asthma in pro cycling

crikey wrote:I think, and I’m

crikey wrote:

I think, and I’m not being patronising, that you’re looking in the wrong places…

Quite possibly, although the studies i’ve looked at have been in a range of general and sports medical journals – quite how ‘reliable’ some of the are, I don’t know, but the message was consistent.

[quote=crikey]Read here;

http://www.steroidology.com/forum/anabolic-steroid-forum/54341-anabolic-albuterol.html%5B/quote%5D

Tah.

Well that’s just it – the
Well that’s just it – the only results i’ve seen so far have come back with a distinct lack of ergogenic effects but i’m open to links to other studies and i’ll keep looking. So, if it’s not a PED at low dosage and not a PED at high (inhaled) levels, when / how does it produce a significant benefit ? Serious question, i’m not adverse to being educated – just lacking in the relevant information.

crikey wrote:Salbutamol is

crikey wrote:

Salbutamol is well known as a performance enhancing drug, not just as a bronchodilator.

Like this ?..

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02425500

The effect of salbutamol (S) on cycling performance was examined in 15 highly trained non-asthmatic male cyclists. A double-blind, randomized cross-over design was used with S or placebo (P) administered using a metered-dose inhaler and a spacer device 20 min before each testing session. The S dose was 400 μg (four puffs), which is twice the normal therapeutic level. Subjects were habituated to all the laboratory procedures in the week prior to actual data collection. The subjects performed four tests under S and P conditions on separate days over 2 weeks. These included measurement of maximal O2 uptake(V˙O2max) (cycle ergometry) with assessment of pulmonary function before and after, a submaximal (90% of ventilatory threshold) square-wave work transition from a base of unloaded cycling, a 60-s modified Wingate test, and a simulated 20 km time trial. No significant differences were observed in any of the dependent variables related to aerobic endurance or cycling performance between the S and P conditions. These results support other findings that an acute dose (400 μg) of S has no performance-enhancing properties.

or this ?

http://thorax.bmj.com/content/56/9/675.full

CONCLUSIONS Inhaled salbutamol, even in a high dose, did not have a significant effect on endurance performance in non-asthmatic athletes, although the bronchodilating effect of the drug at the beginning of exercise may have improved respiratory adaptation. Our results do not preclude an ergogenic effect of β2 agonists given by other routes or for a longer period.

or this ?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21327796

β2-Adrenergic receptor agonists are believed to present with ergogenic properties. However, how combined respiratory, cardiovascular and muscular effects of these drugs might affect exercise capacity remain incompletely understood. The effects of salbutamol were investigated in 23 healthy subjects. The study was randomised, placebo-controlled in double-blind and followed a cross-over design. Salbutamol was given at the dose of 10 μg/min in 11 subjects and 20 μg/min iv in the other 12 subjects. Measurements included muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), ventilatory responses to hyperoxic hypercapnia (7% CO(2) in O(2,) central chemoreflex), isocapnic hypoxia (10% O(2) in N(2), peripheral chemoreflex) and isometric muscle contraction followed by a local circulatory arrest (metaboreflex), cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) variables and isokinetic muscle strength. Salbutamol 10 μg/min increased heart rate and blood pressure, while MSNA burst frequency remained unchanged. Peripheral chemosensitivity increased, as evidenced by an increased ventilatory response to hypoxia, but ventilatory responses to hypercapnia or muscle ischaemia remained unchanged. The effects of salbutamol 20 μg/min were similar. Both doses of salbutamol did not affect CPET. Only the higher dose of salbutamol decreased the anaerobic threshold, but this was not associated with a change in VO(2) max. Salbutamol increased the slopes of ventilation as a function of VO(2) (P < 0.05) and VCO(2) (P < 0.001) during CPET. Maximal isokinetic muscle strength was not affected by salbutamol. In conclusion, the acute administration of either low or high dose salbutamol does not affect exercise capacity in normal subjects, in spite of an earlier anaerobic threshold and increased chemosensitivity.

..and so on. The oral doses show some benefit in some studies – but that doesn’t appear to be the issue here. There may have been a reason behind WADA removing it from the list of prohibited substances.

I thought the levels of
I thought the levels of salbutamol were more indicative of using the tablet version as a weight loss drug more than the inhaled application which is of little benefit for non-asthmatics?

Maybe doing high level sport
Maybe doing high level sport makes it obvious to the athletes that they have asthma, rather than some fatty sitting in front of the TV who isn’t bothered that they are wheezing a bit?

I was diagnosed with asthma after restarting cycling.

Normal steroid inhalers and blue inhalers aren’t performance enhancing, which is why they are not on the banned list art normal usage levels. Obviously prednisone and the like are a different kettle of fish.

Do asthma inhalers give
Do asthma inhalers give non-asthmatics any sort of boost?

They’ve never made a jot of difference to me when I’ve tried.

I couldn’t comment on pro
I couldn’t comment on pro stats, but the general population has around 8% of children and adults suffer from asthma