As if professional athletes already did not have enough performance enhancing drugs to temp them to cheat---a German company has just announced a new test for benzothiazepines, a potential heart drug of the future which may also boost muscle endurance.
Researchers and sports governing bodies are concerned that athletes may abuse the drug even before human trails are finished.
According to the BBC News:
"Although only a handful of athletes at the Beijing Olympics
themselves tested positive for banned substances, many anti-doping
specialists are suspicious that as-yet unidentified
performance-enhancing drugs may have been in use.
Although there is no evidence that benzothiazepines have been
used, experts believe it possible that some cheats have already
cottoned on to their effects.
The new test, detailed in the journal Drug Testing and
Analysis, can pick out their chemical signature, even in tiny
concentrations in urine.
The drugs work by making muscle cells more efficient and less likely to suffer fatigue by keeping more calcium in them.
Human trials have yet to start, although animal trials have clearly shown their potential, and the drug can be made easily."
Researchers and sports governing bodies are concerned that athletes may abuse the drug even before human trails are finished.
According to the BBC News:
"Although only a handful of athletes at the Beijing Olympics themselves tested positive for banned substances, many anti-doping specialists are suspicious that as-yet unidentified performance-enhancing drugs may have been in use.
Although there is no evidence that benzothiazepines have been used, experts believe it possible that some cheats have already cottoned on to their effects.
The new test, detailed in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis, can pick out their chemical signature, even in tiny concentrations in urine.
The drugs work by making muscle cells more efficient and less likely to suffer fatigue by keeping more calcium in them.
Human trials have yet to start, although animal trials have clearly shown their potential, and the drug can be made easily."