Investigate Steroids and Performance Drugs by Sara L. Latta

Author:Sara L. Latta [,]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781464512315
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2015-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

Image Credit: Jana Blašková/iStock

Thickened blood can form a clot (in yellow), blocking the vessel of the circulatory system.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a rash of deaths among European professional cyclists, all of them young and previously healthy. Although there is no proof that they were caused by EPO, experts believe that the drug was a factor in many of, if not all, the deaths. “There is no absolute proof, but there’s so much smoke that most of us are convinced,” Dr. Eichner stated. “You just don’t get 18 deaths in 4 years, mysteriously, with 10 of them attributed to cardiac [heart] problems.”4

One of the cyclists was Johannes Draaijer, a twenty-seven-year-old athlete from the Netherlands. He died in his sleep of a heart attack, just a few days after competing in a race in Italy. His doctor had pronounced him fit to compete before the race. His widow, Lisa Draaijer, believes that EPO caused her husband’s death.5 She hopes that his death will serve as a warning to other athletes tempted to dope.6

The World Anti-Doping Agency approved a reliable test for detecting genetically engineered EPO in urine samples in 2003. This test made it more difficult for athletes to abuse the drug. This has led some athletes to go back to the old standby of blood boosting, although EPO remains the most widely used drug in competitive cycling.

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