Friday 31 December 2010

Asthma victims can benefit from steroids

According to a new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and other institutions, asthmatics can benefit to a significant extent when doses of steroids are increased or more drugs are added to the steroid treatment.
Robert C. Strunk, M.D., and Leonard B. Bacharier, M.D., both Washington University pediatric asthma specialists at St. Louis Children's Hospital were co-authors for this study.
"We used a few complicated and expensive tests we thought would help us determine which drug would be better, but they didn't help, so we can avoid these tests," says Strunk, the Donald Strominger Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine.
Although 98 percent of patients in the study showed improvement on at least one of the step-up options, there were still 120 asthma exacerbations, or attacks, among the 165 patients that required treatment with prednisone, a corticosteroid commonly used after an exacerbation that prevents the release of inflammatory substances in the body. Bacharier says that indicates none of these treatments provide perfect asthma control.
"There may not be an ideal therapy for every patient, but these step-up treatments allow for improved asthma control and outcomes over leaving them on low-dose steroids alone," Bacharier says.
This study was published online March 2, 2010, by the New England Journal of Medicine and presented the same day at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology's annual meeting in New Orleans.

Monday 27 December 2010

Andrew Leipus rejects drugs claims

The physiotherapist of the Indian cricket team, Andrew Leipus, has rejected allegations in the Outlook magazine that were backed up by quotes attributed to former coach Anshuman Gaekwad.
Leipus told the www.rediff.com website, "I have never asked anyone to use steroids ever”.
"I have never even asked them to use cortisone injections to mask pain.
"The Indian cricket team does not work hard enough in the gym to benefit from the use of steroids."
Gaekwad, who was Indian coach for three years, has threatened to sue the magazine, saying his quotes had been taken out of context.
"I generally talked about energy-replacement drinks which, in any case, are taken on the field in full public view," said the former Test cricketer.
"At no point did I mention the use of performance-enhancing drugs."
South African Leipus, who has been with the Indian team for two years, said the claims were unrealistic.
"Indian cricketers do not push themselves to their genetic potential. Steroids help people in the gym enormously. If you are into heavy weight training, steroids will help you a lot.
Leipus also denied rumors that players could be using drugs during the off-season without his knowledge.

Thursday 23 December 2010

Australian trainer Joe Janiak hits back in row

Joe Janiak, the Australian trainer, recently responded to claims that Takeover Target should not have been invited to run at Royal Ascot.
Takeover Target, the nine-year old, could have an unfair advantage after testing positive for a banned steroid in 2006 as per British trainer Mark Johnston.
Janiak said the criticism is unfair: "There's no justification for it, we were innocent at the time."
"At no stage did steroids give my horse an advantage."
He added: "It's done and we've paid the penalty."
Takeover Target was found to have the anabolic steroid 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone hexanoate, known as HPC, in his system on arrival in Hong Kong in October 2006.
The drug, which has the potential to build muscle, was not on the banned list of substances in Australia at the time but was outlawed in February 2008.
Janiak says HPC was recommended by vets as an aid for horses who travel abroad.
Johnston told the Racing Post that it seems like the rules for British trainers are different from those for Australian trainers with runners in Britain.

Sunday 19 December 2010

Callum Priestley tested positive

Callum Priestley, the 21-year-old sprint hurdler, who won the 60m hurdles title at the British trials, has become the first athlete to fail a drug test after Dwain Chambers tested positive for Tetrahydrogestrinone in 2003.
Priestley was provisionally suspended from all competition and funding after his provided B sample tested positive for clenbuterol.
The UKA chief executive, Niels de Vos, said: "I am hugely disappointed that there has been a failed test. UKA continues to give 100% support to the work of UK Anti-Doping and we maintain our full commitment to drug-free sport."
Priestley's positive sample turned up following an out-of-competition test taken at a UKA training camp in South Africa in January. If found guilty he will face a two-year ban and a lifetime ban from competing as a British athlete in the Olympic Games.
Clenbuterol is on the World Anti-Doping Authority's banned substance list for its performance enhancing properties that include improved aerobic capacity and a faster metabolism that helps with weight loss. In 2008, the American swimmer Jessica Hardy was forced to withdraw from the US Olympic team after testing positive for the drug, while Poland's sprint canoeist Adam Seroczynski, who also tested positive, was disqualified from the K-2 1,000m event at the Beijing Olympic Games and subsequently banned from the sport for two years.
Clenbuterol is an ingredient in drugs prescribed to patients afflicted from chronic breathing disorders like asthma.

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Troy Glaus says no to future use of steroids

Troy Glaus of the Cardinals has vowed not to make use of anabolic steroids again. This was after Glaus met Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak to have a word on a newspaper report suggesting the third baseman made use of steroids in 2003 and 2004 for recovering from shoulder injuries.
Mozeliak said Glaus is expected to stay away from steroids from now on and he expects the player to get back to St. Louis as quickly as possible.
Glaus, who hit 27 homers and had 99 RBIs last season, his first with the Cardinals, injured the shoulder again and underwent arthroscopic debridement in January. He is rehabbing with a private trainer in Phoenix, where the Cardinals opened a three-game series against the Diamondbacks on Monday.
Glaus declined to comment on specifics of the Times' report, according to the Post-Dispatch.
"At this point, there is no reason [to go over the past]. I'm not going to comment," Glaus said. "I'm in there [the gym]. I'm doing my exercises, and I'm going to do everything I can to get back as soon as I possibly can. From the exercises I'm doing now or working out -- whatever it is I have to do so that when I come back, I'm ready to play."
Mozeliak said he was satisfied that there would be no parallels between Glaus' 2003 rehab and his current one.
Mozeliak said after meeting in Phoenix that Glaus will not be duplicating the mistake again.

Saturday 11 December 2010

Disgraced sprinter has new options before her

Marion Jones, the disgraced sprinter, has signed for Women's National Basketball Association team, Tulsa Shock, and is expected to venture into a new career after she lost five Olympic medals for using steroids and being jailed for lying to federal prosecutors.
Jones spent 6 months in a federal prison for lying about steroids and her role in a check fraud.
Jones, who was awarded gold medals for winning the 100m, 200m and 4 x 400m relays at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and two bronzes in the long jump and 4x100m, admitted two years ago that she had taken steroids before, during and after the Games and was stripped of her five medals. She also spent about six months in a Texas federal prison for lying about doping and her role in a cheque fraud.
Jones said playing for the Shock is not about her past but instead fulfils her dream of playing basketball against some of the best players in the world.
"The word redemption is not in my vocabulary," Jones said at a news conference, flanked by the team's president, Steve Swetoha, and coach Nolan Richardson. "I'm a competitor, I want to play against the best in the world, and I know that I will be doing that."
The relationship between Jones and steroids is believed to seriously damage her prospects for a new career but her fans hope she can finally have a smile.

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Former doctor rubbishes claims of Landis

Luis Garcia del Moral, the chief doctor of Lance Armstrong's United States Postal Service team when he conquered the Tour de France five times, has dismissed accusations against Lance Armstrong by Floyd Landis about use of banned drugs in the past.
Armstrong was accused of indulging into blood doping by Landis, which was vehemently denied by the seven-time Tour champion.
Del Moral, who oversaw the team's medical staff from 1999 to 2003, said he never witnessed any doping programmes during his time with the Johan Bruyneel-led American team.
Landis has accused Armstrong of blood doping, which the seven-times Tour champion denies.
Del Moral said Landis's allegations were "a joke" and that he was not aware of any cheating, saying: "I don't know anything about all of this." Del Moral said he would answer questions for federal investigators should he be summoned.
Professional sports have seen many link-ups between steroids and sports that are often without any concrete evidence and this case seems to fall in the same category.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Sponsors not deterred by case against Contador

The Danish investment bank, Saxo Bank, has recently communicated that it will continue to be the main sponsor of the cycling team that has its name even after its new rider, the three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador was suspended for doping.
A provisional suspension was handed over to Contador after a "very small concentration" of the banned substance clenbuterol was found by a World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Germany in a urine sample that was taken on 21 July, during the Tour.
"I am truly happy and grateful to know that Saxo Bank see the value in continuing their support of our team even before the adjudication and their decision to come through only underlines their integrity," said the team director, Bjarne Riis, in a statement. "The big mutual respect between us is a result of the strong and loyal partnership we have developed throughout the last couple of years."
Contador, who has signed a two-year contract with Saxo Bank, will lose his Tour de France title if he is convicted of doping. He also risks a two-year suspension.
The 27-year-old Spaniard said that the positive test was caused by "food contamination" and denied speculation that he also engaged in blood transfusions during the race.
"Of course, we hope that Alberto is acquitted and can ride as planned in 2011 but for now, we hold our nerve and await what will happen," said Riis, who owns the team.
Saxo Bank started its partnership with Riis in 2008 as a joint sponsor of the team and became the main sponsor in January 2009.