Many athletes credit drugs with improving their performance, but some of them may want to thank their brain instead. Mounting evidence suggests that the boost from human growth hormone (HGH), an increasingly popular doping drug, might be caused by the placebo effect.

In a new double-blind trial funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency, in which neither researchers nor participants knew who was receiving HGH and who was taking a placebo, the researchers asked participants to guess whether or not they were on the real drug. Then they examined the results of the group who guessed that they were getting HGH when, in fact, they had received a placebo. That group improved at four fitness tests measuring strength, endurance, power and sprint capacity. The study participants who guessed correctly that they were taking a placebo showed much less improvement, according to preliminary results presented at the Society for Endocrinology meeting in June. The researchers are currently analyzing the results of the other participants for future publication.

MAIN BANNED DRUGS CATEGORIES

*Stimulants - Substances which act on the brain stimulating the body both mentally and physically. They increase alertness, competitiveness and aggression and help to combat fatigue, making athletes feel stronger, more energetic and decisive. Misuse of stimulants can increase blood pressure and body temperature and create an irregular heart beat. Consequences include cardiac arrest and strokes. Stimulants can be contained in prescription and over-the-counter medications as well as in herbal and nutritional supplements. Examples of prohibited stimulants: amineptine, amiphenazole, amphetamines, bromantan, carphedon, cocaine, ephedrines, fencamfamine, mesocarb, pentylentetrazol, pipradol, phenylpropanolamine, phentermine, salbutamol, salmenterol, strychnine, terbutaline. Read More...