2014 Winter Olympics Sucked. WOAT.

[Corby78]

The medical director of Finnish anti-doping commitee was interviewed about Backstrom case. Here are the main points of this case known so far:
- The substance found from Backstrom was pseudoefedrine. It is commonly used in antihistamines that are used to treat allergies but it also works as a stimulant.
- In Backstrom's sample there was 190mg of pseudoefedrine when the highest allowed amount is 150mg
- The medical director said that the allowed limit (150mg) is set very high so that athletes with allergies can use their medication normally without exceeding the limit.
- To get you pseudoefedrin levels to 190mg you would have to overdose allergy medication 3-4 times more than what doctors tell you to take.
- Medical director said that if you take that much of that allergy medicine you would also get 3-4 times more of antihistamine which would have negative side effects. Because of that he believes that Backstrom hasn't taken allergy medication but instead just pseudoefedrin for the positive effects only. And that is why he thinks Backstrom should receive standard 2 year ban.

That ban however doesn't probably have effect in NHL. If I am correct pseudoefedrine isn't banned in the NHL. At least it hasn't been earlier as this article suggests: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1998/weekly/980202/nhlstory.html

I wonder if those 150-190 levels are based off a normal guy sitting at home, and if that would change if it was based off an Olympic athlete in the middle of the games?

 

[JimboA]

I feel for you guys, not the best Olympics but hopefully you'll bounce back!

// Neutral fan

 

[Cruor]

I wonder if those 150-190 levels are based off a normal guy sitting at home, and if that would change if it was based off an Olympic athlete in the middle of the games?

There is a topic in the International section discussing this at length, see this study for example:

http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/pdf/publications/20355197.pdf

Chester et al. administered 360 mg of PEPH.HCl over a 36h period.[15] The maximum urinary concentration of PEPH was 215 μg/mL.

That is, normal dosage provided an effect of over 200 microgramms per millilitre. Way above the threshold WADA set of 150. Lubomir Visnovsky was found with over 200 μg/mL in Vancouver 2010 and was allowed to re-test and let off with a warning.

 

[txpd]

This hockey season has been such a cluster.....My racing season starts this week at Sebring FL. I can't wait. Give me some more time away from this hideous mess.

 

[Vladiator16*]

There is a topic in the International section discussing this at length, see this study for example:

http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/pdf/publications/20355197.pdf



That is, normal dosage provided an effect of over 200 microgramms per millilitre. Way above the threshold WADA set of 150. Lubomir Visnovsky was found with over 200 μg/mL in Vancouver 2010 and was allowed to re-test and let off with a warning.

Sounds fair... You cant make this **** up...

 

[leova]

Test on Wednesday....results 20min before Gold-Medal game on Sunday?
Allergy medicine PRE-DECLARED and OKed.....oh, and dozens of atheletes have complained of horrible Air quality in Sochi, some even quit rather than suffer!

something is fishy here, and it sure as hell isn't Backstrom's blood...

 

[hb12xchamps]

Yeah my first reaction was that this whole situation seemed fishy. Why wouldn't they give him the opportunity for a retest knowing he had been taking a medicine he has been taking for over 7 years? Doesn't make sense. Sweden looses yet another center and it hurt their chances. I would be really really pissed if I was them. Maybe there's a different outcome if he played maybe not but we will never get a chance to see that.

 

[Luca]

Every expert is saying that this allergy medicine story is ********.

 

[caps4cup]

Every expert is saying that this allergy medicine story is ********.

So then what's the real story?

 

[Luca]

So then what's the real story?

I simply decided cheat and trust his luck that he wont get caught but run out of luck

 

[Dream Big]

Just some facts to take into consideration on how this could have happened. I'm not a pharmacist however I am aware that drugs have half lives. The half life excretion rates also vary. See below.

The tablets apparently have 120 mg each so if he took two he'd be at 240 mg. He tested at 190. Perhaps it is as simple as he took the second one slightly sooner than he should have? It appears the excretion rate also varies between 43-96%.

Each tablet of Zyrtec-D contains 120 mg

Active ingredients (in each extended release tablet): Cetirizine HCl 5 mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 120 mg

Half-life 4.3–8 hours
Excretion 43–96%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_half-life

The biological half-life or elimination half-life of a substance is the time it takes for a substance (for example a metabolite, drug, signalling molecule, radioactive nuclide, or other substance) to lose half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity, as per the MeSH definition. In a medical context, half-life may also describe the time it takes for the blood plasma concentration of a substance to halve (plasma half-life) its steady-state. The relationship between the biological and plasma half-lives of a substance can be complex depending on the substance in question, due to factors including accumulation in tissues (protein binding), active metabolites, and receptor interactions.[1]

 

[Acallabeth]

I suppose they retested him before the game and he was still positive? They don't need 2 days for this test, do they?

 

[behemolari]

Incoming 2 years banning from the international games

 

[behemolari]

I suppose they retested him before the game and he was still positive? They don't need 2 days for this test, do they?

they tested him wednesday, they had results at thursday, reason unknown they let him play friday as a doped

 

[Corby78]

This hockey season has been such a cluster.....My racing season starts this week at Sebring FL. I can't wait. Give me some more time away from this hideous mess.

Started yesterday at Daytona.

 

[txpd]

Started yesterday at Daytona.

I don't race with them.

 

[Klargplutte]

Supposedly Backstrom has used this medication more or less everyday for several years , i wonder if that has anything to do with it , maybe it effects how the body breakes it down or something , or he has developed resistence and had intentionally increased hes dosage to get effect.

 

[MiKE5889]

IOK really ****** up on this one. It's a well known fact that some medicines, especially towards allergies has a tendency to have 'carry over effects', especially when they are consumed on a regular basis over an extended period of time.

Not only did they fail to establish whether his test values was a result of a natural long term consumption or not. They also failed in establishing whether Backy suffered from dehydration at the time when the test was conducted. Had two separate tests been carried out when Backstrom was both hydrated as well as dehydrated the results would lead you to believe that you were looking at the tests of two completely different human beings. That is how much these tests differ as a result of dehydration!

I'm personally taking meds featuring Pseudoephedrine on a daily basis during the summers due to my allergies towards various types of pollen. I've personally been reminded by my doctor at a couple of occasions to be careful about consuming Pseudoephedrine at scheduled times, if I was dehydrated the day before, as the extra concentration carrying over, combined with the next dose could cause minor emotional spikes.

This sort of explains why Pseudoephedrine is classified by some organizations as performance enhancing as it obviously has the ability to make you a bit more aggressive, which on the ice could express itself in a positive way.

Regardless IOK's methods of handling this incident is laughably poor. I feel bad for Backy. Hope he finishes his NHL season on a strong note and that NHLPA sues the living crap out of IOK. If this is how professional athletes are to be treated for representing their country, I rather watch AHL and minor league hockey than having to see athletes getting their careers shattered by muppet show organizations.

 

[SimplySensational]

Man the Toews hype machine in full force.

 

[g00n]

Man the Toews hype machine in full force.

He and Crosby have gold medals and Cups. Caps have....?

 

[stanleycaps18]

Presidents Trophy?

 

[g00n]

Presidents Trophy?

Yeah don't forget the banners.