 What made homo-erectus stand up and walk away from the rest of the animal kingdom? What made them do that was, probably, their competitive ego and their unceasing endurance which came to them instinctively.Growing up in this manner their competitive instinct branched out into two sectors. The primary was their instinct to subjugate the rest of their kind and that led to lethal wars which became more and more cunning and bloody with the discovery of tools.
The other arm was not so lethal, yet it was competitive. This arm of activity developed as sport.
Now with the passing of many a millennia, the modern man is still engaged in war which is millions of times more lethal than those which they fought with their primary tools while the field of sports also has developed into a multi billion dollar industry where man would take any risk or even self destruction just for fame and glory for a few dollars more.
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| Dr.Seevali Jayawickreme |
Having said this, the following story narrated by Dr. Seevali Jayawickreme, Consultant Physician Sports and Exercise Medicine, takes us through the athletic ordeals of a modern sense in a localised environment. It explains the repercussions of the usage of anabolic steroids and what action the authorities are taking to eradicate this menace.
First the good doctor explained what the medicine arm of the Sports Ministry is and what its main functions are. He began by saying Sports Medicine is the culmination of several arms of the subject grouping together for the wellbeing of sports men and women.
“Unlike laymen who go to a physician for an ailment, sportsmen have to seek the assistance of a sports doctor to increase their performance and how they can do it. So this has to be accomplished by a team which includes specialty doctors, the coach, the trainer, masseur, sports physician, nutritionist, sports psychologist and bio-mechanic.
Then there are people like exercise physiologists just to see how your body functions. In sports medicine there around ten areas that we have to ascertain to see if an athlete is doing well”
Dr. Jayawickreme explained that when an athlete calls over initially they have to find out if they have any hidden symptoms and then the body mass index to see if their weight corresponds with their age and height.
He then added, “To become a good athlete there are some vital ingredients such as power, speed, strength, flexibility, endurance, agility, mental balance, balance and coordination. All these should work in harmony for one to become a good sportsman. If one of these functions misfires one cannot perform at his or her peak”.
Dr. Jayawickreme brought out a good example to explain why Sri Lanka lags behind in a sport like rugby. He said that in rugby our forwards concentrate mainly on power, but their agility is not at its peak. Yet a forward with the All Blacks, Springbucks or the Wallabies will be so agile that he would be able to move as fast as a wing three quarter in his team.
 Along with this comes the injury prevention and injury management. “About 90% of our population is flatfooted, so they need proper inner-soles and they should be customized. There is no point in buying mass products in this case. That is proper management in bio-mechanics.”
Coming into performance enhancers, Dr. Jayawickreme said, “Cricket and athletics have progressed leaps and bound in the past two decades. Cricket hit the pedestal with the 1996 World Cup win while athletics was brought into the limelight by athletes like Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha who won a lot of medals in the short track events. Then people keep their focus in these sports and more and more people will take it up.
“Then there is competition among players. We at the Sports Medicine Unit provide them with permitted enhancers under supervision. But, then some athletes tend to think that if they exceed the permitted limits they may do better in their given disciplines. Sometimes they even may be tempted to take the banned substances.”
Dr. Jayawickrema revealed that some Sri Lankan athletes who have been nabbed have used anabolic steroids, stimulants and even narcotics like cannabis. “Recently some were caught using methyl hexamine, a stimulant which came into the 2010 list of banned substances. The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) had listed it as a weak substance, but later brought it into the banned list.”
Then explaining about branded substances under names like Nandroline and Prednisolone – (more familiar to our readers), Dr. Jayawickreme said, “Nandroline (Decadurobolin) is an anabolic steroid which is used to resuscitate a cancer patient who is very bad or badly anaemic. Nandrolone allows you to work more and more and burn your body fat so that you can build up your muscle. That is what is needed for a person who sprints. Short burst sprinters, weight lifters have been using these type of drugs.
“The bad effects of Nandroline are: it virtually destroys your whole body. For males you will lose your hair, you will develop pimples, will develop breasts and ultimately end up becoming impotent. It also can affect the heart and liver of both sexes.
“For women, it works the opposite way. She will develop hair on her body; it changes the tone of her voice to that of a male and some other psychological and physical changes too”. This is what will happen in prolonged use of this substance.”
Talking of Prednisolone, (a substance that was detected in a urine sample provided by Sri Lanka cricketer Upul Tharanga), Dr. Jayawickreme said” “Prednisolone is also a steroid. It is used for asthma and joint ailments. It is harmful to those with high blood sugar. If Prednisolone is used we may give it as a puff or an injection, but, to an athlete this drug is not given in tablet form. Long term use of this substance also could lead to similar negative physical effects as above. Besides, it could also contribute to a rise in blood sugar levels.”
Another substance that is commonly used in Sri Lanka is ventolin. If a sportsman or woman is an asthmatic, he or she has to do a lung function test and prove that he or she is in need of the medicine. There is a thing called therapeutic usage exemption.”
Dr. Jayawickreme explained that athletes who use this drug must be armed with the exemption certificate and the doctor’s prescription. Finally, it is put up to the Sports Medical Unit’s therapeutic exemption committee which ascertains the matter and gives a periodical approval”.
When the test is done, athletes are given a form where they have to disclose all medication that they have been taking and provide back-up documents.
Dr. Jayawickreme further explained that even at the Olympics oath the authorities have included a clause to the effect that the athlete takes his oath to a drug free competition. He said former American sprint queen Marion Jones spent a lot of money developing a drug by the name of Designer Hormone. But once her trainer fell out with her he spilled the beans and this culminated in her losing the crown and also spending time in jail.
Any athlete will find out how to improve their performance. In Sri Lanka also in certain sports there is competition among the coaches and the trainers and those individuals want victory at any cost so there is no doubt these persons do not care if the persons who train under them go through the listed drugs.
Though not up to alarming proportions, the drug menace is prevalent in Sri Lanka and the Sports Medicine Unit is taking a very close look at the schools sector also. At the moment the unit has launched a coordinated programme together with the Ministry of Education to conduct steroid tests for school level athletes also.
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