Sports Flashcards
Ben Johnson in the Olympics (what drug was used?)
Stanozolol
What are anabolic steroids?
They are human growth hormones that can boost strength and add muscle. They are meanth to mimic testosterone.
Why were people injecting themselves with substances from testicles?
Trying to see if it made them stronger. It was the beginning stages of testing for steroids.
Who were the first athletes to use testosterone?
Horse racers. it was put in the horse, not the rider.
The Soviets, weightlifting, and steroids.
Turned it into a science by studying every aspect of it.
Effects of extra testosterone. (Anabolic vs. Androgenic and general)
Anabolic: muscle mass, strength, bone growth
Androgenic: Undesired effects. More hair, deeper voice, acne, increased sex drive
Generally, they also speed up recovery.
Germany, the Olympics, and Steroids.
German swimmers were forced to take steroids, they were experimented on. Because the German swimmers swept the competition, the Olympics banned them in 1977. Then, Germany established a doping lab where they gained access to testing protocols.
What was BALCO (steroids)
Company that supplied athletes with “designer” steroids. They were dangerous because they weren’t really tested. They were designed to avoid detection.
Strychnine drug.
Used to increase endurance. Thomas Hicks won a marathon while using it.
Adrenaline in sports.
Increased endurance. Not ideal for most sports since it only lasted for a short period of time. It was, however, useful for boxing.
Amphetamines in sports.
Designed from adrenaline. Increased endurance. Marketed as Pervtin. Tom Simson, a cyclist, overdosed on them during the Tour de France. They trigger the fight or flight response which puts strain on the heart.
Olympics restrict drugs in 1967. Which drugs and why?
Amphetamines
Narcotics
Nervous system stimulants (Strychnine)
Antideppressants
Tranquilizers
They weren’t banned for their unfair advantages, they were banned for the health risk.
Drug testing process.
Gas Chromatogrophy sorts out molecules from athlete’s pee. The mixture is ,then, passed through a sticky tube. It sorts the molecules using speed and times. It also measures the amount.
The Mass Spectrometer weighs the molecules. It throws them into a magnetic field. It finds a fingerprint, which is then used to identify compounds.
Steroid testing also uses the Testosterone to Epitestosterone ration. Normal ratio is 1:1 but 4:1 can also be normal.
Avoiding drug testing processes. (masking)
Can inject Epitestosterone to hide the increase in Testosterone.
Drink Duretics to mask steroid amount.
Add bleach or whiskey to interfere with the testing.
Urine switching. Emptying the bladder and replacing it with clean urine.
Health risks of steroids.
Liver damage, Heart damage, Reproductive effects.
Longterm effects are unknown as people aren’t honest about and they experiment with steroid use.
Drugs in sports using Red Blood Cells. (including EPO facts)
Increases oxygen capacity. Can increase levels by training at high altitudes or by blood doping. Blood doping is removing the blood from an athletes, concentrating the RBCs and storing them for 3 monts and then putting them back in the athlete just before the competition. Blood doping can also be using EPO to stimulate RBC production.
Note: recombinant EPO is one of the best drugs made because it can be used for an disease requiring a blood transfusion. Although, it can be risky because it can cause heart attack by thickening the blood. EPO can only be detected using antibodies in the urine.
