biochemistry – Page 2 – Sports & Fitness Science

The Prohibited List (List) was first published in 1963 under the leadership of the International Olympic Committee. Since 2004, as mandated by the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), WADA is responsible for the preparation and publication of the List. It is an International Standard identifying substances and methods prohibited in-competition, out-of-competition and in particular sports. For a link to the list, click on the WADA logo.

Substances and methods are classified by categories (e.g., steroids, stimulants, gene doping) and the list is updated every year and it is valid for a calendar year. The agreed process for the annual consideration of the List includes three meetings (see timeline below) of WADA’s List Expert Group with a draft discussion List being published and circulated for consultation in June, following the second meeting.*
At its third meeting in September, the List Expert Group, following consideration of the submissions received from the consultation process, recommends the new List to the Health, Medical and Research Committee which in turn makes recommendations to WADA’s Executive Committee. The Executive Committee finalizes the List at its September meeting.
The use of any prohibited substance by an athlete for medical reasons is still possible by virtue of a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

Few interesting modifications are:

1) To reflect the growing number of substances developed to stimulate erythropoeisis, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-stabilizers have been added as an example.

2) Intra-muscular use of Platelet-Derived Preparations (PRP) has been removed from the Prohibited List.

3) Desmopressin has been added as an example of masking agent.

4) Methods that consist of sequentially withdrawing, manipulating and reinfusing whole blood into the circulation have been added to this category.

5) Methylhexaneamine has been transferred to the list of specified stimulants (it seems to be a popular choice these days…)

6) At the request of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) and due to changes introduced in the format of the competition, alcohol is no longer prohibited in Modern Pentathlon for disciplines involving shooting.

7) It is clarified that, in addition to Bobsleigh, beta-blockers are also prohibited in Skeleton, which are both governed by the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT).

8) At the request of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), gymnastics has been removed from this category.

Technorati Tags: doping,sports sciencecience,biochemistry

I have a keen interest in new technologies able to help us understand more about how the human body copes with various training methodologies. In fact, I believe that in order to improve the quality of our training prescriptions we need to base them on data and be able to provide an evidence-based approach to athletic training. We have now access to sophisticated tools capable of measuring a lot of aspects of human performance, mainly related to the output of movement (e.g. power output, force, velocity). Portable and field biochemistry technology has improved massively, but still, a part from blood lactate, glucose and few other biomarkers, we are quite limited in the ability to measure a wide variety of biomarkers in-vivo.

I have recently read a very interesting article on Technology Review published by the MIT (I suggest everyone to read this interesting online magazine every once in a while). The article was about dissolvable devices for medical applications. Something which is likely to look like this in the future:

(From Technology Reviews MIT: Credit: Bryan Christie Design)

Tufts University biomedical engineer Dr. Fiorenzo Omenetto is using silk as the basis for implantable optical and electronic devices capable of measuring vital signs and blood biochemistry in real time in a continuous manner. This implantable electronics are based on silk which is a biodegradable material and it is capable of carrying light like optical glass. Silk can also serve as a mechanical support for arrays of electrically active devices, allowing them to be placed on biological tissues without causing irritation. Depending on how it’s processed, silk can be made to break down inside the body almost instantly or to persist for years. And it can be used to store enzymes for a long time.

Dr. Omenetto’s group has published numerous scientific papers of this technique and they have also completed studies using animal model. In the next picture you can see an example of an implantable device used in an animal model (from Applied Physics Letters, 2009).

The following image is an example of how this silk implant is capable of being used as an optics device (from Nature Photonics, 2008).

Furthermore, experiments conducted applying the technique to feline brains has shown how sensitive the electrodes are and what are the possibilities of applying such techniques on living tissues (image below from Nature Materials, DOI 10:1038).

This technique offers incredible opportunities for medical applications, however we should not underestimate the power of using such devices to improve our understanding of human performance. I can see that in the near future we will be finally able to measure in real time how our body responds to a variety of exercise paradigms as well as nutritional interventions improving our understanding of human biology and giving us a better chance to prescribe exercise programmes.

Technorati Tags: technology,biochemistry,sports science