Big development: US and UK anti doping have asked for WADA to ban synthetic thyroid meds!!!

I guess that they will have to outlaw one med at a time. It's too bad for Goucher... Who have a true thyroid problem, but she should not be allowed to compete anymore (if she takes the meds). Perhaps she should be allowed in the Paralympics. When both the US women and men 10,000m record holders have thyroid issues. The UK 5,000/10,000 record holder also has it...

It's more than just a statistical oddity. Yes, I would also "like to put my body through hell every day". Most top level athletes would. But we can't. Usually can't even put it through semi hell. All that happens is that you get injured (and for a long time).

If there is a subclass of athletes that all of a sudden can because they have a "treated" medical issue (and I'm talking about a real one). Then the level playing field is gone. It's too bad for them.

If it's a punctual event, such as being in a car accident and needing a blood transfusion, it's fine. You could get a TUE, but not be able to compete for say 6 months. Odds are that you could not compete within days of a major car accident anyway. When it's a chronic medical issue that requires a med that has been shown to be performance enhancing, then you just can't compete anymore (except for Paralympics) or decide to take another it (which would be stupid. It's only running anyway).

Goucher, Goucher, Rupp, Mo... All these record holders are/were on thyroid meds. Statistical impossibility that it does not provide an unfair advantage.

You would normally think that they should normally be performing at a sub elite level (not beat all other elites).

bigtool05 wrote:

He-Manocrit wrote:

So a diabetic shouldn't be allowed insulin, effectively eliminating a sports career? Not as easy a question as it might seem, hence the "grey area". I think TUEs should be allowed but made public record.

Since when is insulin a performance enhancer?

Uhh... since forever

Google is your friend

BTW:

The Paralympic category name could be: "medicated chronic condition requiring a banned substance"

For example, assume that asthma medication also gets disallowed (a lot of National record holders also seem to have asthma), Levins, with his "medicated chronic condition requiring a banned substance", could still have run the 5,000m at the Canadian Champs with everybody else (they let the Paralympics athletes in the same race). So he could still have showcased his running talent.

For Salazar's (and Rupp) running induced Hypogonadism, which required medication to treat it. The "normal" answer should be: "BRING DOWN YOUR MILEAGE YOU ID$#T". Not: "let me take this med". It's ass backward. If you don't care about having "Hypogonadism" then don't treat it and keep running (it's stupid).

If however, you are now in the category of "medicated chronic condition requiring a banned substance", you could still compete, but in the Paralympics.

meh wrote:

Why not treat thyroid hormone in the same way as testosterone. You can get a testosterone TUE if you have very low levels and there is a well-defined and documented medical reason for it. But you *can't* get one if your levels are low without a well-defined cause (so-called "functional" hypogonadism), or if you have some medical condition that simply leads to low-normal levels. Applied to thyroid, this would allow TUEs for Hashimoto's but disallow TUEs for "functional" hypothyroidism.

Also note with TUEs there is a requirement that you first seek out non-prohibited treatments. If your thyroid levels are screwed up due to excessive training and sleeping in an altitude tent, then the obvious non-prohibited treatment is to NOT overtrain and NOT sleep in the tent.

Bad decision. We wouldn't get any new WRs then.

Rme wrote:

https://youtu.be/BmQCsalFY58

The real question is 'How does this affect global warming?'.

rojo wrote:

I just got this email from a LRC visitor.

He wrote:

Thanks for your coverage of the Salazar/NOP.

While a ban on *synthetic* thyroid (Synthroid/Cytomel) sounds great on the surface, cheaters would only switch over to the non-synthetic sources such as porcine and/or bovine (pigs/cows). Prior to Synthroid/Cytomel - thyroid was typically supplied by Armour and Company (meat packing/processing) and sold as "Armour Thyroid", this pharmaceutical division is owned by Forest Laboratories.

Keep up the great work.

Bovine thyroid here we come, baby!!!

Actually, the natural form is MORE EFFECTIVE in most cases than the synthetic stuff because it has the full spectrum of thyroid hormones. The reason that doctors prefer the synthetic is that it is easier to regulate the dosage.

Looby wrote:

rojo wrote:

I just got this email from a LRC visitor.

Bovine thyroid here we come, baby!!!

Actually, the natural form is MORE EFFECTIVE in most cases than the synthetic stuff because it has the full spectrum of thyroid hormones. The reason that doctors prefer the synthetic is that it is easier to regulate the dosage.

The "natural form" uses pork thyroid which does not contain the same thyroid hormones in the same proportions as human thyroid.

LetsRun.com wrote:

Here is a picture of the article that prominently features a photo of Alberto and Rupp in it.

https://twitter.com/letsrundotcom/status/618813269097234432

Why not put a link to the article instead of a pic of it!

Pointing out the Photo again shows the Let's Run never ending Alberto/Rupp bashing. Let folks read the WSJ article (s) to get a reasonable discussion of the pros and cons of the thyroid issue.

My thyroid burned out years ago and I would be dead by now if not for natural or synthetic thyroid medications. As others have pointed out, larger debate is what is considered an "advantage" (chemical or mechanical) and what is considered fair sport?

And what will you say if Galen is given a TUE for thyroid a year from now? Alberto was right and Let's Run's owners were wrong on this point?

Is there a research/experiment where thyroid has been PROVEN to be a performance enhancer? Probably not.

Insulin is probably the biggest anabolic hormone you can manipulate. Even bigger than test, when used properly.

Gfhffghvnggnvgnhdfgnsbzdt@8@ wrote:

I guess that they will have to outlaw one med at a time. It's too bad for Goucher... Who have a true thyroid problem, but she should not be allowed to compete anymore (if she takes the meds).

Why in the world do you think she has a real thyroid problem? What is the name of her thyroid doctor that she brought into NOP with her? What was the thyroid doctor of Magness? Oh, same doctor for both of them, before they went to NOP, before Rupp. And her husband has a thyroid condition as well.

Why do people assume Gouchers/Magness were always clean?

Why do people assume Gouchers/Magness weren't doping before NOP?

If anyone was "shady" and misled some innocents it would be Gouchers/Magness wouldn't it? Maybe only Rupp has a real thyroid condition in the first place. Or, maybe Rupp didn't have a real thyroid condition, but Salazar/Rupp trusted Dr. Brown because Magness/Gouchers did, and they got him on the meds and now he can never go off them.

Maybe ProPublica came knocking, and the reason Magness/Gouchers were willingly to throw Salazar under the bus was because otherwise they were going to be the focus of the article.

Looby wrote:

"Actually, the natural form is MORE EFFECTIVE in most cases than the synthetic stuff because it has the full spectrum of thyroid hormones. The reason that doctors prefer the synthetic is that it is easier to regulate the dosage.".

Incorrect. I have Graves Disease and had my thyroid irradiated about five years ago. Naturally dessicated thyroid (NDT) is uneven and I developed a hypersensitivity to Armour and Nature-Throid. I think the manufactures are using genetically modified pigs. From what I've researched there is a gene that causes hypersensitivity. In my case -- dry skin and edema.

Just switched to Levothyroxine, and I am under the care of an endocrinologist. Ladies and gents, you do not want to be taking this stuff unless you have a chronic thyroid condition. Balancing your thyroid levels is like skating on ice. I'm do for increase by I feel better (tolerating) on the synthetic. No way is it performance enhancing. I hypothesize that the influx of hypothyroidism is a result of the radioactivity from Fukushima. Oregon is right in the patch so it is an interesting conjecture for research.

Actually, I did do a double dose as an experiment?

Caused insomnia, very dry itching skin and eyes, and a racing pulse rate.

Very dangerous medication unless it is controlled by labs (THS, T4 and T3) and in the care of an Endocrinologist.

Bob Kennedy was on it too. It's even mentioned in his USATF bio:

http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/TrackAndFieldArchive/2005/Kennedy_Bob.asp

doo doo wrote:

Blah Blah Blah wrote:

Thyroid drugs are not performance enhancers to those who don't have hypothyroidism either.

Given the amount of pro runners who had major performance spikes after going on thyroid medicine, I'm not sure I believe this.

Mo ran sub 13 while having thyroid issues? Hard to believe. Mo becomes best in world, wins double gold after "fixing" his problem?

I don't buy it.

There's also testimony from NOP runners saying their gains after taking thyroid medication were to the point they considered it cheating.

Mo Farah's 5k and 10k PRs were set in 2011, so I doubt his new thyroid meds have done much to help him. It seems like all the training at the Oregon Project has done for Mo is to make him a better racer with greater range.

fact check lately wrote:

Mo Farah's 5k and 10k PRs were set in 2011, so I doubt his new thyroid meds have done much to help him. It seems like all the training at the Oregon Project has done for Mo is to make him a better racer with greater range.

Yeah why would anyone take a drug that just makes you unbeatable?

The Nike Androgen Project wrote:

Yeah why would anyone take a drug that just makes you unbeatable?

Rupp is unbeatable?

Rupp is Mo Farah?