Steroids improve performance within weeks

Even a low dose of testosterone can dramatically improve athlete performance, and in a fraction of the time it takes, a study initiated by New Scientist has found it. This discovery will exacerbate the challenges of the drastic increase in drug testing.

The wisdom is that testosterone should be administered every week for at least 10 weeks. Despite this, sports researcher Robert Weatherby of Southern Cross University in Lismore, NSW, Australia, who conducted the study, found that the biggest increase in performance occurred after just three weeks.

Taking testosterone only for a short time, lower doses, or both would reduce the likelihood of athletes being blocked by drug testers. “Athletes have probably figured it out, and we’re only scientifically confirming it,” said Randall Urban of the University of Texas at Austin, who has studied the effects of testosterone in older men.

Although much attention has been paid to the recently discovered synthetic anabolic steroid such as THG, athletes and bodybuilders often abuse various forms of the natural hormone testosterone. “The use of testosterone is still very prevalent in sports,” said Christiane Ayotte of the Doping Control Laboratory in Montreal, Canada.

There is also a high level of testosterone abuse in adolescents who want to improve their appearance or performance. The survey indicates that an alarming 3.5% of American high school students use steroids such as testosterone.

It’s fair to assume that at least this relationship also applies to the athletic community, says David Cowan of the Center for Drug Control at King’s College London. “We only catch maybe 10 percent of those who use drugs,” he says.

Muscle size

The first in-depth study of the performance-enhancing effects of testosterone in young men was not conducted until 1996. Volunteers were given weekly injections of 600 milligrams of testosterone enanthate or placebo for 10 weeks ( bodybuilders tend to take much higher doses). Performance tests carried out at the end of this period showed that the hormone improved muscle size and strength in those who exercised alone, and to a lesser extent in those who did not.

The only other comparable study from 2001 looked at the effects of different doses, but volunteers were not evaluated until after 20 weeks. No one watched the effects of testosterone for a short time.

In the latest study, Weatherby monitored the performance of 18 male amateur athletes on a six-week training program. Nine received weekly injections of testosterone enanthate at a dose of 3.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight for six weeks (equivalent to about half the dose in the 1996 study) and nine received a placebo.

The controversial essay, produced by New Scientist, British Channel 4 and producer Mentorn for a TV show airing this week in Australia, Canada, France and the UK, has been approved by the Southern Ethics Committee Cross University.

Less empathetic

Weatherby measured the size and performance of male muscles at baseline and after three and six weeks. Those who did the tests did not know who was taking testosterone and who was taking a placebo.

The team also looked at the effects of testosterone on the mood, personality, and immune system of volunteers. Unsurprisingly, due to the low dose and short duration, no dramatic effects were observed. Personality tests suggest that people taking testosterone have become less empathetic and caring for others, and their immune system activity may have waned somewhat, but this had no significant effect on it. ‘mood.

But athletes who took testosterone had a dramatic improvement in their performance. The most unexpected finding was that the greatest increase in muscle size and strength occurred only three weeks after starting the test (see diagram).

“I’m surprised it worked so fast,” Cowan said. Most professional athletes can expect to be judged every two years to 20 times a year, depending on the level at which they compete. “

Active and inactive

Testing for testosterone is difficult. With synthetic steroids, you just have to prove your presence. However, since testosterone is a natural hormone, testers generally have to rely on a few tips.

The standard method is to measure the ratio of active and inactive forms of testosterone in an individual’s urine, called the TE ratio. On average, this ratio is 1. When men take testosterone, the TE ratio can increase to 10 or more and after stopping it can drop below 1 because the body stops producing testosterone while the testosterone is being produced. that men take in large quantities. Advantages. The time it takes for the TE ratio to return to normal after people stop taking the hormone depends on the size of the doses and how long they took; it may take several months.

The World Anti-Doping Agency, which publishes global regulations on drug abuse in sport, considered a TE ratio above 6 to be suspected until 2004. Last week, new rules came into effect, recommending to test for abnormally low testosterone levels. .

Analysis of athlete urine samples in the Australian study is not yet complete, but results from other studies suggest that the proportion of people with TE is high enough to catch them, even at this relatively low dose. .

However, if athletes or coaches have accidentally tried and learned to use low doses only for a short time, they are less likely to get stuck. Your TE report should also return to normal more quickly, further reducing the likelihood of detection even during the new testing regime.

Cowan and Ayotte believe that a complete review of the testing system should be done. “What we really need to do is collect data on individual athletes often and over time to create testosterone profiles so that we can explain why the changes are happening and what their normal levels are,” Cowan explains. . “We want to cheat, but we also want to avoid pointing fingers at athletes without proof.”