Are there drugs for athletes that increase strength and are not banned?
Posted December 14th, 2006 at 2:30 PM by Martha Jones
Section: News & Results, Nutrition, Supplements, Health & Fitness, Drugs In Sports
Some athletes take estrogen blockers and human chorionic gonadotropin (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2006), which have not been banned by sports authorities such as the Olympic committee.
Estrogen blockers such as Tamoxifen, Arimidex, Aromasin, and Femara are used to treat women with, or at high risk, for breast cancer. Evidently lowering the female hormone, estrogen, may act the same way as raising the male hormone, testosterone, to help athletes recover faster from hard workouts.
Human chorionic gonadotropins are hormones that are produced in very large amounts by a woman’s body when she is pregnant. These hormones appear to promote cells growth, which includes muscle tissue.
Both male and female athletes can experience strength gains from these hormones or anti-hormones. Since nobody really knows all the side effects that occur when healthy athletes take them, the athletes may be risking their lives.
This post is written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D. and was originally published on his blog “Fitness and Health E-Zine”.
Dr. Mirkin is board certified in Sports Medicine and has practiced for over 40 years. He has completed more than 40 marathons and was a talk show host of a nationally-syndicated radio program for about 25 years. For more articles by Dr. Mirkin, please check out: www.DrMirkin.com
Please also be advised that Dr. Mirkin’s opinions and the references cited are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.
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Tags: anti hormones, Arimidex, Aromasin, cell growth, drugs, estrogen, estrogen blockers, female hormone, Femara, hormones, human chorionic gonadotropin, male hormone, muscle tissue, non banned drugs, side effects, strength, Tamoxifen, testosterone
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