Floyd Landis: By Intention or Accident?
Testosterone seems to be the hot topic today, with all the excitement in the Tour de France and Floyd Landis -- he was found to have abnormally elevated levels of a synthetic testosterone AND his normal pituitary hormone levels were abnormally suppressed.
This does not look good for Floyd.
Okay, a quick endocrinology lesson. The pituitary gland in the brain constantly monitors testosterone levels in the body. When the levels are too low, then the pituitary secretes hormones to raise testosterone levels. When the levels are too high, then the pituitary drops these stimulating hormones to reduce testosterone levels.
If a person takes testosterone therapy, then the body detects too much testosterone and so drops the levels of these pituitary hormones. So Floyd having low pituitary levels suggests a more long term, deliberate problem.
Moving back to the controversy at hand: Could it be that somehow testosterone worked its way from Floyd's masseuse's massage cream or that mysteriously he absorbed testosterone from his bicycle seat? Could someone have unscrupulously snuck a testosterone lozenge, if one existed, into his sport drink while he was signing autographs? Maybe he was framed, though I think I will never be one of those chosen few who really gets the true facts.
Since you did so well with the endocrinology class, it is now time to move into advanced endocrinology for men.
There are two types of testosterone treatments. One is to restore a man's testosterone levels back to normal when they are abnormally low. This is called testosterone replacement. This is used when a man has seriously low energy, excess fatigue, weak bones from osteoporosis, and low testosterone caused depression to name a few. The goal of replacement therapy is to bring back the man's testosterone levels to normal "physiologic" levels.
This is not what we are talking about when we are discussing Mr. Landis. When an athlete needs an extra burst of energy or endurance beyond what humans are normally capable of, then some choose to unethically use performance enhancing testosterone therapy, both illegal and easily available. The goal is to get the already normal levels of testosterone to abnormally high "supraphysiologic" levels. With Floyd's situation, this is where all the excitement has been, as well as in most modern sports.
Believe it or not, there are labs that can tell an athlete how long it takes for the illegal testosterone to clear from his or her system, so he or she can gauge when they can use it and when they have to stop it prior to an event.
Could this be a single dose somehow snuck into his system or without his knowledge? Very unlikely. I am told that to get such high levels of testosterone AND to have measured byproducts of synthetic testosterone in his system AND to have suppression of his normal pituitary hormones requires intentional, repeated injections of testosterone or a testosterone-like substance over time.
Can we check and see if he is telling the truth? Easy enough. Just continue, over the next several months, to monitor his blood to measure his normal testosterone levels, levels of synthetic testosterone and the byproducts as well as his pituitary hormones. If they return to normal levels, then he did indeed somehow end up with performance enhancing testosterone in his system.
No way to explain away these results. Not a good thing for Mr. Landis. If they stay at his current levels, then really smart endocrinologists will have to get involved to explain what is happening with the hormones in his body and he may get to keep the yellow jersey.
Related Topics: Innocent Reasons for Landis Dope Test?, High-Tech Cheating: Gene Therapy to Boost Athletic Performance
Technorati Tags: Floyd Landis, Tour de France, doping, testosterone
This does not look good for Floyd.
Okay, a quick endocrinology lesson. The pituitary gland in the brain constantly monitors testosterone levels in the body. When the levels are too low, then the pituitary secretes hormones to raise testosterone levels. When the levels are too high, then the pituitary drops these stimulating hormones to reduce testosterone levels.
If a person takes testosterone therapy, then the body detects too much testosterone and so drops the levels of these pituitary hormones. So Floyd having low pituitary levels suggests a more long term, deliberate problem.
Moving back to the controversy at hand: Could it be that somehow testosterone worked its way from Floyd's masseuse's massage cream or that mysteriously he absorbed testosterone from his bicycle seat? Could someone have unscrupulously snuck a testosterone lozenge, if one existed, into his sport drink while he was signing autographs? Maybe he was framed, though I think I will never be one of those chosen few who really gets the true facts.
Since you did so well with the endocrinology class, it is now time to move into advanced endocrinology for men.
There are two types of testosterone treatments. One is to restore a man's testosterone levels back to normal when they are abnormally low. This is called testosterone replacement. This is used when a man has seriously low energy, excess fatigue, weak bones from osteoporosis, and low testosterone caused depression to name a few. The goal of replacement therapy is to bring back the man's testosterone levels to normal "physiologic" levels.
This is not what we are talking about when we are discussing Mr. Landis. When an athlete needs an extra burst of energy or endurance beyond what humans are normally capable of, then some choose to unethically use performance enhancing testosterone therapy, both illegal and easily available. The goal is to get the already normal levels of testosterone to abnormally high "supraphysiologic" levels. With Floyd's situation, this is where all the excitement has been, as well as in most modern sports.
Believe it or not, there are labs that can tell an athlete how long it takes for the illegal testosterone to clear from his or her system, so he or she can gauge when they can use it and when they have to stop it prior to an event.
Could this be a single dose somehow snuck into his system or without his knowledge? Very unlikely. I am told that to get such high levels of testosterone AND to have measured byproducts of synthetic testosterone in his system AND to have suppression of his normal pituitary hormones requires intentional, repeated injections of testosterone or a testosterone-like substance over time.
Can we check and see if he is telling the truth? Easy enough. Just continue, over the next several months, to monitor his blood to measure his normal testosterone levels, levels of synthetic testosterone and the byproducts as well as his pituitary hormones. If they return to normal levels, then he did indeed somehow end up with performance enhancing testosterone in his system.
No way to explain away these results. Not a good thing for Mr. Landis. If they stay at his current levels, then really smart endocrinologists will have to get involved to explain what is happening with the hormones in his body and he may get to keep the yellow jersey.
Related Topics: Innocent Reasons for Landis Dope Test?, High-Tech Cheating: Gene Therapy to Boost Athletic Performance
Technorati Tags: Floyd Landis, Tour de France, doping, testosterone
2 Comments:
I understood that Floyd Landis had been tested 4 times before and 2 times after the elevated test and the others were within limits. It seems highly improbable that only one test would reflect an intentional injection or ingestion of testosterone.
I would hope that this issue would be discussed fairly considering all factors.
I wonder: Is it possible that his hip/bone problems can be related to his supposed high testosterone levels.
I thought it would be the other way around, that low-testosterone would be a cause of bone/cartilage degeneration. So maybe his meds (if any) can cause those high readings.
Is he being monitored daily to see how his levels are presently. If so wouldn't he need to exert himself greatly to simulate Tour conditions.
I hope he is exonerated, but I think he won't be without a thoroughly scientific/medical workover.
We'll see.
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