What do the humanities (really) know about doping? Questions, answers and cross-disciplinary strategies / Ask Vest Christiansen, John Gleaves. - (Performance Enhancement & Health 2 (2013) 4 (December); p. 2016-225)

• DOI: 10.1016/j.peh.2014.06.002

Abstract

Recent years have brought debates about the future role of humanities research in light of sciences’ progress. In doping research, tacit biases in favour of science risk ignoring the humanities in their efforts to understand and address the doping phenomenon. This article is a continuation of the discussion on the role of the humanities and social sciences in research on drug use in sport. The article asserts that until those who wish to address the doping issues in sport begin engaging humanities and social science research alongside the natural sciences, the results from scientific experiments will remain detached from the lived experiences of the athletes, and the anti-doping campaign risks losing its legitimacy. Conversely, we will also argue against two types of drawbacks for humanistic research; one is the dismissal of the pursuit of truth in exchange of epistemological relativism. The other is the tendency to turn inward and become reluctant to use empirical tools that provide purchase on the doping issue. The article will conclude by sketching a positive account of the two fields collaborating with more porous borders but one that asks neither side to compromise its professional standards or modes of inquiry. This new account asserts that future doping research requires cross-disciplinary and collaborative research rooted in strong methodologies but conversant in both languages.

Performance enhancement, elite athletes and anti doping governance : comparing human guinea pigs in pharmaceutical research and professional sports / Silvia Camporesi, Michael J. McNamee. - (Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 9  (2014) 4; p. 1-9)

• DOI: 10.1186/1747-5341-9-4
• PMCID: PMC3922342
• PMID: 24499536

Abstract

In light of the World Anti Doping Agency’s 2013 Code Revision process, we critically explore the applicability of two of three criteria used to determine whether a method or substance should be considered for their Prohibited List, namely its (potential) performance enhancing effects and its (potential) risk to the health of the athlete. To do so, we compare two communities of human guinea pigs: (i) individuals who make a living out of serial participation in Phase 1 pharmacology trials; and (ii) elite athletes who engage in what is effectively 'unregulated clinical research’ by using untested prohibited or non-prohibited performance enhancing substances and methods, alone or in combination. Our comparison sheds light on norms of research ethics that these practices exacerbate with respect to the concepts of multiplicity, visibility, and consistency. We argue for the need to establish a proper governance framework to increase the accountability of these unregulated research practices in order to protect the human guinea pigs in elite sports contexts, and to establish reasonable grounds for the performance enhancing effects, and the risks to the health of the athlete, of the methods and substances that might justify their inclusion on the Prohibited List.

Beyond Consent? Paternalism and Pediatric Doping / Mike McNamee. - (Journal of the Philosophy of Sport36 (2009) 2; p. 111-126)

• DOI: 10.1080/00948705.2009.9714751

Abstract: 

In this essay, I argue that the issue of pediatric/adolescent doping is one that merits serious philosophical attention. I consider whether an adolescent who is legally competent to consent to medical pharmacologies such as contraceptive pills ought to be allowed to consent to doping products. I first discuss issues of vulnerability and exploitation of adolescent athletes that might underwrite a soft paternalistic response. I go on to argue that the harms attendant to doping, as opposed to the regulated use of the medical profession to prescribe oral contraceptives, are of a potentially greater magnitude to the successful adolescent patient/sportsperson themselves in contrast to therelatively well known risks of contraception. I also argue that the complexity of the weighing of potential harms and benefits are such that informed consent cannot be reached by adolescents. Moreover, given the public prominence of the WADA antidoping legislation, and the general public support for them, there will necessarily be a lack of transparency in the potential consent process, which undermines any audit for the accountability of the consent process. I conclude that Gillick competence ought not, therefore, to be viewed as a precedent for pediatric or adolescent consent to doping and that the “weak” or “soft” paternalistic prevention of doping is justified.

An overview of the doping control analysis during the Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens, Greece / M. Tsivou, N. Kioukia-Fougia, E. Lyris, Y. Aggelis, A. Fragkaki, X. Kiousi, Ph. Simitsek,
H. Dimopoulou, I.-P. Leontiou, M. Stamou, M.-H. Spyridaki, C. Georgakopoulos. - (Analytica Chimica Acta 555 (2006) 1 (5 January); p. 1-13)

• DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2005.08.068

Abstract

This study summarizes the results obtained from the doping control analysis during the period of the XXVIII summer Olympic Games (30 July–29 August 2004). The analysis of all doping control samples was performed at the Doping Control Laboratory (DCL)—the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Accredited Laboratory of Athens. Three thousand six hundred and seventeen tests were conducted in total throughout the games. In 23 specimens the presence of a prohibited substance was confirmed. Sixteen of those were related to anabolic agents. The screened results were confirmed with various mass spectrometry analytical techniques, such as gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry (GC/HRMS), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (ion trap) (LC/MS). The results of the first time applied screening and confirmatory procedures for the detection of recombinant human growth hormone in serum were also presented. Besides, 107 therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) were verified for glucocorticosteroid and beta2-agonist use.

IOC Anti-Doping Testing Statistics 2002 / International Olympic Committee (IOC). - Lausanne : IOC, 2004

IOC Anti-Doping Testing Statistics 2001 / International Olympic Committee (IOC). - Lausanne : IOC, 2004

IOC Anti-Doping Testing Statistics 2000 / International Olympic Committee (IOC). - Lausanne : IOC, 2004

The relationship between the reading of fitness magazines and conceerns with leanness and muscularity among college men : dissertation / Magdala Peixoto Labre. - Gainesville : University of Florida, 2004

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the reading of men’s fitness magazines and concerns related to leanness and muscularity. Previous research had found an association between the reading of these magazines and internationalization of the fit ideal, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder attitudes among college men. However, little was known about the nature of this relationship.

The dissertation combined a quantitative content analysis of Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness magazines published from 1999 to 2003, with qualitative, in-depth interviews with 13 male undergraduates. Findings suggest that fitness magazines disseminate only one type of male physique as healthy, fit, and attractive: the lean and muscular physique, characterized by chiseled abdominal muscles. Dissemination of this ideal may have the positive effect of promoting involvement in healthy activities, such as exercising with weights. However, the ideal is an extreme, unrealistic representation, which may contribute to body dissatisfaction and engagement in unhealthy, appearance-driven pursuits. In fact, few men can achieve the ideal without doing so.

Interviews with college men suggest that they may be internalizing the ideal and engaging in behaviors designed to attain it, such as limiting carbohydrates and/or fat in their diets, increasing consumption of protein, exercising (particularly with weights), and using performance-enhancing supplements such as whey protein, creatine, caffeine, and ephedra to reduce body fat and increase muscle mass. Some of these behaviors, particularly the use of supplements, could lead to serious health problems.

Overall, the interviews did not suggest that exposure to the magazines was a significant factor in motivating either men’s acceptance of the lean and muscular ideal or their involvement in behaviors linked to the pursuit of that ideal. Rather, findings suggest that other influences, such as previous involvement in competitive sports or interactions with friends who engage in these behaviors, may contribute to an interest in body change that precedes the reading of fitness magazines. More research is needed to determine whether—and if so among which readers—exposure to fitness magazines may serve to reinforce existing concerns related to achieving a lean and muscular physique.