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SALBUTAMOL TO MAKE YOU STRONGER
A recent study from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands shows that a common asthma medication called albuterol can help athletes exercise longer.
Drugs called beta 2 agonists, such as salbutamol, salmeterol and terbutaline, open the closed lungs of asthmatics and help them to breathe. They also increase the amount of fat in the bloodstream to increase energy sources of exercising muscles and help preserve a muscle's meager store of sugar, and they help muscles to contract with more force.
These asthma medications are potent stimulants, so they could cause irregular heart beats. It is illegal for any Olympic competitor to take albuterol pills. However, asthmatics need their medications, so the Olympic Medical Committee allows asthmatics to take these same medications by inhaler, provided that a doctor informs the Olympic committee beforehand that the athlete is an asthmatic and is taking this medication. Needless to say, there has been an unprecedented number or asthmatics registered with the Olympic committee.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise July, 2000 pages 1300-1306
Checked 8/9/05