If hypothyroidism is so rare then why do all of Salazar's athletes getting therapeutic exemptions for it?

Scientific American article on attempts to determine souce of soaring rates of asthma in America. Just because you are all determined to see cheating doesn't necessarily mean that's what you're observing:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-are-asthma-rates-soaring

ray wrote:

The academic Hobo wrote:

I would point out that like every pro cyclist is "asthmatic" so that they can get a steroidal inhaler which is considered legal cheating in cycling. Not sure why that hasn't caught on in running yet.

It cerainly has! Noticed it first in 1978 when I returned from overseas to run some races in the US.

Obvious question, but......... wrote:

No they don't need any evidence of the accusation, this is letsrun, where defamation is acceptable.

..

Are therapeutic exemptions defamatory?

Are stupid questions necessary?

Glad someone started this thread.

First of all, diagnosis of hypothyroidism is not a clear line in the sand.

If you tested 1000 people's TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), let's say 1000 Letsrunners, maybe 35 would come back showing hypothyroidism (using the NHANES statistic above, which as reliable as we can ask for). Does that mean they all need treatment? Absolutely not.

Any doctor hunting for or prescribing L-thyroxin for a totally asymptomatic person is a clown (with the exception of during pregnancy, where there are proven benefits). Or. perhaps, trying to push the limits of medical and competitive ethics in an athlete's favor.

The Salazar regimen, by total letsrun hearsay, involves SCREENING everyone's thyoid function. Why? Because it might be low. Heck, it might not even be low, it might be borderline and why not treat borderline, too? Note the very real difference between "screening" and "testing": "testing" is what we do when we have reason to suspect a condition (i.e. you have an AIDS-related opportunistic infection); "screening" is done because there is a certain prevalence in the population and giving treatment before symptoms arrive has benefits (i.e. your doctor suggests HIV screening because you're sexually active).

Hey, suprise suprise, long distance runners sometimes feel tired. Do some of them have low or borderline thyroid function? Of course they do. A number of them might also have "low" HGH. Or "low" testosterone. Treat it all!

This is like me saying that my sprinter has trouble recovering from four workouts a week because he has low HGH and testosterone, which thus needs supplementation. Welcome to the human condition: people differ. I thought sport was about training to make the most of your potential, not drugging to change your potential.

Dirty, dirty, dirty.

You must teach at a crappy med school.

Comparing Galen Rupp's chances of having hypothyroidism to the general population is absurd. He was "diagnosed" around the age of 20. The incidence of that occurring is certainly much much lower than 3.5% which is the odds of it appearing in the general population at all age groups and in both sexes.

please do tell what medical school you teach at?

proves USADA/WADA/USATF/NCAA are Nike stooges.

we must have U.S. federal cops, lawyers, and scientists own the collection and lab work.

each collection and lab results must be publically posted and available for independent analysis by the research community worldwide.

of course the name of the athlete should be redacted from the public information unless the feds declare a positive hit.

period.

If you're so concerned about medical ethics and accurate information, taking such care to indicate the differences between screening and testing, for instance, then could you please be equally specific about who it is you consider to be "dirty, dirty, dirty"? Are there statements indicating exactly who in Salazar's training group is on medications? I apologize if I'm asking you to cover ground that's well known. I'm curious.

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

Glad someone started this thread.

First of all, diagnosis of hypothyroidism is not a clear line in the sand.

...

I thought sport was about training to make the most of your potential, not drugging to change your potential.

Dirty, dirty, dirty.

Its so you can eat all the calories you need, without the risk of gaining weight. Even at such high volume, there still is that potential of gaining weight, and doesn't let the metabolism rest.

Seven Raven Army wrote:

1. You can't just wave your hand and say that elite athletes have different thyroids than normal people. Without any sort of basis, your statement is just hearsay.

2. Which of Salazar's athletes are on thyroid meds besides Galen? Again, need proof.

I never said they had different thyroids than normal people. What makes them different is their level of training. Their thyroid is VERY normal, I don't know that you can 'train' your thyroid.

I don't think obese people originally had different thyroids either. That was kinda my point.

So which thyroid medications are on the banned list? Why would anyone need a TUE for something that is not banned?

Would treating an otherwise normally functioning thyroid result in adverse effects? Hyperthyroidism maybe? Would this be of benefit to a distance runner?

Londoner wrote:

So which thyroid medications are on the banned list? Why would anyone need a TUE for something that is not banned?

Yet Rupp has TUEs.

Among the dumbest posts I've ever seen on Letsrun.

Crappy Runner wrote:

Its so you can eat all the calories you need, without the risk of gaining weight. Even at such high volume, there still is that potential of gaining weight, and doesn't let the metabolism rest.

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

Hey, suprise suprise, long distance runners sometimes feel tired. Do some of them have low or borderline thyroid function? Of course they do. A number of them might also have "low" HGH. Or "low" testosterone. Treat it all!

This is like me saying that my sprinter has trouble recovering from four workouts a week because he has low HGH and testosterone, which thus needs supplementation. Welcome to the human condition: people differ. I thought sport was about training to make the most of your potential, not drugging to change your potential.

Dirty, dirty, dirty.

Yeah good point...when his athletes show low iron levels, he gives them iron pills or liquid iron. dirty dirty.

It's not illegal, it's not dirty.

EPO, blood doping, etc. are illegal. If they ban treating asthma, thyroid issues, iron supplements, then you can call coaches and athletes dirty if they continue the activity. Until then, it's fair game.

There was no such article.

Goucher Needles wrote:

This discussion is reminding me of an article from the Boulder Daily Camera from 2000 or 2001 during Kara (Grgas-Wheeler) Goucher's collegiate years that details the blood transfusions she used to "recover from anemia."

Anybody have access to that?

Shetland pny wrote:

Londoner wrote:

So which thyroid medications are on the banned list? Why would anyone need a TUE for something that is not banned?

Yet Rupp has TUEs.

Documentation?

123trees wrote:

Yeah good point...when his athletes show low iron levels, he gives them iron pills or liquid iron. dirty dirty.

It's not illegal, it's not dirty.

it's fair game.

If this is the attitude among athletes and coaches today, I'm not surprised by the Armstrong saga or any doping that turns up in US track.

Iron occurs naturally in foods.

Synthetic L-thyroxin, to my knowledge, does not.

But to you there's no difference between a naturally occuring micronutrient and a prescription medication?

OK.

Er... wrote:

If you're so concerned about medical ethics and accurate information, taking such care to indicate the differences between screening and testing, for instance, then could you please be equally specific about who it is you consider to be "dirty, dirty, dirty"?

Fair question. Thanks for asking.

I'm referring to anyone who engages in this practice. Get it?

As I stated very clearly (read again, maybe?), whether or not Salazar's program does this systematically is letsrun hearsay. Although he has gone on the record about it regarding some individuals (e.g. Rupp) in the past.

Lately the cards have moved closer to the chest on this -- interesting in an Olympic year when he probably did more interviews than the rest of his career combined.

Yes, I get it. You're implicating a coach and his entire stable of athletes on no evidence at all. Nice work.

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

I'm referring to anyone who engages in this practice. Get it?

As I stated very clearly (read again, maybe?), whether or not Salazar's program does this systematically is letsrun hearsay. Although he has gone on the record about it regarding some individuals (e.g. Rupp) in the past.