19: Sport Doping Flashcards
Doping is defined as what by the Canadian Policy on Doping in Sport?
“The presence in the body of banned substances as determined by a positive test result or evidence of the use of banned practice.”
List three historical uses of doping.
The name of an alcoholic beverage made from grape skins by Zulu warriors to enhance their prowess in battle.
Ancient Greek athletes are known to have used special diets and stimulating potions to fortify themselves.
In the 19th century cyclists and other endurance athletes often used strychnine, caffeine, cocaine, and alcohol.
What was the first international sports federation to ban the use of doping and when was it founded? Why were rules difficult to execute?
International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) in 1928.
Rules difficult to execute due to lack of screening methods.
In what Olympics were drug tests first introduced?
1968 X Olympic winter games in Grenoble, France and at the Olympic summer games in Mexico in the same year.
What are the three purposes of drug testing?
1) protection of the health of athletes.
2) respect for both medical and sports ethics.
3) equality for all competing athletes.
What are the four most popular performance-enhancing drugs?
Stimulants
Anabolic steroids
Human growth hormone
Erythropoietin (EPO)
Describe the process of drug testing. Describe three ways to test cheating.
Urine sample divided into 2 portions, A and B. Samples may be re-tested later (up to 8 years for some high-profile events, e.g. Olympic Games).
Test cheating:
Urine replacement
Diuretics
Blood transfusion
What is the trend of testing anabolic steroids?
Number of samples tested constantly increases. The percentage of positive results remains low (~1%).
List the penalties for violating Major League Baseball policies with regards to steroids.
First positive: 50-game suspension
Second positive: 100-game suspension
Third positive: Lifetime suspension, possibility of reinstatement after 2 years
List the penalties for violating Major League Baseball policies with regards to amphetamines.
First positive: Mandatory follow-up testing
Second positive: 25-game suspension
Third positive: 80-game suspension
Fourth positive: Commissioner’s discretion
What are the seven prohibited substances? Describe them in brief.
Stimulants (e.g. amphetamine, ephedrine). Possibility to obtain exemption for Ritalin used to treat ADH.
Beta-blockers (propranolol most common) in certain sports (e.g. shooting). Calming, anti-tremor and, anti-anxiety effects.
Diuretics. Concerns that urinary dilution enables athletes using prohibited drugs, especially androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS), to escape detection. Currently approved in some sports and some conditions (e.g. to treat hypertension).
Glucocorticosteroids (GCS). Controversial data about performance enhancement and difficult to prove misuse.
Insulin. Athletes without insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) were misusing it for its anabolic and anti-catabolic effects.
Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). Athletes administering it to restore endogenous production of testosterone after misusing anabolic steroids.
Human growth hormone (hGH).
What is the most infamous use of androgenic anabolic steroids?
East Germany team during 1980s, mainly used by female athletes, shortly after introduction resulted in 4-fold increase in Olympic medal scores.
Why does detecting doping with testosterone remain a challenge?
Need to distinguish exogenously administered testosterone from that produced endogenously.
What was the initial method of detecting doping with testosterone and why was it problematic? What is the current method?
Initial method based on elevation of the urinary testosterone/epitestosterone ratio above 6. Problem: ethnic differences.
Now detected using Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS).
Why is detection of AAS doping challenging?
New synthetic AAS constantly appear on the market.
