Ranbaxy Ready to Help Bhandari over Doping Scandal

[नेपाली]

Good Health Medical Services Pvt Ltd, Nepal's authorised agent of the SRL Ranbaxy of Mumbai, has come forward to help Rajendra Bhandari, who tested positive for banned drugs after winning double gold medals at the last month's 10th South Asian Games.

"We are ready to help Rajendra Bhandari if the authorities seek our cooperation in clearing Rajendra Bhandari from the doping scandle," said Chandrasen Sharma, managing director at Good Health Medical Services Pvt Ltd. "We don't claim to be the best, but we can give a try for the sake of an athlete and country's pride," he said.

SRL Ranbaxy is the same company that challenged the analysis report of Indian athlete Sunita Rani — who tested positive after winning gold in 1,500m and a bronze in 5,000m at the 14th Asian Games in Busan.

After the challenge from Ranbaxy, International Olympic Committee (IOC) sent both the reports to United States of America for verification and the previous test reports — carried out by a South Korean laboratory — proved to be false and Rani got her medals back. "In Sunita Rani's case, the Korean company's licence was cancelled," claimed Sharma.

According to Jitendra Pandey, representative of SRL Ranbaxy in Kathmandu, the company has been collecting samples from 54 countries including United Kingdom. "We are not challenging any one but we are the largest pathological lab in South Asia and South East Asia at present," said Pandey.

"We resolved Sunita Rani's case in four months and now we want to help a Nepali athlete. Most important is Rajendra Bhandari. If he says that he has not used any banned drug, we will take over the case and fight against any international body to save him," he said. "We are ready to go to any extreme to save an innocent athlete. We can prove it if Rajendra Bhandari has not used banned durgs," he said.

"I read in papers that the Malaysian laboratory had used nine methods to analyse Rajendra's sample, but we have got 95 methods to examine a sample," said Sharma. "If we find any conflict in the analysis, our company will take all the responsibilities to fight against it," claimed Sharma, who has been working as the Ranbaxy's agent since the last two years.

Meanwhile, Good Health Medical Services Pvt Ltd sent a letter to National Sports Council asking the favour to provide the opportunity to look into Rajendra's matter. NSC member secretary Jeewan Ram Shrestha was positive towards the letter, but said that he would decide about the issue only after studying the report submitted by the invetigation committee formed to probe Rajendra Bhandari's involvement in the drug scandle.

"We are hoping to get the initial reports today, and we will decide our further plans and programmes tomorrow," he told reporters. Rajendra, who was summoned by the investigation committee on Saturday, has outrightly rejected of using the banned drugs. "Once the committee submits its report, we will consult with the Nepal Olympic Committee and decide what to do next," said Shrestha.

Shrestha also said that the council was neutral in Rajendra Bhandari's case. "We are neither in his favour, nor against him. We are acting neutrally as we have been waiting for the investigation committee's reports," he said.

- THT Online, Kathmandu, September 25

[नेपाली]

In sports, doping refers to the use of performance-enhancing drugsdrugs such as anabolic steroids, particularly those that are forbidden by the organizations that regulate competitions. Some doping substances, however, are permitted in low doses (alcohol and caffeine). Another form of doping is blood doping, either by blood transfusion or use of the hormone erythropoietin (EPO). Also considered "doping" by many is the use of substances that mask other forms of doping.

Currently, tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) and modafinil are causing controversy throughout the sporting world, with many high profile cases attracting major press coverage as prominent United States athletes have tested positive for these doping substances. Some athletes who were found to have used modafinil protested as the drug was not on the prohibited list at the time of their offence; however, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) maintains it is a substance related to those already banned, so the decisions stand. Modafinil was added to the list of prohibited substances on August 3, 2004, ten days before the start of the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In recent years, gene doping has been reported as being an emerging form of doping. Gene doping would be very difficult to detect and when used it will last for many years.


Blood doping has become an integral part of sports and fair play. It enhances your performance by increasing red blood cell mass and thereby delivering more oxygen to muscle. This manipulation has gained notoriety in the sports world for what it can do for an athlete during endurance events. Special concern has been expressed that the cardiovascular system of an athlete undergoing this procedure could be in jeopardy. Still, there are athletes out there that will put themselves at risk just to experience the thrill of being number one, regardless of the circumstances. Fortunately, the last few years have been generous to mankind and several ways have been discovered to increase our blood’s oxygen carrying capacity that are not detrimental to us in anyway. They are altitude training and the High Altitude Bed®. Both are safe and practical ways to achieve what some people accomplish through a highly dangerous and somewhat controversial method.

Each year an athlete’s ability to perform seems to increase by leaps and bounds. Some reasons for this increase can be attributed to better training methods, better conditioning techniques, and better overall health of the athlete. While most of the situations involve one or more of the previously mentioned scenarios, some athletes always seem to take it a step further. They engage in a process called blood doping. This procedure does increase their athletic ability, but potentially may do more harm than good.

Some background information is needed before one can understand exactly what blood doping can do for an individual. In order for our muscles to perform, they need a ready supply of oxygen. During high intensity exercise, oxygen becomes depleted and the body cannot get enough oxygen to the muscles in order for them to perform at their optimal potential. This lack of ability to get oxygen to the muscles is called oxygen debt and results in lactic acid being formed. Lactic acid is a waste product of anaerobic cellular respiration within the muscle tissue, which can cause muscle soreness that is usually felt after a hard or long workout. Fatigue usually sets in with the onset of lactic acid production. Oxygen is carried to the muscles by two delivery systems. Three percent of oxygen is carried in solution (plasma) and 97 percent is bound to hemoglobin, the principle protein in erythrocytes (red blood cells). If hemoglobin amounts are increased, this will lead to increased oxygen levels that can be transported to the muscles. This will allow the muscles to become more fatigue resistant.

What is Blood Doping?

Blood doping, often called induced erythrocythemia, is the intravenous infusion of blood to produce an increase in the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity. It is a procedure that begins with between 1 to 4 units of a person’s blood (1 unit = 450 ml of blood) being withdrawn, usually several weeks before a key competition. The blood is then centrifuged and the plasma components are immediately reinfused while the remaining red blood cells are placed in cold storage. The RBC’s are then reinfused back into the body, usually 1 to 7 days before a high endurance event. If done correctly, this process can increase the hemoglobin level and RBC count by up to 20%.

Early Findings

When a blood doping procedure is initiated, the packed RBC’s that have been centrifuged can be stored using two different methods. They can either be refrigerated at 4° C or frozen at - 80° C. Most of the earlier procedures were done so by using the refrigeration method. The results were semi-successful because of the life cycle of a RBC. The average life span of a RBC is 120 days. Therefore, each day, approximately 1% of any RBC population is lost. Our bodies continuously replace the lost RBC’s , but in blood removed from the body, the number of RBC’s steadily decline, never to be replaced. It usually takes 3 to 8 weeks for a person to re-establish normal RBC levels, so at the time their bodies are ready for reinfusion, only 60% of the removed RBC’s would actually be viable. This is an important point because most of the early testing was done without adequate time being given to re-establish proper RBC levels. Therefore, earlier test subjects were starting out with a deficit of RBC’s. When the removed blood was reinfused, the results were usually very minor or not noticeable at all.

What was needed next was for scientists to find a way to get the maximum amount of RBC’s infused into a subject’s body at the most appropriate time. First, it was determined that by freezing the RBC’s after they were centrifuged you could completely halt the aging process of the cells. This process will allow you to store blood for up to 10 years with only 10% to 15% of the RBC’s being lost. Second, it appeared that in high endurance athletes that it took at least five to six weeks, possibly as long as ten weeks, to re-establish proper amounts of RBC’s. This was based on the time it took for them to return hematocrit and hemoglobin concentrations back to pre-withdrawal levels. These were huge developments in blood doping procedures and most of the later tests have proven to be successful.

Problems and Side Effects

It is also possible that blood doping could have effects opposite to those intended. A large infusion of red blood cells (and resulting increase in cellular concentration) could increase blood viscosity and bring about a decrease in cardiac output, a decrease in blood flow velocity, and a reduction in peripheral oxygen content – all of which would reduce aerobic capacity. The human heart was not designed to pump this thickened blood throughout the body and, therefore, could lead to a multitude of problems. Some of the problems that can arise from an autologous blood transfusion are phlebitis, septicemia, hyperviscosity syndrome (including intravascular clotting, heart failure and potential death), bacterial infections, and air/clot embolisms. Even more frightening is the list of diseases that can be contracted through homologous transfusions. They include hepatitis, AIDS, malaria, CMV, and transfusion reactions (characterized by fever, urticaria, and possibly anaphylactic shock). Because of these reactions, among others, homologous blood transfusions are highly discouraged. A great example of a successful blood doping procedure with adverse side effects is of the 1984 United States Olympic cycling team. Previous American cycling teams had not fared well in past Olympic Games. But in the 1984 Los Angeles games, they decided to try blood doping as a way to get an advantage on the competition. The results were a huge success. The team brought home a U.S. cycling team record of nine medals. The problem was not the fact that the athletes had undergone blood doping procedures, but, rather, how the procedure was performed. Between the Olympic trials and the actual games, the Americans did not have adequate time to use their own blood as a transfusion. Instead, they had to rely on the blood of relatives and others with similar blood types. Consequently, some of the cyclists received tainted blood and a short time after the Games contracted hepatitis, a serious liver disease.

Latest News and Discoveries

After the 1984 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee decided to discourage blood doping and, along with the NCAA and American College of Sports Medicine, ruled that "any blood doping procedure used in an attempt to improve athletic performance is unethical, unfair, and exposes the athlete to unwarranted and potentially serious health risks". However, the problem lies with being able to unequivocally detect that an athlete is in fact undergoing blood doping procedures. After all, what constitutes an abnormally high RBC level? Also, how do you distinguish between blood doping athletes and those athletes who boost their hemoglobin levels by training at high altitudes? The answers to both of these questions are very perplexing. As of now, there are no foolproof tests for an athlete who blood dopes. The agencies that have banned this practice will have to rely on the integrity of the athletes, coaches, and their medical support personnel to comply with their ruling.

A new invention by a University of Colorado at Boulder professor only adds to the controversy of blood doping. Igor Gamow, an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, has invented a sleep chamber that may enable endurance athletes to, in effect, train while they sleep. The chamber mimics the reduced air pressure of high altitudes and stimulates the production of red blood cells. This enables an athlete training at sea level to gain the same fitness advantage as an athlete living at high altitude. If this chamber is used correctly (six to eight hours a day for two to three weeks) the hemoglobin concentration can be boosted by more than 23%. Because the High Altitude Bed ® is legal, safe and natural; this procedure of red blood cell enhancement is called Holistic Blood Doping.



Conclusion

At the present time blood doping is a controversial issue. With the new advances in science and sports medicine, this will probably be a dilemma for years to come. Many present and future athletes will have to use their best judgment when this procedure becomes an issue in their lives. Blood doping is illegal but is also undetectable. The potential risks of such a procedure seem to outweigh any potential benefits, above and beyond the ethical issues involved. If a distinct advantage is needed in endurance events, altitude training and the altitude sleep chamber pose far fewer risks and are currently safe and legal. And, if all else fails, hard work and determination still count for something.

[Suvash]

its nice news that ragendra is getting more support..... we all pray that the charges against him are dropped...... after all he our country's hero our national pride.....