Drugs in sport are big news and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is common. Here, Chris Cooper, a top biochemist at the University of Essex, looks at the science behind drugs in sport. Using the performance of top athletes, Cooper begins by outlining the limits of human performance. Showing the basic problems of human biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy, he looks at what stops us running faster, throwing longer, or jumping higher. Using these evidence-based arguments he shows what the body can, and cannot, do. There is much curiosity about why certain substances are used, how they are detected, and whether they truly have an effect on the body. Cooper explains how these drugs work and the challenges of testing for them, putting in to context whether the 'doping' methods of choice are worth the risk or the effort. Exploring the moral, political, and ethical issues involved in controlling drug use, Cooper addresses questions such as 'What is cheating?', 'What compounds are legal and why?', 'Why do the classification systems change all the time?', and 'Should all chemicals be legal, and what effect would this have on sport?'. Looking forward, he examines the recent work to study the physical limitations of rat and mice behaviour. He shows that, remarkably, simple genetic experiments producing 'supermice' suggest that there may be ways of improving human performance too, raising ethical and moral questions for the future of sport.
Run, Swim, Throw, Cheat:The science behind drugs in sport
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this [is an] authoritative primer on the science of doping Brian Schofield, Sunday Times {Culture} An interesting and informative book ... This book would be an excellent accompaniment to the coverage of the Olympic games this summer. Chemistry World [This book] provides for the first time an in-depth explanation of how drugs can improve sporting performance. Mark Perryman, Morning Star [a] pacy account Nature Magazine
About the Author
Chris Cooper is Head of Research, Sports and Exercise Science at the University of Essex.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an exceptionally lucid survey of a very complicated and contentious topic. For anyone watching the Olympics, taxiing a sports-mad child or training for an event it is a worthwhile read. Chris Copper is a proper scientist, unlike most commentators in the field, and does a good and amusing job of teasing out the complications.
If you think the issues are simple try this (from p178): "To summarise: the inhibition of an inhibitor leads to the activation of an inhibitor of the inhibitory pathway." As the author concedes you need some patience to be a biochemist, and a fine appreciation of the quadruple negative, I'd add.
So what is a performance enhancing drug?
Placebos work. And intra-venous placebos work even better.
Your body has 38 or more hormones controlling diverse functions such as blood cell production, mood, muscle build-up, stamina... Are these drugs? Artificial drugs mimic their actions.
Are drugs just things made in a lab? They have to bind to the same receptors as your "natural" drugs, which might also be "enhanced" by the unscrupulous. Many of these don't, in the author's view, actually work, but coffee (not banned) does.
Given the difficulty you might think to hell with it, let them take dope and see the best doper win. This is a view shared by many athletes. Asked in a survey whether they would take (undetected) drugs guaranteeing sporting glory for five years, only to drop dead the day after, 50% of respondents answered "yes". (We aren't told what proportion of the other 50% was holding out for a longer winning streak.)
There are four good reasons for carrying on this "unwinnable" war on drugs. First, body building. Anyone know more than a wife and a dog who watches this sport? Second, East Germany. You don't drop dead, but you do have long term health issues from the side effects. Third, informed consent. Cooper shows that the earlier you start taking drugs, particularly gene doping drugs, the greater the effect. How could a child refuse?
Fourth, and most surprising, is Cooper's conclusion that while we'll never "win" we are far from losing. Most sports drugs are spin offs (even millionaire sportsmen can't fund the research) and the pharmaceutical companies produce tests as fast as they produce experimental drugs. So be optimistic, the Olympics this year might, just might, be relatively drug free, and fair.
If you think the issues are simple try this (from p178): "To summarise: the inhibition of an inhibitor leads to the activation of an inhibitor of the inhibitory pathway." As the author concedes you need some patience to be a biochemist, and a fine appreciation of the quadruple negative, I'd add.
So what is a performance enhancing drug?
Placebos work. And intra-venous placebos work even better.
Your body has 38 or more hormones controlling diverse functions such as blood cell production, mood, muscle build-up, stamina... Are these drugs? Artificial drugs mimic their actions.
Are drugs just things made in a lab? They have to bind to the same receptors as your "natural" drugs, which might also be "enhanced" by the unscrupulous. Many of these don't, in the author's view, actually work, but coffee (not banned) does.
Given the difficulty you might think to hell with it, let them take dope and see the best doper win. This is a view shared by many athletes. Asked in a survey whether they would take (undetected) drugs guaranteeing sporting glory for five years, only to drop dead the day after, 50% of respondents answered "yes". (We aren't told what proportion of the other 50% was holding out for a longer winning streak.)
There are four good reasons for carrying on this "unwinnable" war on drugs. First, body building. Anyone know more than a wife and a dog who watches this sport? Second, East Germany. You don't drop dead, but you do have long term health issues from the side effects. Third, informed consent. Cooper shows that the earlier you start taking drugs, particularly gene doping drugs, the greater the effect. How could a child refuse?
Fourth, and most surprising, is Cooper's conclusion that while we'll never "win" we are far from losing. Most sports drugs are spin offs (even millionaire sportsmen can't fund the research) and the pharmaceutical companies produce tests as fast as they produce experimental drugs. So be optimistic, the Olympics this year might, just might, be relatively drug free, and fair.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It's a curious phenomena, but adding the word "popular" to any academic subject seems to carry with it a perjorative tag (eg "popular science", "popular history"). There seems to be a feeling in some quarters that having a book labelled as 'popular' is a way of saying that it is contributing to the general dumbing down of the masses.
However in many ways nothing could be further from the truth, as popular [(insert your chosen topic here)] books are notoriously difficult to get right and having read a panoply over the years you realise there is a real art to getting them spot on.
It is with pleasure, therefore, that I can report that this book is one of those few to get it right...and so very right!
Not only is this a masterclass in how to write clear spare scientific prose but it also manages to simplify fairly complex topics without sacrificing accuracy on the Altar of the jealous 'god' Booksales. This of course isn't easy to do and so it's not done perfectly ....but few things are perfect are they?
The books point of departure is the now notorious event of the 100m mens final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics where the majority of those taking part can be seen to have been tainted with the stigma of having used (potentially or obviously) performance enhancing drugs at one point in time or another.
The books then describes the why's and the how's of this subject by delving into the physiology, pharmacology and genetics of exercise. It is quite up to date and I would recommend it to all science students doing A-levels all the way up to PhD's and beyond (and to anyone else interested in the topic.) Along the way the author covers not only the usual subjects of 'why caffeine works' but more recent developments such as 'what beetroot has in common with viagra' (I paraphrase) and PEP-CK mutations in 'marathon-mice' (I paraphrase again.)
The book ends on the ethics of the topic (and catching drug cheats) and what is nice is that the author does not then do an ethical vanishing act or try to scale Mount Moral's highground:- instead the argument seems balanced and sane.
For those who want to go further there are plenty of references and all in all this is a pretty comprehensive but not cumbersome (or expensive) little book.
However in many ways nothing could be further from the truth, as popular [(insert your chosen topic here)] books are notoriously difficult to get right and having read a panoply over the years you realise there is a real art to getting them spot on.
It is with pleasure, therefore, that I can report that this book is one of those few to get it right...and so very right!
Not only is this a masterclass in how to write clear spare scientific prose but it also manages to simplify fairly complex topics without sacrificing accuracy on the Altar of the jealous 'god' Booksales. This of course isn't easy to do and so it's not done perfectly ....but few things are perfect are they?
The books point of departure is the now notorious event of the 100m mens final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics where the majority of those taking part can be seen to have been tainted with the stigma of having used (potentially or obviously) performance enhancing drugs at one point in time or another.
The books then describes the why's and the how's of this subject by delving into the physiology, pharmacology and genetics of exercise. It is quite up to date and I would recommend it to all science students doing A-levels all the way up to PhD's and beyond (and to anyone else interested in the topic.) Along the way the author covers not only the usual subjects of 'why caffeine works' but more recent developments such as 'what beetroot has in common with viagra' (I paraphrase) and PEP-CK mutations in 'marathon-mice' (I paraphrase again.)
The book ends on the ethics of the topic (and catching drug cheats) and what is nice is that the author does not then do an ethical vanishing act or try to scale Mount Moral's highground:- instead the argument seems balanced and sane.
For those who want to go further there are plenty of references and all in all this is a pretty comprehensive but not cumbersome (or expensive) little book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Cazz
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I must say at the start that the book is a well written, well set out and thorough account of doping in sports. That being said, I can't believe I'm the only reader who struggled with the lengthy biochemistry sections. As a doctor, the science wasn't new to me, and I could understand it, but was still bored by the depth of detail in some sections. I think if I did not have a science background I would definitely have struggled.
I would also have liked some more detail of real cases/ athletes- the BALCO scandal and Tour de france drugs debacle were alluded to frequently, but some specific case studies would have livened up some of the more deadly biochemistry chunks!
I would also have liked some more detail of real cases/ athletes- the BALCO scandal and Tour de france drugs debacle were alluded to frequently, but some specific case studies would have livened up some of the more deadly biochemistry chunks!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book
Good book added to collection, will be enjoyed fully when needed, very useful and a great addition, will be added to my teaching library!
Published 1 month ago by O
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting if complicated.
As someone who is researching performance-enhancing drugs in sport, I found this book very interesting and will use it in the future as a reference tool. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. B. E. M. Jacobs
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like Sports Science, you will love this
This book is a rare breed, in that it is both a story and a science book in one fantastic amalgamation of what one would want from a sports book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Liam
3.0 out of 5 stars
Popular Science with lots of tangents
(I should preface this review with the fact I was looking for more of an academic book with lots od detail and not much in the way of a narrative. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Dr. A. Sahal
4.0 out of 5 stars
Run Swim Throw Cheat
I found this book really interesting it is set out in a straightforward way and really opens your eyes to the use of drugs in sport. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Luce
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