Sports drug abuse

The cytokine subfamily 1 includes erythropoietin (EPO) (that increases red blood cell production and has accordingly been involved in sports drug abuse), granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-GSF) (that stimulates leucocyte differentiation), GH (used clinically for growth impairment due to GH deficiency), prolactin (PRL) (that promotes milk production), IL-4 and IL-7. The members of this family act via homodimeric receptors. The leucocyte-derived cytokines of this group variously modulate haematopoiesis and immune responses. 

Spiretic, 973 Spiro, 973 Spiroctan, 973 Spirolactone, 973 Spirolang, 973 Spirolone, 973 Spironolactone, 973 Spiroprop, 936,973 Spirotone, 973 Split injection, 187 Splitless injection, 187 Spontox, 531, 1040 Sporiderm, 1032 Sporiline, 1032 Sporostacin, 446 Sport, drug abuse in, 87-100 Spray-Tish, 1034 SPRX, 876 Squalane, 180 SS Thiazole, 978 ST-52, 975 S-T Expect, 645 Stabilene, 602 Stabillin V-K, 888 Stabinol, 461 Stadadorm, 353... 

You have surely come across the items of news that appear quite frequently in the media, related to world-class athletes and sports personalities abusing anabolic steroids, e.g. nandrolone, to enhance performance and also to improve physical appearance. What are these substances Well, all these drugs and many other important drugs belong to the class of compounds called steroids. 

Few people still use this argument because it is obvious that drug abuse does affect others in many ways. However, many people who are forced to take drug tests in order to participate in sports or to keep a job resent the invasion of their privacy. Some tests are inaccurate. People can test positive as the result of certain legal drugs or because of mistakes in records. 

In addition to the recreational use of illegal drugs, one of the more creative uses of drugs is to improve athletic performance. While the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the world of sports is not really drug abuse in the common use of the term,... 

According to Pulse Check Trends in Drug Abuse, GHB users and sellers tend to be middle-class white males between the ages of 18 and 30. GHB is typically packaged in plastic bottles (generally water or sports drink bottles) and distributed by the capful for 5 to 20 per dose. Other popular packaging includes eyedropper bottles, glass vials, and mouthwash bottles. 

Amfetamine has had multifarious uses. It is now obsolete for depression and as an appetite suppressant, and its use in sport is abuse (see before). There is concern that its illicit use as a psychostimulant is widespread. Amfetamine is a racemic compound the laevo-form is relatively inactive but dexamphetamine (the dextro- isomer) finds use in medicine. Amfetamine will be described, and structurally-related drugs only in the ways in which they differ. 

The analysis of drugs abused in sports— particularly toxicological anal) is— has evolved into a discipline of its own. Because many of the banned substances are not controlled (caffeine above a threshold concentration is a violation), the chemistry and analysis are unique. Once anabolic steroids and other performanceenhancing substances were added to the Controlled Substances Act in 1991, what had principally been a toxicological concern became a drug analysis issue as well, since physical evidence could now be seized and submitted to crime laboratories. 

Guha N, Dashwood A, Thomas NJ, Skingle AJ, Sdnksen PH, Holt RI. IGF-I abuse in sport. Curr Drug Abuse Rev 2009 2(3) 263-72. 

Figure 20.32 Structures of anabolic steroids associated with drug abuse in sport.

Donohoe, T., and Johnson, N. (1986) Foul Play—Drug Abuse in Sports, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. 

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