

There are no such things as "performance-enhancing drugs" - spottiness
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/03/de_vany_on_ster.html

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gwern
Caveat: a lot of people think if nootropics and stimulants like modafinil when
they hear 'performance-enhancing drugs'.

This talk does not appear to be about those at all, but pretty much solely
about steroids and certain sports (specifically, just baseball's batting;
comments criticize talker for any generalization beyond that).

Some interesting points I hadn't heard before:

> A little calf has a lot of growing to do. Milk has a lot of insulin-like
> growth factor in it, which causes insulin resistance. Insulin resistance in
> a human being is somewhat troubling to our metabolism, not to mention the
> foreign proteins in milk.

> The Paleolithic was a very cold period; humans were forced to the shoreline
> about 50,000 years ago, at the height of the last glaciation, actually got
> worse about 17,000 years ago. Rapid expansion of human brain that took place
> during that period was, one, probably engendered or assisted by need to
> survive that brutal ice age; and two, by the seashore-based foods that
> occurred because we were forced to the shorelines for protection to the
> cold.

> The Paleolithic was a very cold period; humans were forced to the shoreline
> about 50,000 years ago, at the height of the last glaciation, actually got
> worse about 17,000 years ago. Rapid expansion of human brain that took place
> during that period was, one, probably engendered or assisted by need to
> survive that brutal ice age; and two, by the seashore-based foods that
> occurred because we were forced to the shorelines for protection to the
> cold.

> The people who try to do caloric restriction are trying to turn down the
> insulin IGF pathway--growth and reproduction. Claim: If I eat very little I
> will live long. What do you think of that? Think it's bogus. Cause a
> miserable life. Spoke to their society; some admit to being cancer-? [sp.?]
> or to cheat.

> The people who try to do caloric restriction are trying to turn down the
> insulin IGF pathway--growth and reproduction. Claim: If I eat very little I
> will live long. What do you think of that? Think it's bogus. Cause a
> miserable life. Spoke to their society; some admit to being cancer-? [sp.?]
> or to cheat.

> The people who try to do caloric restriction are trying to turn down the
> insulin IGF pathway--growth and reproduction. Claim: If I eat very little I
> will live long. What do you think of that? Think it's bogus. Cause a
> miserable life. Spoke to their society; some admit to being cancer-? [sp.?]
> or to cheat.

> Distance runner versus versus sprinter. But for sprinter--10 seconds, of
> course they are happy. The other guy labored for 2 hours. But the sprinter
> is burning energy for 4-5 hours after the sprint--at a prodigious rate. You
> don't have to be doing something to benefit. The post-exercise period from a
> high-intensity session lasts for many hours, during which your body consumes
> huge amounts of fatty acids.

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mvkel
As a competitive cyclist, I disagree with the premise of the study, but I
suspect it was given such a title to encourage readership.

When you get to the pro level and all you need is 1% more power than the guy
next to you, hormones like HGH absolutely make a difference. Does that make
them acceptable? Absolutely not. But, to dismiss all performance enhancing
drugs as ineffective is reaching.

It's like a scientist saying "we found the cure for cancer" knowing full-well
that each cancer is a completely different disease.

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headShrinker
This completely misses the point of these drugs. PEDs including 'blood doping'
improve longevity, decrease performance degradation and speed recovery. Their
purpose is to maintain your skill level under extreme exertion, not improve
skill level. There is no question that, when engaging in an aerobic sport,
muscles demand more O², if you can produce more O² than your competition, you
will move faster, think more clearly, and recover faster the day after.

