填空题 A=ANABOLIC STEROID
B=EPO, OR ERYTHROPOIETIN
C=BLOOD DOPING
D=HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE
E=BLOOD SUBSTITUTE
Which substance or method...
● is designed to obviate the need for transfusions in surgery and help
patients in hemorrhagic shock? 1
● controls the release of IGF-1? 2
● helps American athletes win medals in cycling? 3
● is developed to alleviate anemia in patients with kidney disease? 4
● was fast-tracked for approval in South Africa and found its way to
the black market? 5
● is short-acting, water-based strength builder? 6
● is undetectable if athletes quit taking it a week or so before the
games? 7
● will not be tested for in Sydney? 8
● is quite dangerous because an overdose could make the blood too
thick for the heart to pump? 9
● was developed for children with dwarfism? 10
ANABOLIC (组织代谢的) STEROIDS (类固醇)
These are strength builders. Short-acting, water-based steroids are now available that flush from the system in a matter of hours. The most popular are synthetic derivatives of testosterone (睾丸素), a hormone(激素) already present in the body. They are extremely difficult to detect. Testing for testosterone in Sydney will involve the maligned t/e (testosterone/epitestosteron) ratio. The usual ratio of these two hormones in a urine sample is about to 1. Very few people have naturally elevated t/e ratios of 4 or 5, but the cut-off for the Sydney test is 6. By setting the number so high, the I. O. C. can"t really discourage athletes from boosting their testosterone to that level. "Athletes don"t stay ahead of testers, as people claim," says Shorter. "The testers send a message about what"s the best stuff to take."
EPO, or ERYTHROPOIETIN (红细胞生成素)
EPO regulates red-cell production, and these cells deliver oxygen throughout the body. Developed to alleviate anemia (贫血症) in patients with kidney disease, synthetic EPO is a diet staple for many long-distance runners, swimmers and cyclists. The oxygen boost it provides can improve an athlete"s performance in a 20-minute run by 30 seconds; in a marathon, by as much as four minutes.
Synthetic EPO is dangerous: an overdose could make the blood too thick for the heart to pump. The drug"s introduction in 1987 was followed by a series of mysterious heart attacks among Dutch cyclists. EPO is believed to have been the cause of no fewer than 25 deaths among Olympic-caliber cyclists in the past 23 years.
Epidemiologist Charles Yesalis of Penn State, an expert on performance enhancers, says new I. O. C. testing for EPO is "fluff", that it won"t detect athletes who quit taking the drug a week or so before the Games.
BLOOD DOPING (兴奋剂的使用)
In 1972 Dr. Bjorn Erblom of Stockholm"s Institute of Gymnastics and Sports drew a quart of blood from each of four athletes, removed the red cells and put them in cold storage. He reinfused (重新注入) the cells a month later and found that this subjects" increased oxygen-carrying capacity allowed them to run as much as 25% longer on a treadmill before reaching exhaustion. Blood doping was born. In 1984 U.S Olympic Cycling team coach Eddie Borysewicz set up a back-alley clinic in Los Angeles motel room. Four of the seven athletes who doped won medals. America hadn"t medaled in cycling since I912. Doping worked.
It isn"t easy to nail blood dopers rich with their own blood, and doping, though illegal, will not be tested for in Sydney.
HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE
This and the related Insulin Growth Factor 1 will figure on the podium. Human growth hormone is a naturally occurring amino acid (氨基酸). It controls the release of IGF-1, which helps maintain growth rates from birth to adulthood. Genetically engineered hGH, available since 1985, was developed for people with growth-hormone deficiency, such as children with dwarfism.
Athletes use the drug for the same reasons they use steroids, and the combo of hGH (bigger muscles) and testosterone (stronger muscles) is especially appealing. The drug form of hGH sneers at those who would seek it out: after injection, it has a half-life of only 17 to 45 minutes, so it flushes from the system in short order while its effects linger. Although it is a banned substance, it will not be tested for in Sydney.
IGF-1 works by reducing protein breakdown and stimulating cell production. Studies in mice have shown that IGF-1 increased muscle strength up to 27%, and even at a cost of $3000 a month, what athlete doesn"t want to be Mighty Mouse? There"s no test yet to detect IGF-1.
BLOOD SUBSTITUES
They are the new wave. Blood substitutes, or artificial hemoglobins (血红蛋白), were designed to obviate (排除) the need for transfusions in surgery and help patients in hemorrhagic shock. Hemopure, the brand name of one substitute, contains no red cells but consists of ultrapurified, modified bovine hemoglobin suspended in a salt solution. Now in clinical trials in the U.S. it was fast-tracked for approval in South Africa and found its way to the black market. Canadian track coach Dan Pfaff recently told the Toronto Sun that he believes many athletes formerly on EPO have switched to undetectable Hemopure.
A longtime observer of Olympic sport says, "Athletes are going to Hemopure, and they"re crazy. This new stuff-artificial bloods, tissue enhancers to increase oxygen profusion in the tissue—some of it can short out your system drastically. You OD on(=take an overdose of) some of this stuff, you"re dead."