At the footsteps of Meldonium

110 positive samples: who is to blame and what would be

Scandal associated with the use of Russian athletes banned Meldonium, overgrown with new details. Each of the caught adheres to a certain tactic of behavior: one publicly repents, the other declares the fact of throws the drug, the third explains the use of Mildronate disease, and finally the latest version - a secret conspiracy against the Russian team. However, experts said unequivocally: that Meldonium was included in the list of banned drugs, sports doctors knew long before the official announcement of this fact. The fatal miscalculation is that everyone blindly trusted the instructions, which indicated the timing of removal of the substance from the body. They were too far from reality.

The habit of using Meldonium

The drug Mildronate firmly entered the sports of domestic medicine in the period 1988-1993. The peculiarity of its reception consisted in a rather long cyclicity - from 21 to 42 days 3-4 times a year. But until now it is very difficult to talk about its effectiveness or inefficiency. This was discussed during the meeting of the debating club of the First Moscow State Medical University Sechenov said the deputy. head of the sports medicine organization of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) Tatyana Pushkina. She stressed once again that the doctors of the sports team of the Russian Federation were repeatedly informed about the introduction of Meldonium into the list of prohibited preparations. Do not deny this and the doctor of the men's soccer team Eduard Bezuglov: "Everyone knew about this, even my cat."

In addition, as it turned out, WADA made a request for an expert evaluation of the inclusion of Meldonium in the black list. At least, the presence of such an appeal was confirmed by the member of the Medical Committee of the International Paralympic Committee, Guzel Idrisova. "Back in June, WADA asked to give expert assessment to the drugs listed, including Meldonium. We expressed doubts about the need for this, said that it is accepted by our athletes, but does not give them any sports advantages, "she said. But it should be taken into account that this is the opinion of a separate committee, whether Russia's position has been officially presented in WADA, is still unclear.

Child without an eye
The opinion of experts participating in the meeting of the club, who is to blame for what happened, is unequivocal: athletes. According to representatives of the FMBA, the issuance of Mildronate to the team doctors ended in mid-October. But the organization can only be responsible for full-time medical workers. If an athlete resorted to the services of a personal doctor - this is no longer a problem for FMBA. "The WADA Code clearly states that the athlete himself is responsible," Eduard Bezuglov reminded, saying that he never appointed Mildronate to his charges.

White crow

Perhaps the most interesting fact of this story - meldonium is included in the most severe class of banned substances S4. Its "neighbors" - for example, hormonal drugs, which are used to increase muscle mass. The peculiarity of Mildronate is that there is no absolute evidence base for its effectiveness. "It was not possible to get data on the fact that meldonium improves sports performance," - said the head. Department of Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation of the First Moscow State Medical University Sechenov Evgeniy Achkasov. When asked why, then the athletes took it, and even so cyclically and often, the professor of the Department of Nervous Diseases of the Medical Faculty of the First Moscow State Medical University. THEM. Sechenov Vladimir Zakharov replied: "When we say that the effectiveness of a given drug is not absolutely proved, it does not mean that it does not work."

Stuck in the blood
The devil, as you know, lies in the details. In the box with Mildronate, of course, there is an instruction in which the terms of complete elimination of the substance from the body are written in black and white. Based on these data, by simple mathematical calculations, it is likely that doctors or the athletes themselves were confident that they have enough time to submit doping tests. However, WADA dug very deeply, much deeper than the clinicians 30 years ago. That is why the results of the tests turned out to be paradoxical.

"Now anyone you ask, whether using Mildronate, will answer: no. The brush is ready to be chopped off. But in fact, he did it yesterday or even now in his pocket is the medicine. Many doctors, opening the annotation, sincerely believed that in 3-4 days everything would come out. So let the tales not tell, "Eduard Bezuglov categorically noted.

At the moment, FMBA initiated a study of Meldonium with the aim, first, to obtain more reliable data on the real time of drug withdrawal, and second, to prove to WADA that its use did not affect sports results. Then there is the hope that the Meldonium will be excluded from the list of doping drugs. According to Andrei Sereda, director of the Federal Scientific Center for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, the primary study conducted by the agency showed that the withdrawal period may be about six months. And maybe more. In the near future FMBA promises to publish data for the month. But even now experts say that the rate of excretion affects the sex and even the nationality of a person.

What will end this story is unclear. To date, there is only a statement of fact: 110 positive doping tests at meldonium. The screening continues. On what sanctions will be applied against Russian athletes, WADA does not hurry to make a statement.