Archive for the ‘steriods’ tag
Scientists and Performance Enhancement #
I’m not sure an online poll cuts the statistical mustard (actually, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t), but I was surprised:
While only a fifth of the poll’s 1,400 respondents admitted to drug use to improve concentration, nearly two-thirds said they knew of a colleague who did. And if there were “a normal risk of mild side effects,” nearly 70% of the scientists said they’d boost their brain power by taking a “cognitive-enhancing drug.”
(via Slashdot)
Genetics and Steroids #
Actually, I’m not sure if testosterone is considered a steroid, but you understand. I thought this was rather interesting.
Nearly half of the men who carried no functional copies of UGT2B17 would have gone undetected in the standard doping test. By contrast, 14% of those with two functional copies of the gene were over the detection threshold before they had even received an injection. The researchers estimate this would give a false-positive testing rate of 9% in a random population of young men.
Dr Schulze also says there is substantial ethnic variation in UGT2B17 genotypes. Two-thirds of Asians have no functional copies of the gene (which means they have a naturally low ratio of TG to EG), compared with under a tenth of Caucasians—something the anti-doping bodies may wish to take into account.
Also of note: an astounding graph of the rapid drop in performance in throwing events after regular testing began.