluid in body tissues.
ATHLETES USE Diuretics to increase urine production, helping them to flush steroids from their system rendering undetectable. They also help athletes lose body weight to put them at the top of a loower weight class even though there are possibly serious side effects.
The SPORTS MOST ASSOCIATED WITH ITS USE are cricket, weightlifting and horse racing and boxing.

Erythropoietin (EPO)

EPO is a Peptide Hormone.
The drug is administered by means of an injection.
The CLINICAL USE of synthetic EPO is to treat anaemia, or low red blood cell count, mainly in people with cancer, AIDS or kidney problems.
ATHLETES use a the synthetic version of a naturally occurring hormone to stimulate the production of  red blood cells, which increases an athlete's aerobic capacity and muscle endurance.
The SPORTS MOST ASSOCIATED WITH ITS USE are Cycling, cross-country skiing, long distance marathons. In 1998, the rampant use of the oxygen-to-blood booster tarnished the Tour de France.

Nandrolone

Nandrolone is an Anabolic Agent
The drug is administred by means of an injection.
The CLINICAL USE is for treatment of muscle wasting diseases, and to strengthen and increase body tissue and musculature in HIV infected patients.
ATHLETES USE IT because It helps increase muscle mass and physical strength. Nandrolone occurs naturally in the human body but only in minute quantities. A limit of 2 nanograms per ml of urine (set by the International Olympic Committee) is the maximum concentration thought possible to occur in human body by "natural means," and if this is exceeded the drug test is considered positive. Some nutritional supplements have been known to contain nandrolone without listing it in the product contents.
The SPORTS MOST ASSOCIATED WITH ITS USE are track and field, soccer and cycling.

Doping control.

The doping substances are the essence of doping. The control, which is carried out in order to check a possible violation of the rules that forbid the use of such substances in sport, is based on the possible detection of illicit substances in the samples of federate athletes who have competed or who can compete in officially organized competitions.

Doping control is defined by regulated processes that are carried out with the necessary guarantees for the anti-doping responsible as well as for the controlled athlete.
 

This procedure includes:

-Selection of the test and the athlete to submit control.
-Sample collection and sending to the analysis laboratories.
-Analysis, evaluation and report of the samples
-Application of the principles in accordance to the results of the analysis and, if appropriate, the corresponding sanction.

What are the motivations for doping?

• To enhance performance: increase strength, endurance, alertness, agression and decrease reaction time, fatigue, axiety andmuscle tremor.

• The drive to win: world class athletes are already genetic freaks; they function at an elite level without PES, but to win against others at this level, they may resort to use of PES.

• Financial incentives (!!)
  

• Belief that others are using performance enhancing substances as well
  

• coping with pain and injury rehabilitation

• weight control

• to alleviate stress and anxiety

• to relieve boredom

• to avoid dealing with personal problems

• to alleviate low self-confidence

• perfectionism

• peer pressure and acceptance

• social support: the public wants new records!

• pressure from coaches and advisors

Conclusions

The conclusion is clear: one should never use medication or pharmacologically active

substances without appropriate advice from a physician. If the medical drugs available today

are very potent and effective in treating disease, they also strongly affect healthy individuals

which may be tempted to use them, even though there is absolutely no therapeutic need.

One must never forget that the side effects of a drug are always present but that the

beneficial effects are felt only in case of a disease that has to be treated. The magnitude of

the side effects is of course dependent on the amount of the drug that is consumed.

Unfortunately, this amount is often excessive. The athlete that relies on doping is under

pressure to obtain quick results. Naturally, there is a strong temptation to increase the doses

to really push one's luck. We wish to emphasize yet another point: it is necessary to check

the purity of all substances of uncertain origin. Some products on the black market are

grossly mislabeled and preparations for injection are often contaminated with bacteria or

even viruses. In such cases, there is a significant risk to develop a serious condition and put

a definitive end to one's athletic career. Clearly, the game of doping is not worth playing.

nt is often excessive. The athlete that relies on doping is under pressure to obtain quick results. Naturally, there is a strong temptation to increase the doses to really push one's luck. Clearly, the game of doping is not worth playing.