Will you be tested for Anabolic Steroids?

REASONS FOR ANABOLIC STEROID TESTING

Why should there be anabolic steroid testing in sports? After all, a swimmer taking steroids cannot endanger national security, as he or she does not have access to defense secrets. A group of bodybuilders on anabolic steroids are not a danger to the public, unless someone steals their creatine or whey protein!

There are, in fact, two reasons for drug testing in sports given by sports' federations. The first is to ensure fairness among athletes by prohibiting the use of performance enhancing drugs. The second is to protect the health of the athlete by prohibiting the use of drugs such as anabolic steroids that could be harmful.

Let us begin with a technical discussion of how drug tests work and how accurate they are. We will then discuss the countermeasures used by athletes to try to beat anabolic steroid testing.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF DRUG TESTS

The International Olympic Commission (IOC) carries out the most precise and accurate of all drug- testing programs. The IOC began drug testing at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. At first only tests for amphetamines and other related performance enhancing drugs were carried out. Anabolic steroids, as a group were added to the list of banned substances in 1973. The first Olympics in which tests for anabolic steroids, was carried out was the Montreal Olympics in 1976.

DRUG TESTS

URINALYSIS

The most frequently used drug test for Anabolic steroid testing is urinalysis. The bodybuilder or other athlete is notified of the test after being awarded first, second or third place in a competition. Athletes who competed, but did not place in the top three, may also be chosen at random to be tested. The person must present himself/herself to the testing site immediately after the awards ceremony. The athlete is asked to urinate in the presence of an official to prevent sample tampering. The urine sample is divided into two samples: sample one is stored under close security, only to be used pending the outcome of tests on sample two. Sample two, the test sample, is then subjected to various forms of chemical analysis. One of the most commonly used tests is the gas chromatography procedure.

GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY

In this test a chromatograph converts the urine into gas, screening out traces of forbidden compounds. Under pressure the gas passes through very sensitive columns, which separate the various substances into easily detectable components. If metabolites (breakdown products) of anabolic steroids are detected, the next step is to use a device called a mass spectrometer to determine exactly which steroids are in the athlete's sample.

LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Instead of using the gas chromatography method, a variation known as liquid chromatography may be used for anabolic steroid testing. Once again, specialized columns of chemicals are used. The liquid urine is exposed to these columns, and the various constituents of the urine climb the columns to different levels. Drug components can be separated by color and distance

RADIOIMMUNOASSAY (RIA)

This test was developed in the early seventies, and was considered at the time to be the end-all to drug use in sports. Because RIA involves the use of radioactive isotopes, the number of laboratories which can carry out this test are limited. For this procedure, radioactive isotopes and specific foreign substance antibodies are added to a urine sample. If no banned steroids are present, the antibodies and isotopes combine and can be filtered out of the solution. There would be no remaining radioactivity in the sample. In a positive sample, the antibodies do not combine with the isotopes, and radioactivity remains. The chromatography and mass spectrometer tests are considered the top of the line in anabolic steroid testing, and have replaced RIA tests.

TESTOSTERONE RATIO TESTING

In the past, male athletes who knew that competitors at a particular event were to be tested for steroids, would simply discontinue the use of the steroids well in advance of the competition. When they stopped anabolic steroid use, they substituted pure testosterone. The purpose was to maintain strength, size, and other performance gains.

Scientists and drug testers became aware of this countermeasure and in response they developed a counter-countermeasure. As testosterone is broken down, one of its breakdown products, epitestosterone, is produced. The normal ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone is 1:1. When an athlete takes artificial testosterone, the amount of testosterone in the urine is increased, but the amount of epitestosterone excreted does not change. Thus the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone increases dramatically. If the athlete's ratio exceeds 6:1, the athlete is disqualified. For example, one powerlifter was tested and his ratio was 100:1!

Not only is the ratio indicative of testosterone use by an athlete, it also reveals to the tester whether or not the individual was using high levels of anabolic steroids. When an athlete uses anabolic steroids, the body's own testosterone levels are reduced dramatically. When the user stops taking steroids, the body's own testosterone production resumes, to bring testosterone levels back to the pre-steroid state. In some cases, the athlete's body over-produces testosterone, thus shifting the testosterone to epitestosterone ratio upwards, past the acceptable upper limit of 6:1.

TESTING ACCURACY

From 1986 to 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was tested 19 times for anabolic steroids at various competitions. Although he was using anabolic steroids throughout this period, all tests were negative. Even in 1988, Olympic athletes using steroids managed to pass sophisticated IOC anabolic steroid tests. More than 50 male athletes who competed in the Seoul Olympics were later found to have used anabolic steroids in the six months prior to the games. These results came to light after a more sophisticated testing procedure was carried out on 1100 urine samples (collected during the games), which had been stored.

The present detection capabilities for some steroids are in the .25 mg (nanogram) range. This means that the specific metabolites for a drug such as Deca-durabolin can be measured, even when they exist in a concentration of one quarter part per billion! In most cases the tests can detect steroid use for only as long as the steroid is exerting a physiological effect on the athlete's system.

There are numerous factors that increase or decrease a bodybuilder's chances of passing or failing an anabolic steroid test. These include:

 The type of anabolic steroids used

 How long the individual was on the drugs

 The dosages used

 The purity of the steroids

 The type of steroid cycle followed

 The individual's genetics

It's because of these factors that bodybuilders and other athletes have developed a whole series of anabolic steroid test counter measures to be drug tests.

anabolic steroid testing [http://www.steroids-help.com/anabolic-steroid-testing.html] ©Bob Howard 2006 02/10 2006

Can You Beat Anabolic Steroid Tests?

There is a maxim in police work that goes; behind every crime there is a motive. So it is with bodybuilding and most other sports. Everyone can remember Lee Haney's, Dorian Yates', and Ronnie Coleman's string of Mr. Olympia victories, but try naming who placed second to these three great bodybuilders each year.

At the professional and top amateur sports' level, the prime motive for intense training is the desire to be number one. The second major reason is greed. Athletic success can be transformed into a financial bonanza via endorsements, guest appearances, and professional sport contracts. Given the potential rewards athletic success can bring, it should not come as a surprise that some athletes might choose to shift the odds more in their favor. The following are some of the more common (both successful and unsuccessful) methods used by athletes to beat anabolic steroid tests.

BLOCKING AGENTS

In a never-ending quest by athletes to find a method to pass a drug test, the use of blocking agents has become a well traveled route. Blocking agents are drugs that athletes "believe" will allow them to use anabolic steroids right up to the time of competition. The word "believe" is emphasized because the effectiveness of blocking agents is more myth than reality.

To use an example, let us look at the drug, Probenecid, which was initially developed to slow the body's rate of excretion of the antibiotic penicillin. Probenecid has also been shown to slow the rate of excretion of the class of drugs called keto-steroids. Upon hearing this, many athletes assumed that Probenecid would also slow the rate of excretion of anabolic steroids. Probenecid, however, is not very effective at doing this, and even if it was, it is on the banned substances list of most sports' federations, and is easily detected in a drug test.

DIURETICS

Diuretics are used to dilute the urine by increasing the excretion of water. Some bodybuilders have used diuretics to speed up the excretion of all drugs in their systems. To counteract this, drug testers employ a technique known as the specific gravity test. Testers compare the weight of a substance to the weight of an equal volume of water, which has a specific gravity of one. If an athlete dilutes his/her urine, the specific gravity will be much lower than normal. There is, however, some controversy as to what range is acceptable as a normal specific gravity value for urine. As with blocking agents, most sports' federations have added diuretics to its list of banned substances. Diuretics are a poor way to beat anabolic steroid tests.

SUBSTITUTION

Another method of cheating is the substitution of a non-drug user's "clean" urine for the athlete's own. A reported method used by some female bodybuilders and other athletes is to conceal a condom filled with "clean" urine in the vagina. When the athlete is called upon to produce a sample, a quick jab with a fingernail breaks the condom and releases the "clean" urine sample. To prevent this slight of hand by athletes, officials now implement close monitoring.

CATHETERIZATION

This is an extreme method of substitution and trying to beat anabolic steroid tests. By using a catheter (a long thin rubber tube) that passes through the urethra to the bladder, an athlete can empty his/her own bladder and refill it with "clean" urine. If this procedure is done improperly it can result in serious infection, hemorrhage, and/or rupture of the bladder. There is an ironic aspect to this procedure. Because of the sensitivity of drug tests, the athlete may still be caught. When the athlete empties his/her bladder, there is still enough fluid adhering to the walls of the bladder to contaminate the "clean" urine. Furthermore, the athlete's kidneys are constantly filtering the blood, and hence excreting urine into the bladder, adding another source of contamination.

CYCLING ANABOLIC STEROIDS AND RETIREMENT

Anabolic steroids are a training drug. They are not stimulants and don't offer any advantage during or just before a competition. Most bodybuilders are careful to confine their steroid use to the off-season. This ensures that the benefits of the anabolic steroids can be exploited without the risk of being caught. One way sports federations deal with this, is to have random drug testing throughout the year. But this is very expensive, and can be easily defeated.

Some athletes avoid random drug tests by training in other countries. Athletes who get homesick have another option, early retirement. While this means a loss of funding, the athlete can still train on drugs, and then make a comeback. An athlete can, for example, retire after one Olympiad, use drugs and train for the next three years, and then come out of retirement in time to make the team for the next Olympiad, without ever being drug tested.

Another method sports organizations have to combat drug use in the off-season, is the testosterone to epitestosterone ratio. This drug test was considered to be very effective because it could detect the use of anabolic steroids, long after the drug was out of the athlete's system. Athletes, however, have come up with an effective countermeasure to anabolic steroid tests of this type.

The testosterone to epitestosterone ratio has been one of the most effective drug tests available since 1982. Athletes, however, discovered a simple countermeasure that completely invalidates this test. Since anabolic steroid use raises the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, all an athlete has to do is inject pure epitestosterone, and the ratio can once again be brought back to 1:1. It is claimed that injections within an hour of a drug test can produce a negative result.

As mentioned earlier, there is no exact elimination time for any particular steroid. Many factors influence the rate of excretion of steroids from the user's system. For example if an athlete is using vitamin and/or mineral preparations, sun-tanning pills, or even some forms of over-the-counter medications, the ability of the liver to process steroids may be inhibited. Thus, a longer time for clearance may be needed. Such important factors as method of administration, location of injection site, the type of steroids used, duration of use, body-fat level, amount of water in the body, and dosage used, all play important roles in determining the clearance time. There is one guaranteed method for athletes to pass anabolic steroid tests; obey the rules of the competition, and stay drug free.

anabolic steroid tests [http://www.steroids-help.com/anabolic-steroid-tests.html]

Bob Howard 02/15/2006