Doping In The Peloton

Lab_Rat

Well, this posting is actually a result of Less'go's (New Thread Anybody) post.

As an avid cycling fan (funny that), I find it amazing that there are so many young pro's suffering heart attacks. What is more amazing, is that so often, the cause of death is stated as "Natural". So how many people do you know, below the age of 40, with excellent fitness, that die of heart attacks. So the question that I always have in my head, that I now put to you, is. . .

1.) Is the strain put on the heart during cycling actually harmful to the heart due to the extremes and frequency of going to the max; or

2.) Is there almost a blanket usage of performance enhancers such as EPO across the peloton and practically everyone is using them, but only those who are less scientific and overdo the dosage get caught.

What do you think?

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Despite all my rage, I'm still just a rat in a cage

less'go

Hmmmm, sounds like a good question, unfortunately I'd never given it any thought before, but hey, no time like the present.

I have had just one friend die of a heart attack, at age 23. But I believe she had prior physical problems, so I cannot say she was in excellent health.

I have always been under the impression that a healthy heart, especially one belonging to a well-trained athlete, is no more likely to give out from heavy use than any other muscle. But I may be worng.

In any case the use of doping substances must be a contributing factor. Can't be good. There you have it in a nutshell, my very official and probably quite uninteresting opinion. But hey, you did ask for it.

Sara

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limerickman

It is not good to generalise but I do think that there has to be something causing all these 'natural deaths'.
Whether it's because this sport has become so dificult that coronary failure is to be expected or there is indeed doping in the peleton, is anyones guess.
Elsewhere on this site, I have posted acturial statistics of coronary-cardio failure in male adults, from the 1st world, in the age bracket 20-35 (statistically 1/5000 deaths in men between the ages 20-35 is due to heart disease : 80% of the 1/5000 deaths is caused by smoking and obesity induced heart failure, the remaining 20% of the 1/5000 deaths is down to genetic hereditary predisposition to heart failure).
In the professional ranks, neither obesity/smoking would apply to
in the cases where coronary failure has been the cause of death.
Therefore, are we assume that every cycling fatality due to heart failure is becasue they (the cyclists) are genetically predisposed
to heart failure ?
given the rate of medical checks, I don't think that a cyclist would be allowed to cycle professionally, if there were irregularities.
It's up to people to decide what they think but for me, I have to say that I think that there is something going on in the sport that's causing these untimely deaths.

I know of only one person between the ages of 20-40 who has died of heart failure in my circle of friends/acquantances/contacts.
This was due to the person having a genetic/hereditary coronary
problem.

el Inglés

You can over train and you can strain your heart , unfortuntley some congenital problems can´t be diagnosed except by autopsy , and not many team doctors are that de(a)dicated .

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' too old to rock 'n' roll : too young to die '

less'go

You're on a roll here, El Inglès.... Keep up the good work!

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The six-pack will be mine...

limerickman

It's a valid point that you make !
I can't disagree with it !

Cipher

Theirs a book out on the topic that I plan on reading after a friend who has it now is finished with it...

Cyclingnews did an extract from it, it's called "Breaking the Chain, Drugs and Cycling" if anyone's interested.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/chain2.shtml

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"Know your limits... Then FK'N Crush'em!!!"

Lab_Rat

I believe that the french version is better as some of the meaning is lost in the translation. I have been looking for a copy of it.

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Despite all my rage, I'm still just a rat in a cage

ewitz

ahter reading the article in outside magazine on performance enhancing drugs, I too decided to give it a try.

I started a course of HGH and epo about two months ago. it is fantastic i can ride farther faster and need almost zero recovery time from one day to the next.

I highly recommend it. while it is expensive you get way more bang for your buck than spending the money on some lightweight carbon part. and you get tangible measurable cycling improvements.

hemplands

This sport is trying to get rid of people that use drugs.

I think you should be ashamed of yourself of admitting that you're even taking the stuff.

I do hope you're a competitive cyclist and someone shops you to the authorities. Because I would you could be sure of that.

limerickman

Either this message is a windup or else you're very foolish using this stuff.
You don't need drugs to cycle, my friend.

tspinner

And for excitement in your free time you like to play Russian Roulette.

Spider1977

Wow! I just saw some pigs flying past my window.

less'go

I think I'll give it a try, I'm sure HGH will really help me get in top form, keep my body pure, mean and clean, and just thinking of the long-term health benefits gets me really psyched up. Not to mention all that money I have to burn...

Should really help me when toting home the groceries....

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The six-pack will be mine...