ANTI-DOPING
Drugs in sport Steve Bird
Welcome to the murky world of drugs in sport, or to be more encompassing ‘Ergogenic (work enhancing) aids’ in sport. It’s murky because despite the efforts of various authorities it’s complex, with areas of greyness.
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S we’ve seen in recent times, there are issues around whether to discriminate between ‘performance enhancing’ drugs, and the use of ‘recreational’ drugs that may or may not affect performance. There is also an element of greyness in setting the moral boundaries. For example, if we say that drugs or other performance enhancing techniques are banned because they give an unfair advantage, where do we draw the line between: (i) going to altitude to live and train, to enhance oxygen delivery, (ii) sleeping in a hypobaric chamber that simulates being at altitude, (iii) removing some of your own blood, allowing your body the replenish the loss, and then reinfusing the extracted blood to increase oxygen delivery, and (iv) injecting the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) to stimulate your body to produce more red blood cells. Essentially, all of these can have the same effect, yet we have applied a moral stance, in which (iii) and (iv) would be deemed as cheating, whist (i) and (ii) would be permissible. If in the above example we draw the line at blood reinfusion and injecting EPO, on the grounds that they’re not a ‘natural’ effect, why then do we allow other medications to be taken without applying the same criteria, say for example with asthma medication. Since this also enables someone to compete and perform at a level that they may not be able to without the drugs. So in this case we shift the rationale to the difference between ‘illness’ and ‘normal’, but this is a spectrum with no definite line. And to a certain extent, we accept medications because as a society we accept them as part of our daily life, but the way society has shaped us means that taking drugs to enhance performance doesn’t feel right, and so we consider it immoral and cheating. I am, of course, being provocative for the sake of stimulating discussion and I’m not advocating the use of drugs in sport, just highlighting the complexities of the issues which are dictated by our view of society and what it should be. Likewise the argument of giving someone an ‘unfair advantage’ is also ridden with holes, as ‘unfairness’ can have many forms. For example we could extend this to: having the right parents who gave us the best genes for a particular sport; or living in a particular geographic location that has better facilities; or socioeconomic status. Who knows how many potential champion polo players are out there, but never get to ride a horse, let alone afford a stable of polo ponies. So why do we accept some forms of unfairness, but not others. We could say that it’s because taking drugs is bad for your health, but you only need to spend a few hours in the Emergency Department of the local hospital to see that if we applied the criteria of ‘bad for your health/risk of injury’, we would need to ban a whole range of sporting activities outright. And so the philosophical arguments go on, and “being a bear of small brain” (A. A. Milne; Winnie-the-Pooh) I shall leave them to
the philosophers, BBQ and Bar Room discussions, whilst I stick to the less subjective aspects of the topic, in outlining some of the basic science. This article will attempt to clarify some of the points involved by reviewing a few of the aspects associated with doping substances and procedures in sport, outlining which drugs are involved and suggesting why those involved in sport may be tempted to use them.
Research evidence for ergogenic benefits Conclusive research into the ergogenic effects of particular drugs or doping procedures, and the health risks they convey is often difficult due to the nature of the subject. For example, since their use by those involved in sport is, by definition, not permitted, it precludes any sports individuals from taking them as part of any scientific research study on the topic. This means that research findings are sometimes based upon non-sportsmen and women, a consequence of which may be that the results bear little resemblance to the sporting situation and sports performer whose physiological responses may differ quite considerably considering their levels of fitness and training. Additionally in conducting any drug related research there is of course the ethical issue of giving someone a potentially dangerous substance even if they are a volunteer. It’s also a fact that the potential hazards associated with sports related drug abuse often relate to the large doses that are used. When these drugs are used to treat medical conditions they are given in particular dosages under strict medical supervision, with their effects being strictly monitored. Conversely when they are abused by the sports performer, these drugs are often taken in very large dosages which are far in excess of the therapeutic dosage and used without any medical supervision, resulting in a far greater risk of adverse and serious side effects to the user. However despite the difficulties associated with researching into the topic there is a growing body of published scientific evidence which is helping to produce a clearer picture of the situation. These findings are supported by a larger volume of anecdotal evidence, small-scale studies and case reports, all of which contribute to our understanding of the subject.
Medications and doping The topic of drug abuse is clouded by the fact that many of the banned drugs are medically prescribed to treat particular disorders and some are even present, in small amounts, in common ‘over the counter medicines’. This makes it imperative that anyone involved in sport should be aware of which therapeutic drugs are permitted and which are not. Orienteering Australia has a published anti-doping policy, and the Australian Sports AntiDoping Authority (ASADA) has an Anti-Doping Handbook that can be downloaded from the Web. A key message from this is to contact the relevant team doctor if you are unsure, and for all those competing abroad, do not to buy medicines yourself but go DECEMBER 2007 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER 33
