Run, Swim, Throw, Cheat: The Science Behind Drugs in Sport

285 Pages·2012·2.33 MB·English

by  Chris Cooper

RUN, SWIM, THROW, CHEAT
RUN, SWIM, THROW, CHEAT
The Science behind drugs in sport
Chris Cooper
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
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© Chris Cooper 2012
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First Edition published in 2012
Impression: 1
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ISBN 978–0–19–958146–7
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CONTENTS
Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Prologue: a tale of two races
1 Introduction
2 The limits of human performance
3 Stoking the engine: food
4 Stoking the engine: oxygen
5 Muscling up
6 Steroids and beyond …
7 Stimulants
8 Gene doping
9 What is cheating?
10 Catching the cheats
Concluding remarks
Notes and References
Further Reading
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. The 1988 Olympic Men’s 100 m race in Seoul
Sports Illustrated/Getty Images
2. The 2005 World Championship 1500 m race in Helsinki
© Gary Hershorn/Reuters/Corbis
3. A comparison of male and female Olympic records in athletics
4. Distribution of fastest 800 m running times in UK and the World
5. Distribution of 147 maximum breaks in the world snooker
championships
6. The cycle of life
7. Different fuels for different distances
Paula Radcliffe: © PCN Photography/PCN/Corbis;
Usain Bolt: © PCN Corbis
8. Factors that can control oxygen consumption during exercise
9. Comparison of the amount of oxygen in plasma and red blood cells
10. Amplification of hormone signalling by a phosphorylation cascade
11. The mTOR ‘GO’ pathway for turning on protein synthesis
12. A bull with a genetic defect decreasing myostatin production © Yann
Arthus-Bertrand/Corbis
13. The myostatin ‘STOP’ pathway for turning off muscle protein
synthesis
14. Spot the difference
15. Making a sex hormone from cholesterol
16. How do steroid hormones work?
17. How does testosterone increase muscle growth?
18. World’s best shot put performances for males and females
19. Stimulants and brain signalling
20. Amphetamine
21. Coffee and metabolism © OUP
22. How caffeine keeps you running
23. Lee Evans waving a Black Panther beret during medal ceremony
AP/Press Association Images
24. A competition assay for detecting drugs
25. Using chromatography to separate compounds
26. Detecting EPO
27. Detecting gene doping
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The idea for this book arose from discussions with students and staff at the
Centre for Sports and Exercise Science at the University of Essex. I particularly
thank Jerry Shearman, Martin Sellens, and Mike Wilson who encouraged me to
think of applying my biochemical ideas to sports science. I am also grateful for
the support of the many scientists—at Essex and elsewhere—who suggested
helpful improvements to the content of this book. These include Ralph Beneke,
Yagesh Bhambani, Stephen Harridge, Gareth Jones, Hugh Montgomery, Ceri
Nicholas, Peter Rasmussen, Kevin Tipton, Niels Vollaard, Anna Wittekind and
John Wyatt.
This has been my first book targeted at a general readership. I am indebted to
Jules Pretty for supporting me in this endeavour and contributing valuable
advice both on the scientific content and, especially, on the art of popular science
writing. My wife, Helen Cooper, provided the insights—as well as the
aggressive proofreading—of an intelligent non-scientist.
I especially wish to acknowledge the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) for providing the support of their innovative Senior
Media Fellowship programme; this paid for relief from my formal academic
duties, providing the free time to dedicate to writing. At Oxford University
Press, Emma Marchant and Erica Martin assisted with technical details of the
book whilst Latha Menon provided valuable advice on content.
Finally writing a book is a time consuming and emotional commitment. I
could not have succeeded without the support of my family especially my
mother Maria, my wife Helen and my two children Lauren and Alex.