You notice that a girl on your cycling team has lost a lot of body fat since las

Question

You notice that a girl on your cycling team has lost a lot of body fat since last season. On group rides you notice that her endurance has increased since last year and she is able to power up Tunnel, Claremont, and even Marin, blowing everyone away, including the guys on your team. You also notice that her voice has become lower and she has developed acne. At the end of the ride she starts getting very angry at a motorist who cuts her off and her teammates have to hold her back from assaulting the motorist. What do you think could explain the changes in your teammate’s performance and behavior? What tests might you do to confirm your hypothesis?

Explanation / Answer

The above mentioned case the girl may be taking performance enhancing drugs or doping to improve her athletic abilities or to cope with negative body image issues. She may be using the steroid hormone androstenedione. This drug is used to increase the production of the hormone testosterone to enhance athletic performance, increase energy, and enhance recovery and growth from exercise.

The body turns androstenedione into testosterone and oestrogen. Though androstenedione us an effective performance enhancer, the question is the issue of safety. Because it is an androgen, toxicity can cause harmful effects. The commonly seen side effects due to excess androgen in females are:

- acne

- hirsutism and other masculinizing effects in women like deepening of voice, abnormal menstrual periods and depression.

- extreme aggression

The above signs and symptoms were depicted by the teammate in the above case. These could explain the changes in her performance and behavior.

Androstenedione drug testing is difficult because the traces of it diminish within hours or days making drug testing nearly impossible. This is due to the android converting into testosterone and estrogens. Drug testing has to be based on the testosterone levels in the body. Biological specimens for example urine is analysed and is by far the most reliable testing method as the amount of time an anabolic steroid remains detectable in one's system is the longest in an individual's urine. Blood testing falls short of urinalysis due to the fact that anabolic steroids undergo extensive biotransformation through the liver and kidneys. Testosterone might test positive for testosterone through a blood or urine test by the way of the fact that very high testosterone levels will be seen in urine or blood samples. Hence this can confirm the hypothesis.

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