Endocrine Abstracts

When humans are placed in a competitive setting, particularly in the sporting arena, they will attempt to gain an advantage over their opponent in order to win. When all legitimate methods have been exhausted and the athlete has reached their peak performance, there is a temptation for some to seek out pharmacological methods to improve performance yet further.

The earliest records of doping in sport come from ancient times but with the advent of modern pharmacology and the birth of the field of endocrinology in the 19th century, the number and quantity of drugs used to improve strength and overcome fatigue increased dramatically.

Doping not only damages the integrity of sport but may cause significant harm to athletes who use performance enhancing drugs.

This workshop will describe most commonly abused performance enhancing drugs, including insulin. The potential beneficial and adverse effects will be discussed. The workshop will finally discuss the therapeutic use exemption (TUE), which is required for all elite competitors who use banned substances for clinical reasons.

Declaration of funding

The GH-2004 project has received funding from the World Anti-Doping Agency, US Anti-Doping Agency and the Partnership for Clean Competition.