NFL starts HGH testing Mon

[gulfcoast]

I think they should just let them take what they want. Sorry if I step on any toes here but it's my opinion.

The problem with this argument is that it's only valid if PED use was confined to PRO sports.

HS kids know to be ESPN 300 names with offers from top Div I programs all but the genetically elite may need an edge.

College kids know to get a pro contract that again, unless they are genetically elite, they need an edge.

So it would be hard to keep PED usage only at the pro level.

 

[Kaladryn]

The BEST test they have for HGH, which tests for "repair markers," only has a detection time of 48 hours after injection. This is the test that just came out last year and is being used by the IOC (WADA).

The hGH Isoforms Test detects the alteration of proportions (ratios) between hGH isoforms up to 24-48 hours after recGH administration. The Biomarkers Test is based on measuring the increased synthesis of two biological markers of hGH bioactivity, namely IGF-I and P-III-NP, and it may not detect the initial phase of recGH use, but does so at later times and for a longer period than the Isoforms Test.

I believe the NFL is only using the Isoforms test, so all the athletes need to do is stop injecting for 48 hours before testing. Even if they are using both, all they have to do is keep their IGF-1 levels within limits (which would be very high considering how young some NFL players are).

 

[Kaladryn]

Certainly Growman......the isoform approach relies on the fact that rhGH administration results in an increase in the 22 kDa isoform (the only type present in rhGH) and a strong decrease in the other native forms. The ratio of the concentration of the 22 kDa isoform to that of total hGH is thus higher in a doped athlete.

Basically, when you inject the 22kDa version of growth hormone, it suppresses the 20kDa version, and the resulting ratio gets out of whack, and you fail the doping test. So, what the GHRP-2 does is increase the native isoform (20kDa) so the ratio falls once again in the normal range.

This is kind of like what some do to manipulate the epitest and test ratios by injecting epitest.

WADA drug testing has and always will be a joke. Since implementing HGH testing I believe one guy tested positive. It was a skier from Kazakhstan. He had his three year suspension eventually overturned by courts. WADA I believe stopped the testing soon afterwards but is re-implementing it again. They are more worried about MGF. They have no way to test for it.

When I say a joke, tests are made to be broken. There are a lot of smart people out there that are usually one step ahead of WADA because there is so much money to be made beating tests and selling the products to beat them. By the time WADA finds out something is being used, athletes already know how to get around testing or something new has come out. Usually only poorer countries get busted.

They just started testing IGF-1 level around a year ago, the isoform test was too weak with 24 to 48 hour detection times.