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NEWS ROUNDUP: Mark Hunter Athletes risk their lives by routine use of performance enhancing drugs, says BMA BMJ 2002; 324: 870 [Full text]

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Performance-Enhancing Supplements

Bill Misner Ph.D.   (13 April 2002)

Performance-Enhancing Supplements 13 April 2002
Bill Misner Ph.D., R & D Director E-CAPS INC. Send response to journal: Re: Performance-Enhancing Supplements	My position as director of research and product development for an endurance athlete supplement company dedicated to safe pharmaceutical grade supplements requires that I occasionally address questions from elite endurance athletes on how best to dose specific "performance- enhancing" substances. Of the 2217 questions answered since 1998, less than 1% were concerned with steroid, stimulant, blood profile influences for performance gain. These queries are typically posed by elite level amateurs or pro athletes. A high percentage of the inquirers are primarily concerned with performance but will respond favorably to education of potential risks to health. Those few who refuse to discontinue illicit use of harmful-to-health performance-enhancing supplements do indeed lack appropriate judgement but no lack of focus for their performance-enhancing goal. A safe alternative to illicit, harmful-to-health, unethical use of performance-enhancing substances presently exists. A balanced organic diet, periodic rest, interval intensity, and prolonged duration training protocol forms the basis of this alternative. On a secondary tier, various substances such as krebs cycle intermediates and cyclic anaerobic substrates are rapidly depleted but slowly replaced. It is well agreed that these depleted substrates may be replaced faster in concentrated dose than through less-concentrated food sources. In repletion dose only, the depleted subject advantages their own physical environment for a performance advantage over the subject choosing not to ingest the concentrate source. Neither subject is at risk to health harm nor has imposed an illicit act against the ethics of fair sportsmanship. Professional education against harmful drug use in sports is severely lacking, and with access to such information, risk of harm from illicit performance-enhancing substances may be remarkably reduced. Bill Misner Ph.D. I declare a "competing interest" favoring the use safe supplement dose as a means of replacing those substrates expended during exercise stress. The motive of this comment is to suggest proper safe supplement use is rationally superior to illicit, health-harmful, performance- enhancing supplements.