Doping In The Peloton

Beastt

It's a baffling situation. I do wonder though, if there isn't some confusion brought about by the terms "heart attack", "heart failure", "cardiac event", etc.

It seems that whenever the heart is mentioned in the cause of death, most people assume that means a heart attack. From what I can find, and I'm sure there are exceptions, the term "heart attack" refers to a specific condition usually the result of a blockage to a vessel that feeds the heart, (coronary artery).

Doctors seem to love to have special, complex terms for every medical condition and whoever makes those decisions decided to use the term "myocardial infarction", often shortened to "M.I." to describe a heart attack. "Myocardium" is heart muscle and "infarction" is from some Latin term, "infarcire", which means death. Perhaps they get extra points for more syllables?

Anyway, all the term means is death of the heart muscle but it seems that in medical lingo, the death must come about from a restriction of blood supply to the heart muscle. Not the blood that fills the cavities of the heart which it then squirts about when it beats but the blood in the arteries that feed the heart itself.

I have heard that severe coronary artery spasms can actually restrict blood enough to cause a heart attack but I'm not sure if exercise or over-training can cause such a spasm.

Without knowing more about it, the only things I can think of that might cause an apparently healthy, very active, young adult to suddenly die of a heart attack would be a diet tremendously rich in fats and cholesterol, an acute sensitivity to the plaques that these compounds can form or an emboli (air bubble) or thrombus (solid object that blocks a blood vessel), such as a blood clot.

EPO thickens the blood by causing the body to produce extra red blood cells which carry oxygen through the circulatory system. This can certainly put a strain on the heart. Strained muscles tend to lose their ability to produce power if not allowed to recover which might lead to a reduction in blood flow to the heart itself which would, of course, compound the already strained condition. My best guess is that this would be termed "heart failure". The thicker blood might also be more inclined to form clots which could block coronary ateries so it, among other drugs could cause the problem but I wouldn't expect the fatal event to occur while resting in a motel room as happened in one recent situation.

It seems the pro cycling community is fairly tight-lipped about the specifics of such deaths which kind of raises suspicions about drug use.

sdorrity

There are other ways to get increased red blood cells I believe, Altitude training for example.

Given that many of these athletes must be getting near their own limits of endurance maybe its just a combination of things. working at close to VO2 max for long periods can't be good for you; and where there may be some that are genetically able to handle it there are bound to be others that are pushing their luck. to tarnish them all with the thought that it must be due to drugs is out of order IMHO. It smacks of the opinion that if you won you must be on something.

There are not many things that athletes do to themselves that compare with a multiday tour. Track athletes for example peak for a competition maybe lasting 10 seconds, then its time to go through the cycle of training for the next competition.

I guess the closest would be something like the Ironman or marathons but even they are over in a relatively short time.

I've watched the peleton go up the Col du Tourmalet and been in awe, ive also watched a poor wretch in tears as he was swept up by the broom waggon, I swear he got the biggest cheer of the day, everyone was clapping for him and shouting encouragement.

I rode the tourmalet the next day and was in a pretty poor state at the top I can't even imagine doing the pace and distance that these guys manage.

Regards

Steve D

Beastt

I didn't mean to imply that if someone is winning they must be doping. I don't feel that way at all, quite the opposite. In fact, I'm more of the opinion that while there have been numerous doping scandals in cycling, the ones doping aren't necessarily the ones winning. I think the advantages provided by such substance abuse are largely over-emphasized.

As far as increasing the number of red blood cells through altitude training, etc., certainly this works but it's a natural process and isn't likely to leave you with blood so thick that the heart can't pump it efficiently.

My intent was to respond to the questionable deaths listed as "natural" of at least three pro cyclists in recent months. It seems totally unnatural to expect people in such amazing physical condition to simply die, often while relaxing.

Lastly, if you can ride the Tourmalet at all, I'm envious of you. Not that I've had the chance to try but the local mountains I ride are bumps on a pickle in comparison and still leave me struggling. Something like the Tore-my-legs-off would also rip out my lungs, buckle my knees and burst my heart like a soap bubble.

limerickman

I've got to agree with your point : there has to be something causing very,very fit men to die so young.
And I'm sorry to say but I really do think that the peleton is
drug fuelled.
It kills me to say this but when I see them all going faster and faster : going faster than they did in era when we know EPO
was widely used (1990's), it makes me very cynical as to how they can perform like that if they're all supposed to be clean.
I would hate to see our sport go the way of athletics where
every new record or achievement is viewed with cynicism.

As regards the Tourmalet - it's a beast of a climb.
Crawled up it many years ago.
A couple of other juicy ones are Col de Montgenevre and the Cormet de Roseland !
Tough, tough climbs.

sdorrity

There are going to be people that use drugs but I don't think that we have found the limits of human performance yet.

I think that several factors are pushing the limits.

we are better able to find and encourage gifted athletes (the Australian system ia a good example).

we have finally realized that we are all different and some are better at things than others, training can only improve one so far it takes someone special to be a world champion and its all got to be there Physiologically and Psychologically and the scouts and coaches are better at finding them.

science is better at identifying the traits and characteristics that make a champion in a particular field and finding a program to maximize their potential

Mix that with good mental attitude and records will be broken.

I follow kayaking as well during a slalom the british world champion was beaten by a german that simply came up to wish him luck and mention that gate 13 was a b*sta*rd, The british paddler wiped out gate thirteen and got bronze.

A few years ago someone discovered that if they could previsualize a course, in skiing for example they could knock seconds off their time, pretty soon everyone is doing it and records were broken.

As for the deaths its possible that the very traits that make a world class cyclist also predispose him to cardiac problems. Remember we are talking about a very tiny percentage of the polulation that are capable of performing at this level.

JMTW

Steve D

sdorrity

Thats what one part of altitude sickness is, 50 years ago no one could survive at altitude now its quite common with the right training and acclimatisation



I'm going again this year we are doing the coast to coast 740km and 10,000m of climbing in 6 days as a 46y/o overweight male I have some work to do!

Last time we were loaded with camping gear and it made me realize that it was not the best way to tour the mountains so this time its a supported tour. This is me at the top last time http://www.guernsey.net/~sdorrity/photos/P10.jpg

my other problem is that I live on an Island thats 90m high and 100km is three times around the coast so training is going to be a challenge.

Tail winds

Steve D

el Inglés

Just as a side issue there´s a condition ( hope I spellit right ) called " sleep apnia " where people stop breathing while asleep and then sort of wake enough to snort and restart breathing .This is quite common but in some cases can cause death - if not previouslly diagnosed the death could well be very difficult to define as nothing would show at an autopsy .

hope I´ve got my facts right , can any doc´s out there give more details ?

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