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A comment on Olympic athletes (legally) use banned drugs.

Re:Olympic athletes (legally) use banned drugs by ldom66 on Monday August 05, 2024 @11:53AM (#41162475)
This is bad journalism. The writers have not done their research on the effects of the "banned drugs" they are mentioning. Someone who doesn't have ADHD would only get negative side-effects from taking stimulants, like hunger suppression, anxiety, depression and much more. Stimulants don't have the same effect on a brain that is not dopamine deficient. Ventolin for asthma has absolutely no effect on someone who doesn't have an issue with their airways narrowing due to asthma.

Besides, the information they are reporting on is private and was wrongfully leaked. Broadcasting it and even framing it in a bad light is simply wrong.

If anything, the athletes who truly are abusing these TUE rules probably do so out of superstition, to gain any advantage possible, real or otherwise. But I do not believe that they gain an actual advantage over other competitors who aren't taking these drugs.

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Re:Olympic athletes (legally) use banned drugs by jkingsman on Monday August 05, 2024 @12:11PM (#41162646)
Well, that's not entirely correct — amphetamines even for people without ADHD are still going to cause stimulation, euphoria, etc. Albuterol (Ventolin) is still a beta 2 agonist whether or not you have asthma, and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction is still going to benefit from that.

> Stimulants don't have the same effect on a brain that is not dopamine deficient

Well yeah you're right, it tends to produce euphoria, stimulation, and improved mood, which is why it's such a massively abused drug.

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the article but saying that therapeutic drugs have zero or only negative effect on people without their targeted pathologies is just plain wrong. I know a lot of athletes do things for "superstition" but when competing at the highest levels, I would wager that pharmaceuticals are probably pretty carefully evaluated for risk/reward.

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