Local anesthetic news

 

This year, the entire world will look towards Asia with the celebration of the first ever Olympic Games in the People’s Republic of China. The Beijing Games will be a unique opportunity to bring Olympic education and values to the youth of China and the entire Asian continent.Few events in the western world excluding the 2008 elections in the U.S. in recent memory have stirred the kind of emotion that the Olympics in Beijing has; despite the fact that so few people have yet seen parts of the engineering structure of the stadia plans.

The 2008 Summer Olympics will be celebrated from August 8, 2008 to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony commencing on 08 August at 8 pm at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing. Some events will be held in other cities of China. The program for the Beijing 2008 Games is quite similar to that of the Athens Games held in 2004. The 2008 Olympics will see the return of 28 sports, and will hold 302 events, making it the largest to date.

Self-medication has become a popular way of life and it is on the incline, however; during the Olympics it can carry a heavy price. In 1994 Silken Laumann, won the Rotsee Regatta in Switzerland as the only female single at the World Rowing Championships in Indianapolis. Unfortunately she fell victim to an OTC (over the counter) Benadryl to treat a cold.

The Olympics are frequently referred to as “the happy games”. In more than one way this name is a befitting description. At night, it is not unusual for one to readily distinguish the relaxing aroma of marijuana throughout the villages where frat-like atmospheres are dotted like stars in the sky. The muffled lyrics of The Rapping Rhinstone can be heard two hundred meters away. Are these just words?. These apparent innocent gatherings are only a harbinger of the more sinister and foreboding under belly of the Olympics where the powerful compounds are being administered parenterally to quench the thirst of the cries for Higher, faster, stronger.

Niacin, or nicotinic acid commonly referred to as Vitamin βз, is an over the counter (OTC) vitamin supplement. It is a potent vasodilator, which means it dilates blood vessels thereby increasing circulation of plasma volume through the kidneys on its complex circuitous route through the body. It is frequently prescribed, among other indications, to reduce cholesterol by increasing HDL ( the good ones) and lowering LDL (the bad ones).Historically, niacin (βз) usage is associated with a cutaneous (outer skin) “flush”, more readily seen in light skin Caucasians than in dark skin people. It is this term “flushing” which has taken on legs of its own, resulting in ambiguous interpretations in the world of sports. This drug is being highly sought after by youngsters in competitive sports, whereby it is incorrectly classified as a detoxifying agent, which may be used as a firewall against detecting the use of performance enhancing drugs. This is false information and requires some friendly professional words of caution.

While on the subject of self-medication and compounds to boost performance in competitive sports, cyanocobalamin or β12 is also on the high demand list. It is thought to be important in maintaining the nervous system.(U.S Pharmacist.) An insulating fatty sheath of myelin surrounds nerves. β12 plays a vital role in the metabolism of fatty acids essential for the maintenance of myelin. Local anesthetics are capable of penetrating the fatty myelin resulting in a pain free injection of β12. Absorption of β12 requires the secretion from the cells lining of the stomach of a glycoprotein, known as intrinsic factor. Alternatively requiring a parenteral (needle) administration.

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists discourages using niacin (βз) for the treatment of abnormalities of fat metabolism (breakdown) without physician supervision. To fully understand cholesterol readings by lay people is a complex matter. It is not just a number, but rather a value with its own fingerprint and for clinically significance is best expressed as a ratio between HDL and LDL. The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research maintains this position, stating that drug therapy for dyslipidemia should not be an OTC due to the need for proper diagnosis and management; likewise, pharmacists should discourage patients from self-treating dyslipidemia.

Pharmacists have an important role in the proper and safe use of niacin by educating other health care professionals about differences among products. Pharmacists should also educate patients and discourage the use of OTC niacin if dyslipidemia (elevation of plasma cholesterol – Merck Manual) is present. Furthermore, a prescription for ER niacin should not be substituted with any OTC niacin (βз) because there is not an approved generic equivalent to the prescription-only product. (U.S. Pharmacist). The term “flushing” is associated with increased blood circulation, and has no relationship to cleansing or detoxifying the blood of steroids and human growth hormone.

What must it have been like for Jesse Owens? With the turmoil of racial practices throughout those years in Nazi Germany. Can anyone imagine what he must have experienced? This was the real thing. No camouflage with Stanozolol that was not yet synthesized in 1936.

The ultimate adrenaline rush accompanied by uncontrollable patriotic emotions at being at the center position when the medal was being placed; words will never describe this moment.

Fashion is likened unto a tsunami; and niacin is that powerful engulfing force which like a micro-organism has infected the very tissues of athletes worldwide in their attempt to disguised the use of illicit compounds.

Unfortunately the zeitgeist of today’s competitive sport is so well cloned with the pill and the needle, that its amoeba like fission has engulfed not only the interest of the general public, but also the U.S. Congress to introduce the sporting world to two new influential political action groups: Republicans for Roger Clemens while Democrats sided with Brian McNamee.

The brotherhood of the needle (a phrase dubbed) after the Olympics in Seoul, 1988, is alive and well. Like a snake that has lost part of its tail, basement labs are working overtime to sprout a new one. Trainers and athletes worldwide are like hackers in their attempt to decode the latest spy ware in spite of increasingly sophisticated tests. For the betting man, the summer of 2008 will no doubt also have its place in history where “All the world will have been a stage and all the men and women will have been merely players”, (As you like it – Shakespeare) long after the closing ceremonies are over, the adrenaline has decreased, the lactic acid has dissipated and the tears of joy or disappointment have left their trail on the faces of our youth.

Each country no doubt will have embedded with their team a staff off physicians, dentists physiotherapist and hygienist, which makes good sense in a country where the practices of healing arts maybe dissimilar to ours in the western world and in an atmosphere one can almost predict with certainty the mere pressure of differences in professional training will be the perfect incubator to experience a Macaca Moment.

 “The world will never starve for the want of wonders”. – Gilbert. K. Chesterton (1875 – 1936). As profound as this statement is, it transcends time and culture. Anabolic steroids where not on the radar in Chesterton’s time.

Comments to author. localanesthetics@yahoo.ca  M.Sc. PharmD. CCPE
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