da pinup bet： What is Nandrolone, and why have so many elite athletes testedpositive for it in recent years?
Dileep Premachandran16-Oct-2006Though the results of the B sample have yet to be confirmed, Shoaib Akhtarand Mohammad Asif testing positive for Nandrolone is just another peek atthe dirty subterranean world of professional sport. With cricket onlyrecently getting tough on drugs, you can rest assured that they won’t bethe last big names to be hauled up.What, though, is Nandrolone, and why have so many elite athletes testedpositive for it in recent years? According to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) system of nomenclature, the anabolic steroid has the name17b-hydroxy-19-nor-4-andro-sten-3-one, and can occur naturally in thebody, albeit in minute quantities. Structurally, it’s very similar toTestosterone, the male hormone that was recently the buzz word in sportsbulletins after Floyd Landis, the Tour de France winner, tested positivefor excessive levels.Like Testosterone and Creatine, the amino acid that Juventus’s footballteam were alleged to use regularly in the 1990s, Nandrolone too increasesmuscle mass. It can also produce the same side-effects, like overly aggressive behaviour, as testosterone. Clinical experiments have been conducted in the past to see itsefficacy in the treatment of HIV-affected men and also for other diseasesthat cause muscle wastage.The tests for Nandrolone, which involve urine samples, are consideredpositive if the level exceeds 2 nano grams per ml, the limit set by theInternational Olympic Committee which is considered the maximum possiblein natural cases. Most positive tests have involved athletes with levelshundreds of times above normal.Those caught in the past have included Linford Christie, Olympic 100mchampion in 1996, and Petr Korda, the Czech tennis player. Football,though, has had to endure the most scandal, with Jaap Stam, Edgar Davids,Frank de Boer (The Netherlands), Fernando Couto (Portugal) and JosepGuardiola (Spain) all having served bans for nandrolone use.The testing procedures have not been without controversy though. Athleteswho have been caught have often cited the use of Creatine and theconsumption of protein shakes as the reason for positive tests. AnAberdeen University study suggests that they may have a point. Accordingto that, consumption of dietary supplements in conjunction with heavyphysical training can result in the athlete returning a positive test forNandrolone. As with many drugs, including THG that was involved in theinfamous BALCO case, our knowledge is far from comprehensive. And as longas that remains the case, the protestations of innocence from those caughtmay just have a ring of truth to them.