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Athletes Have a New Tool to Cheat With
It's a complex name for a select group of substances that may already be overtaking anabolic steroids and human growth hormone as the performance-enhancing substance of choice for athletes looking for gains in strength and power -- all without the legal issues and worries about a positive test .
"It seems like the cheaters are always trying to find new ways to beat the system," said Larry Bowers, the chief science officer at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), before his presentation at Major League Baseball's headquarters on Thursday.
Douglas Rollins, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Utah, said SARMs are "something that needs to be focused on" by the anti-doping community.
And officials at the Partnership of Clean Competition (PCC) -- a consortium that includes the USADA, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Major League Baseball and the National Football League --- are paying attention. The PCC has approved $3 million in grants since it was formed in January 2008, some of that going into SARMs research.
Unlike steroids and human growth hormone, there is no test for SARMs. Fred Schaufele, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco who has received one of those PCC grants, said he doesn't expect a test to be pushed into use until late 2011, at the earliest.
SARMs are prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency that covers Olympic-bound athletes and professional leagues, like MLB and the NFL, also ban SARMs under a category that prohibits any substances that have the same muscle-building properties as anabolic steroids.
SARMs, however, aren't steroids, but are instead molecules that modify the body's androgen receptors to spur the development of muscle. Pharmaceutical companies are currently looking to SARMs as an alternative to prescribed steroids -- which can have unwanted side effects that can harm the kidneys and liver -- for treatment for everything from cancer to osteoporosis.
"I counted them once," Rollins said during his presentation. "There are 300 potential SARMs that are likely to be tested [by drug companies]. Some of them are going to make it to the market."
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But an athlete seeking a boost doesn't have to wait.
"You can currently buy oral SARMs online for about $100 per bottle," said Victor Conte, founder of BALCO, the San Francisco Bay Area lab that supplied performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. "The S4 type is widely available online now."
SARMs, like S4, aren't a federally controlled substance like steroids or a heavily restricted product like HGH. Lawrence Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the agency is aware of SARMs, but declined to say what action may be taken to halt the distribution of the compounds.
S4 is supposed to be purchased only as a research chemical and sellers warn against ingesting it. But forums on the Internet are full of stories of the use of S4, which can be taken orally.
"These show a lot of promise," said Millard Baker, who runs one of the leading steroid resource sites, Meso-Rx. "Like every new [performance-enhancing drug] these are going to be tried out by athletes."
Advocates of SARMs can be found all over the Internet and matche the fervor of the backers of HGH, which is the go-to drug in the anti-aging market. HGH, however, can cost hundreds of dollars a month, requires frequent injections and a doctor's prescription.
"I do think the potential upside of SARMs is greater than HGH," Conte said.
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- A.J. Perez
- National Reporter
- NEW YORK -- A handful of bullet points projected at the Partnership of Clean Competition Conference detailed what could be the next stage in doping: Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs).
It's a complex name for a select group of substances that may already be overtaking anabolic steroids and human growth hormone as the performance-enhancing substance of choice for athletes looking for gains in strength and power -- all without the legal issues and worries about a positive test .
"It seems like the cheaters are always trying to find new ways to beat the system," said Larry Bowers, the chief science officer at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), before his presentation at Major League Baseball's headquarters on Thursday.
Douglas Rollins, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Utah, said SARMs are "something that needs to be focused on" by the anti-doping community.
And officials at the Partnership of Clean Competition (PCC) -- a consortium that includes the USADA, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Major League Baseball and the National Football League --- are paying attention. The PCC has approved $3 million in grants since it was formed in January 2008, some of that going into SARMs research.
Unlike steroids and human growth hormone, there is no test for SARMs. Fred Schaufele, a professor at the University of California-San Francisco who has received one of those PCC grants, said he doesn't expect a test to be pushed into use until late 2011, at the earliest.
SARMs are prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency that covers Olympic-bound athletes and professional leagues, like MLB and the NFL, also ban SARMs under a category that prohibits any substances that have the same muscle-building properties as anabolic steroids.
SARMs, however, aren't steroids, but are instead molecules that modify the body's androgen receptors to spur the development of muscle. Pharmaceutical companies are currently looking to SARMs as an alternative to prescribed steroids -- which can have unwanted side effects that can harm the kidneys and liver -- for treatment for everything from cancer to osteoporosis.
"I counted them once," Rollins said during his presentation. "There are 300 potential SARMs that are likely to be tested [by drug companies]. Some of them are going to make it to the market."
.fanhouseButton {margin:2em 0;} .fanhouseButton a:link, .fanhouseButton a:visited, .fanhouseButton a:hover, .fanhouseButton a:active {background-color:#dd2829;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:18px;padding:0.3em 0.6em;text-decoration:none;} .fanhouseButton a:hover {background-color:#000000;}
But an athlete seeking a boost doesn't have to wait.
"You can currently buy oral SARMs online for about $100 per bottle," said Victor Conte, founder of BALCO, the San Francisco Bay Area lab that supplied performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. "The S4 type is widely available online now."
SARMs, like S4, aren't a federally controlled substance like steroids or a heavily restricted product like HGH. Lawrence Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the agency is aware of SARMs, but declined to say what action may be taken to halt the distribution of the compounds.
S4 is supposed to be purchased only as a research chemical and sellers warn against ingesting it. But forums on the Internet are full of stories of the use of S4, which can be taken orally.
"These show a lot of promise," said Millard Baker, who runs one of the leading steroid resource sites, Meso-Rx. "Like every new [performance-enhancing drug] these are going to be tried out by athletes."
Advocates of SARMs can be found all over the Internet and matche the fervor of the backers of HGH, which is the go-to drug in the anti-aging market. HGH, however, can cost hundreds of dollars a month, requires frequent injections and a doctor's prescription.
"I do think the potential upside of SARMs is greater than HGH," Conte said.
