"The use, misuse and abuse of drugs have long shaken the foundations of amateur and professional sports--baseball, football, track and field, gymnastics and cycling, to name just a few," says Dr. Charles Yesalis, Penn State professor of exercise and sport science and health policy and administration. "The problem is not new. But like the rest of technology, doping in sport has grown in scientific and ethical complexity. In addition to drugs, we have natural hormones, blood doping, diuretics, nutritional supplements, social and recreational drugs, stimulants and miscellaneous substances, some of which may not even be on any list of banned substances."
While drug testing technology struggles to keep up, an array of new and emerging technologies has arrived or is on the horizon with potential for abuse by athletes including gene transfer therapy, stem cell transplantation, muscle fiber phenotype transformation, red blood cell substitutes and new drug delivery systems, says Yesalis, co-editor with Dr. Michael Bahrke of a new book "Performance-Enhancing Substances in Sport and Exercise," (Human Kinetics Publisher, 2002).
"It is not too hard to imagine the day when muscles can be selectively enlarged or contoured," according to the book. "Just imagine the consequences of a kinesiologist isolating specific muscles and selectively injecting designer genes into those muscles to maximize their function."
The new book brings together the latest and most comprehensive scientific information about performance-enhancing substances, as well as discussion of drug testing, legal and social issues, and future directions by sports g
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Contact: Vicki Fong
vfong@psu.edu
814-865-9481
Penn State
19-Jul-2002