OTC meds as performance enhancers?

Former Member
Former Member
Hello, I am a freelance writer as well as a swimmer. I am doing a piece on recreational athletes' misuse of over the counter medicines / products (sudafed, benadryl, Red Bull, advil, etc) and off label use of prescription drugs (inhalers, ritalin, etc) for performance enhancing purposes. The article will explore the prevalence of this behavior and the health consequences, if any. Being an athlete who has taken the occasional sudafed before a race, I'm not looking to flay anyone, The question is not whether that makes you/me a drug cheat, but whether in our desire for PRs or records, we are willing to go down a similar path as steroid and EPO users, just not as far. I would not use anyone's name in the article. If you would prefer to e-mail me privately, my e-mail is laurarob2@comcast.net. I am also interested in anecdotal evidence and your opinions on whether or not such behavior is widespread and/or okay. Thanks.
Parents
  • I'm sure at some point in the future GENE doping might become an issue for USMS, when gene therapy might trick cells to stop counting as they divide. I vaguely remeber a 60 minutes or discovery channell type show that talked about how cells have counters on the ends of DNA or mitochondrial chains and as they divide, they have counters that keep track of how many divisions they make over a life time. So if a DNA therapy were developed to slow down cell division, stop these counters or trick the counters, humans might be able to live longer and feel younger Those counters are there for pretty good biological reasons, and tricking them is dangerous turf. One of the steps of certain forms of cancer is to disable that counter, so that cells keep on multiplying.
Reply
  • I'm sure at some point in the future GENE doping might become an issue for USMS, when gene therapy might trick cells to stop counting as they divide. I vaguely remeber a 60 minutes or discovery channell type show that talked about how cells have counters on the ends of DNA or mitochondrial chains and as they divide, they have counters that keep track of how many divisions they make over a life time. So if a DNA therapy were developed to slow down cell division, stop these counters or trick the counters, humans might be able to live longer and feel younger Those counters are there for pretty good biological reasons, and tricking them is dangerous turf. One of the steps of certain forms of cancer is to disable that counter, so that cells keep on multiplying.
Children
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