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EMBARGOED
UNTIL 12:01 AM EST
Thursday,
September 25, 2008
Contact: Donna Krupa
Office: (301) 634-7209
Newsroom Phone: 843-681-0794 or 95
Cell: 703-967-2751
dkrupa@the-aps.org
Anabolic Steroids Still
Provide A Competitive Edge In Power Lifting Even Years After Doping Has
Ended
 HILTON
HEAD, SC—Anabolic steroids are synthetic hormones derived from the human
male hormone testosterone. The use of steroids has been suspected in
professional baseball and other sports where building muscle strength,
rather than endurance, is paramount. Power lifting is such a sport. A team
of researchers has examined the impact of anabolic steroid use on power
lifters years after the athletes had ceased to take the drugs. The
researchers found that while physical traces of the drug no longer remained,
changes in the shoulder and quadriceps still gave lifters an advantage years
later.
The research was conducted by Anders Eriksson and
Lars-Eric Thornell, Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Section
conducted the study for Anatomy, Umea University, Umea, Sweden; Christer
Malm, Umeå University and Winternet and Patrik Bonnerud, Department of
Health Science, Section for Medical Science, Lulea University of Technology,
Lulea, Sweden; and Fawzi Kadi, Department of Physical Education and Health,
Orebro University, Orebro, Sweden.
Dr. Eriksson will discuss the team’s study, “Anabolic
Steroids Withdrawal in Strength Trained Athletes: How Does It Affect
Skeletal Muscles?,” at a conference sponsored by the American Physiological
Society (APS;
www.The-APS.org). The conference, The Integrative Biology of
Exercise V, will be held September 24-27, 2008 in Hilton Head,
SC.
Background
Power lifting is a strength sport, requiring the use of
a heavy dumbbell to perform three repetitions each of a squat, a bench press
and a dead lift. It is in some ways similar to weight lifting, but where
weightlifting is a dynamic sport, power lifting is a static one.
Power lifters focus on body strength, which relies
heavily on muscle. The body’s main muscle fiber types: type I, type IIA and
type IIB. Type I is the weakest and slowest, but has the most endurance.
Type IIA is the strongest and fastest, but has the least endurance. Human
muscles occur along a continuum of fiber types. For power lifters, type IIB
fiber, the most powerful, is most frequently used. The use of anabolic
steroids can add more nuclei to the muscle, and enhance muscle fiber size.
The researchers examined data in two muscles: the
vastus lateralis, found in the quadriceps, and the trapezius, a part of the
shoulder-neck muscle. Each muscle is key to power lifting.
Three groups were examined. One group was comprised of
seven power lifters who had previously used anabolic steroids for long
periods of time but stopped their usage some years ago (PREV). One group was
currently power lifting but did not use steroids (P). The third group was
power lifting and taking steroids (PAS). The researchers examined muscle
fiber distribution, fiber area, subsarcolemmal and internal myonuclei number
per fiber, myonuclei expressing androgen receptors, satellite cell numbers
per fiber, and proportion of split fibers in each muscle for each
individual.
Findings
The researchers found that several years after anabolic
steroid withdrawal, and with no or low current strength-training, the muscle
fiber area intensity, the number of nuclei per fiber in the quadriceps was
still comparable to that of athletes that were currently performing high
intensity strength-training. They also discovered that the shoulder-neck
fiber areas were comparable to high-intensity trained athletes and the
number of nuclei per fiber was even higher than found in the current
steroid-using group.
Conclusions
According to the lead researcher, Dr. Eriksson, ”It is
possible that the high number of nuclei we found in the muscle might be
beneficial for an athlete who continues or resumes strength training because
increased myonuclei opens up the possibility of increasing protein
synthesis, which can lead to muscle mass.” He added, “Based on the
characteristics between doped and non-doped power lifters, we conclude that
a period of anabolic steroid usage is an advantage for a power lifter in
competition, even several years after they stop taking a doping drug.”
********
Physiology
is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create
health or disease. The American Physiological Society (APS;
www.The-APS.org/press) has been an integral part of this discovery
process since it was established in 1887.
# # #
NOTE TO EDITORS: The APS Conference,
The Integrative Biology of Exercise V, is being held September 24-27,
2008 in Hilton Head, SC. Members of the media are invited to attend. To
register, or to schedule an interview with Dr. Eriksson, please
contact Donna Krupa at 301.634.7209 (office), 703.967.2751 (cell) or
DKrupa@the-APS.org. There will be an APS newsroom onsite.
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