Sports and drugs | Golden Skate

Sports and drugs

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
In general, Are puberty blockers illeagle in sports?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puberty_blocker

I would image that each sport has its own list of forbidden drugs and perhaps when one can take them (ie Ibuprofen)

I never knew that there was such a thing as puberty blockers until I had a conversation about a skater who was going through a rough patch a couple of years back. She was having all the problems that people on here normally put down to the skater going through puberty, but her ISU Bio said that she was at an age (18) where girls are normally well past that stage.

My original thought was that it must just be late-onset puberty. And another member backed that up, explaining that the lifestyle of an athlete can actually delay it.

But then another member brought up the possibility that she could have been using medication to actively delay puberty. And I was shocked to find out that this could be done.

It was only later that it dawned on me that it could actually be normal puberty, and that her Fed may have doctored her date of birth to make the ISU think she was Senior eligible before she actually was (not an uncommon thing to happen with sportspeople from her country).

Anyway, in the end we realised that there were lots of things that could explain why she seemed to be going through puberty when she was.

As for your question, I don't know if they are legal in sports or not.

But I would be interested to find out if they were illegal, if only to eliminate them as a possible explanation for the seemingly late puberty in the skater I was talking about.

CaroLiza_fan
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
I never knew that there was such a thing as puberty blockers until I had a conversation about a skater who was going through a rough patch a couple of years back. She was having all the problems that people on here normally put down to the skater going through puberty, but her ISU Bio said that she was at an age (18) where girls are normally well past that stage.

My original thought was that it must just be late-onset puberty. And another member backed that up, explaining that the lifestyle of an athlete can actually delay it.

But then another member brought up the possibility that she could have been using medication to actively delay puberty. And I was shocked to find out that this could be done.

It was only later that it dawned on me that it could actually be normal puberty, and that her Fed may have doctored her date of birth to make the ISU think she was Senior eligible before she actually was (not an uncommon thing to happen with sportspeople from her country).

Anyway, in the end we realised that there were lots of things that could explain why she seemed to be going through puberty when she was.

As for your question, I don't know if they are legal in sports or not.

But I would be interested to find out if they were illegal, if only to eliminate them as a possible explanation for the seemingly late puberty in the skater I was talking about.

CaroLiza_fan

Thanks for your input. I would only add that Lucinda Ruh said she in her book that she went through puberty very late...maybe in her 20s, IIRC. That can happen with athletes and diet, I am told. 20th and 21st century US girls usually hit puberty 10-14 years old. It used to be much later but diet and perhaps other reasons have changed that, and it seems to have come at some costs later down the road.
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
Thanks for your input. I would only add that Lucinda Ruh said she in her book that she went through puberty very late...maybe in her 20s, IIRC. That can happen with athletes and diet, I am told. 20th and 21st century US girls usually hit puberty 10-14 years old. It used to be much later but diet and perhaps other reasons have changed that, and it seems to have come at some costs later down the road.

I never knew that about Lucinda. But, it does explain a lot.

Since you mentioned her, boys but there is a skater who has had an interesting life! And it still is interesting! I follow her on social media, and I always look forward to her posts.

As for the skater I was talking about, I still reckon that the most likely explanation is simply that the Fed is lying about her age. It wouldn't be the first time they done it. :rolleye:

CaroLiza_fan
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
I never knew that about Lucinda. But, it does explain a lot.

Since you mentioned her, boys but there is a skater who has had an interesting life! And it still is interesting! I follow her on social media, and I always look forward to her posts.

As for the skater I was talking about, I still reckon that the most likely explanation is simply that the Fed is lying about her age. It wouldn't be the first time they done it. :rolleye:

CaroLiza_fan

You probably saw this march 7th article....yes, she is a very interesting person....I hope eventually all her symptoms go away.....you might consider reading her book, frozen teardrom.....its a good read...but sad in places...
Queen of Spin
VA NY HARBOR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM·THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019
“You never had treatments?” asked Physical Therapist Dr. MaLou Cristobal. Somewhat shocked, she was reacting to the details of a personal history described by Lucinda Ruh, a Swiss gold medalist, figure skater, 2 time world professional bronze medalist, author, who has set the world record for spinning faster and longer than anyone.
Ruh holds the Guinness World Record of Most Continuous upright spins. She clocks her rotations at 360 rpm Her performances, like one where she is dressed in gold at a 9/11 Memorial at Madison Square Garden, are stunning. Combining grace and power in her performance, there is no clue in Ruh’s movements that following each performance she was dizzy, nauseous and almost unable to walk or drive until her next show.
When spinning on the ice, her body worked When she stopped she collapsed. Asleep, she would wake up and fall into a faint. She actually fainted often. “But I looked fine. So, people couldn’t figure it out. I think the last one I did was the one with (singer) Seal” - Art on Ice 2005.
Ruh spent her earliest years in Switzerland. When she was four she moved with her family to Tokyo, Japan where her father was transferred for work. Asked by her Mom to choose between lessons in ballet, skating and cello, Ruh chose skating because dance could be combined with skating.
In Japan, the training was relentless. Two hours before school and several hours after school. Her teachers, much like drill sergeants in the military, were demanding - unforgiving. “You might fall 100’s of times on the hard ice,” says Ruh, “but as an athlete, you pick yourself up and go on.”
Late in her teens Ruh was having an increasing number of physical problems and was advised to switch from Olympic training to doing shows where the training and schedule are challenging, but less punishingly. Ruh continued to have symptoms which were considered mysterious at the time. She was tested and probed by specialists in Europe, Asia and the United States.
Finally, a physician in Los Angeles “put the various symptoms and life-style together.” About 15 years ago, he diagnosed Ruh’s problem as a condition resulting from many repeated concussions caused by repeated spinning. “It made sense to me. I heard a crack every time I went around,” recalled Ruh, then known as the “Queen of Spin.” View any video of her performances, and the commentator notes that Ruh’s spinning is unmatched. After many months Ruh followed her physicians advice and she stopped her hallmark spinning.
Nevertheless, she continued to have hormonal irregularities. She was often dizzy and weak and it took five years for her body to normalize. During this time, she still went on the ice, teaching spinning, but not spinning herself and she wrote about her experience.
Now 37, Ruh stopped skating about eight years ago. She married and the couple has twin six-year-old daughters. “Luckily, they don’t like skating. They take ballet,” says Ruh. She admits she still experiences dizziness every day.
While Ruh is not a Veteran, her experiences as an athlete are applicable to Veterans who have experienced concussions.
Dr. Cristobal has invited Ruh to be a speaker at the upcoming March 20 conference at VA Manhattan on Post- Concussive Dysautonomia ( Autonomic Nervous System dysfunction). The most common type of this disorder is Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). It is often overlooked after concussion.
Dr. Cristobal is very grateful to Ruh for sharing her experience. “With the recent increased of knowledge,through research, about concussion you are helping and will continue to help a lot of Veterans, athletes, everyone - including their caregivers to understand concussion better, by sharing your own life experiences as a professional athlete.”
More specifically, Dr. Cristobal said “Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or POTS , includes all your concussion symptoms, plus the primary POTS symptoms: lightheadedness, fainting and rapid increase in heartbeat- symptoms that come on when standing from reclining position, that may be relieved by sitting or lying back down.
POTS is a condition that affects blood flow, involves the autonomic nervous system (which automatically controls and regulates vital body functions). The condition affects women to men on a four to one ratio.
Symptoms may come and go for years. In most cases, quality of life improves with proper adjustments in diet, medication and physical activity.
The main objective of the upcoming conference on March 20 is to enhance, educate and improve awareness regarding concussion as it relates to POTS, the most common type of dysfunction in Autonomic Nervous system known as Dysautonomia.
“Too few clinicians are familiar with the problem resulting in delays in diagnosis of five years or more,” according to Dr. Cristobal.
She is encouraging researchers to focus more on the study of concussion symptoms in women where the symptoms are worse and there is less research involvement.
How does a patient approach ongoing symptoms?
“There are many things that a rehab team, neurologists and cardiologists do to help you,” said Dr. Cristobal. She is encouraging Ruh to seek treatment that can improve her vision, dizziness, memory, cognition, focus and balance.
 
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