Doping in professional sports: Thyroid drugs can increase performance
Created: 07/08/2022, 15:00
By: Laura Knops
Thyroid drugs have been suspected of having a performance-enhancing effect on the body for some time.
Doping in professional sport does not always have to be related to prohibited substances.
Various prescription drugs can also have a performance-enhancing effect.
In recent years in particular, there have been repeated cases of doping that can be traced back to the use of thyroid medication.
However, the drugs are not yet on the list of doping substances.
Doping in professional sports: Thyroid drugs can increase performance
Most recently, prescription thyroid drugs made headlines in connection with serious doping cases.
This is also the case in the scandal surrounding the "Nike Oregon Project", the controversial training group from the USA, which also included the German runner Kara Goucher.
“My coach wanted me to take Cytomel.
A prescription drug for the thyroid.
One side effect is weight loss.
That crossed a red line for me," Kara Goucher told
ARD
.
Your coach at the time, Alberto Salazar, has now been suspended due to serious doping allegations.
So far, thyroid drugs are not on the list of prohibited substances (symbol image).
© Panthermedia / Imago
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Increased performance through thyroid medication: effect on metabolism
The thyroid is one of the most important organs in the body.
The butterfly-shaped organ, located at the level of the larynx, is responsible for hormone production and is therefore indispensable for metabolism.
If the thyroid gets out of balance, this can have serious consequences that can only be combated with appropriate means.
It is therefore hardly surprising that athletes expect a performance-enhancing effect from the thyroid medication.
The underlying assumption: Since the thyroid gland has a direct influence on the various metabolic processes, the substances could possibly also influence energy production or muscle power.
Hypothyroidism: Only about one percent of Germans suffer from it
It has been known for years that more and more athletes are abusing drugs.
However, doping investigators from Italy have now discovered that thyroid drugs are taken significantly more often among top Italian athletes than in the general population.
The number of cyclists and football professionals in particular is worrying.
An underactive thyroid is comparatively rare in the population - only about one percent of the German population suffers from the disease.
However, since the rate among top Italian athletes is around 20 times higher, the experts were taken aback.
The scientists around Xavier de la Torre from the anti-doping laboratory in Rome therefore assume an attempted increase in performance.
The anti-doping agencies of several nations are therefore demanding a ban on thyroid drugs.
But the experts at the World Doping Agency (WADA) lack the relevant evidence for the abuse of thyroid hormones in top-class sport.
Thyroid medication: Experts warn against taking it without a medical reason
In Germany, too, there are no corresponding figures on the intake of thyroid medication in professional sports.
According to the
ARD
, large sports associations such as the DOSB or the DFG cannot provide any information.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) is against putting the drugs on the watch list.
Experts even warn against careless taking of the medication.
Because if you take medicines without a medical reason, you run the risk of harming your body.
In the worst case, the heart will be so badly affected that this could possibly lead to sudden cardiac death.
This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication. In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor. Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.
