item in Ramblin' Thru Muscledom
STEROIDS are the bane of bodybuilders, powerlifters and weightlifters. Steroids build imitation muscles and strength. While they do make muscles and strength almost instantly, the long-range effect may be drastic - even causing death! Although many athletes were using them, their detection unlike that of the stimulant drugs, was not possible until now. A method for detecting the use of steroids has been discovered by British scientists. The following was dispatched from London, England.
"British scientists have finally found a way to detect the presence of body-building anabolic steroid drugs in athletes, it was announced today.
"Hailing the development as a major breakthru, Britain's Sports Council said it was informing the International Olympic Committee, International Federations and national governing bodies of sport.
"Anabolic steroids, based on sex hormones, are known to be used by many leading world sportsmen despite widespread condemnation of the practice. They build up muscle tissue, and intensive training then results in greater strength.
"The drugs are particularly popular with weightlifters, shotputters and discus, hammer and javelin throwers but are also used in many other sports including sprinting, hurdling, jumping, cycling and wrestling.
"Many world records of the past decade are attributed to use of the drugs.
"Hitherto they were undetectable. The fact that steroid treatment can be halted long before an event, without loss of effectiveness, means that virtually all trace of the drug have been eliminated from the body by the time the athlete performs.
"Now, a research group at St. Thomas' Hospital Medical School, London, has developed tests which can detect the use of steroids by screening blood and urine samples.
"The method is based on a technique called radioimmunoassay. It can detect one-hundred-thousandth part of a millionth of a gram of steroid. The technique is simple enough for one operator to test about 100 samples in three days.
"Prof. Raymond Brooks, who led the research team at St. Thomas', has agreed to supply details of the test to recognized sports bodies abroad. The team's research over the past three years has been part-financed by the Sports Council.
"Dr. Roger Bannister, chairman of the Sports Council and the first man to run a mile under 4 minutes, said:
"'I hope the I.O.C. (International Olympic Committee) and other sports authorities will accept this new technique and go on to introduce whatever further checks will effectively rid sports worldwide of the evils of drug abuse...
"'Sports competitors who take steroids are not only cheating, they may be risking serious damage to their health.
"'There is evidence that steroids taken in large doses can cause liver damage and a reduction in fertility.'
"Dr. Bannister added, 'Successful testing and elimination of steroids may, of course, mean that many records set up during the steroid era might not be surpassed for years to come.'
"In the discus, for instance, men's world record distances were improved by a phenomenal 12.4 percent between 1960 and 1971, and in the shotput by 11.2 percent. This compared with an improvement of less than three percent in times for middle and long-distance runners, for whom body weight and brute strength are not the prime requirements.
"Some athletes are reported to have taken as many as 10 dianabol steroid pills a day. Others are said to have taken 30 times the dosage recommended in hospitals for treating rickets.
"Anabolic steroids first hit the sporting headlines in 1960 but are thought to have been used by sportsmen in some East European countries for some time before then."
There will be many arguments for and against the use of steroids, but with the new method of detection at the disposal of sports federations, there looms a definite possibility of steroid-testing and subsequent disqualification for positive results. The widespread knowledge of the detection method has already gone one step further towards imposition on athletic events.