Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 13, 2009
Better Drugs

Via Instapundit, a drug that increase the ability to exercise by increasing the amount of oxygen transferred from haemoglobin to muscles. The article can't help but issue a warning:

As a result, Lehn hopes to begin clinical trials "as soon as possible". For athletes tempted to use the substance to enhance performance, he warns: "It could be very easily detected."

I could see a player using this instead of speed to get through rough patches of the season. I could also see where it would easy for doctors to prescribe this (like they do ADHD medicine) because an older player's oxygen uptake isn't what it's supposed to be. The targets just keep moving. Maybe we shouldn't worry about it that much.


Posted by David Pinto at 01:30 PM | Cheating | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Why should it be illegal to use if there are no adverse side-effects. The reason steroids are banned and not creatine is not that creatine is a naturally occurring substance but because most steroids have adverse effects on your health and allowing them means that to compete you have to sacrifice your long term health. If this drug simply boosts the ability to deliver oxygen and causes no damage to the body then what is the problem with players taking it? At that point is it any different from taking a substance like creatine or simply eating healthy.

Posted by: Jason at February 13, 2009 02:44 PM

Looks like this would be more of a drug for endurance athletes like cyclists and distance runners (think the next EPO) rather than baseball players.

Posted by: nrs5000 at February 13, 2009 04:59 PM

Whenever the government wants to convince us a drug is bad, they'll talk about links to impotence or shrunken testicles.

I await the report that this drug is in that category.

Posted by: Bob Tufts at February 13, 2009 05:05 PM

Have any of you gentlemen ever dabbled in biotech investments? This is years (3-5 would be fast track) from the market. Sleep easy, it is not coming to a diamond near you for quite some time.

Posted by: dave at February 13, 2009 05:49 PM

If people think it will give them an edge they can get it manufactured and do their own clinical trial.

Posted by: Jason at February 13, 2009 06:50 PM

@Jason: LOL.

From what this article describes, it doesn't look like anything that would be banned... but, as has been said, it may come down to the side effects... possibly even just the contents of what is IN the product.

Posted by: Jesse R at February 14, 2009 01:55 AM

And how would they do that Jason? It is not that easy. Their are significant barriers to bootleg production of drugs that have not hit the market. For starters nobody knows the chemical composition.
Not gonna happen.

Posted by: dave at February 14, 2009 05:01 PM
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