DOPING
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 6:45 pm• Ben Johnson is one of the most famous cases of doping in sporting history. Find out about other famous cases and about cases in the news recently.
The others American famous people with problems with the doping test were Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield baseball players and the boxer Sane Mosley. Other very famous is Linford Christie the athletic who play and win in the last Olympic games in Barcelona in 1992.
• Find out more about the benefits of banned substances like EPO, steroids, growth hormone and genetic doping. What are their benefits? What sports are they associated with? What are the possible side effects?
The benefits derived from using doping substances for non-therapeutic purposes are fairly minimal compared with the many risks and sometimes irreversible damage that result from their abuse.
The array of doping substances and methods is wide and varied. The main ones are as follows:
1. androgens and anabolic steroids
2. THG
3. stimulants
4. beta-2 agonists
5. EPO
6. human growth hormone
7. glucocor ticoids
8. narcotics
9. diuretics
10. autologous transfusion
1. Androgens and anabolic steroids
Androgens are the male hormones that enable sperm cells to function and male sexual characteristics to develop. The main androgens are testosterone and dihydrotestosterone®, the most active form into which testosterone is converted in the body.
Anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone that have been chemically altered to reduce androgenic effects (effects on male sexual characteristics), increase anabolic effects (allow the synthesis of substances that promote growth in muscle mass, in particular), and reduce undesirable side effects.
Some authors use the term “steroids” to refer both to androgens and to anabolic steroids, since both have the same basic chemical structure.
The steroids most commonly used in Canada are nandrolone (Deca-Durabolin‚ or Durabolin®), danazol (Cyclomen®), fluoxymesterone (Halotestin®), oxandrolone (Oxandrin®), oxymetholone (Anapolon 50®), and stanozolol (Winstrol®).
Steroids have many legal therapeutic applications: male hypogonadism (functional deficiencies in the testicles at puberty or later in life), delayed growth, osteoporosis, anemia, tissue healing and breast cancer.
But steroids are also used illegally, as doping substances, by athletes. Steroids are taken either orally or by intramuscular injection.
Anabolic substances, in particular androgens and anabolic steroids, can have many undesirable effects:
• effects specific to adolescents: interrupted growth
• effects specific to females: hirsutism (excessive hair growth, especially on the face), masculinization of the voice and the body, alopecia (hair loss), atrophy of the breasts and uterus, hypertrophy of the clitoris, menstrual irregularities, amenorrhea (lack of menstruation), and oligomenorrhea (light menstruation)
• effects specific to males: : gynecomasty (development of breasts), atrophy of the testicles, diminished libido, reduced fertility and impotence
• effects common to males and females::
o severe acne
o musculoskeletal injuries: ruptured tendons, torn muscles
o liver problems: development of bloody cysts in the liver, jaundice, liver cancer
o cardiovascular problems: increased risks of arteriosclerosis, thromboembolisms, myocardial infarctions, strokes, edema, hypertension
o mental problems: anxiety, irritability, aggressiveness, loss of perception of certain realities and values, insomnia, nightmares, depression, suicidal thoughts, mental confusion, hallucinations, delusions of grandeur, paranoid personality disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychoses
o physical and psychological dependence
Post any interesting information you find on the Noticeboard in the Study Room. Read the information that other students have posted.
© 2009
The others American famous people with problems with the doping test were Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield baseball players and the boxer Sane Mosley. Other very famous is Linford Christie the athletic who play and win in the last Olympic games in Barcelona in 1992.
• Find out more about the benefits of banned substances like EPO, steroids, growth hormone and genetic doping. What are their benefits? What sports are they associated with? What are the possible side effects?
The benefits derived from using doping substances for non-therapeutic purposes are fairly minimal compared with the many risks and sometimes irreversible damage that result from their abuse.
The array of doping substances and methods is wide and varied. The main ones are as follows:
1. androgens and anabolic steroids
2. THG
3. stimulants
4. beta-2 agonists
5. EPO
6. human growth hormone
7. glucocor ticoids
8. narcotics
9. diuretics
10. autologous transfusion
1. Androgens and anabolic steroids
Androgens are the male hormones that enable sperm cells to function and male sexual characteristics to develop. The main androgens are testosterone and dihydrotestosterone®, the most active form into which testosterone is converted in the body.
Anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone that have been chemically altered to reduce androgenic effects (effects on male sexual characteristics), increase anabolic effects (allow the synthesis of substances that promote growth in muscle mass, in particular), and reduce undesirable side effects.
Some authors use the term “steroids” to refer both to androgens and to anabolic steroids, since both have the same basic chemical structure.
The steroids most commonly used in Canada are nandrolone (Deca-Durabolin‚ or Durabolin®), danazol (Cyclomen®), fluoxymesterone (Halotestin®), oxandrolone (Oxandrin®), oxymetholone (Anapolon 50®), and stanozolol (Winstrol®).
Steroids have many legal therapeutic applications: male hypogonadism (functional deficiencies in the testicles at puberty or later in life), delayed growth, osteoporosis, anemia, tissue healing and breast cancer.
But steroids are also used illegally, as doping substances, by athletes. Steroids are taken either orally or by intramuscular injection.
Anabolic substances, in particular androgens and anabolic steroids, can have many undesirable effects:
• effects specific to adolescents: interrupted growth
• effects specific to females: hirsutism (excessive hair growth, especially on the face), masculinization of the voice and the body, alopecia (hair loss), atrophy of the breasts and uterus, hypertrophy of the clitoris, menstrual irregularities, amenorrhea (lack of menstruation), and oligomenorrhea (light menstruation)
• effects specific to males: : gynecomasty (development of breasts), atrophy of the testicles, diminished libido, reduced fertility and impotence
• effects common to males and females::
o severe acne
o musculoskeletal injuries: ruptured tendons, torn muscles
o liver problems: development of bloody cysts in the liver, jaundice, liver cancer
o cardiovascular problems: increased risks of arteriosclerosis, thromboembolisms, myocardial infarctions, strokes, edema, hypertension
o mental problems: anxiety, irritability, aggressiveness, loss of perception of certain realities and values, insomnia, nightmares, depression, suicidal thoughts, mental confusion, hallucinations, delusions of grandeur, paranoid personality disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychoses
o physical and psychological dependence
Post any interesting information you find on the Noticeboard in the Study Room. Read the information that other students have posted.
© 2009