Injected placebos and endurance running performance

International Conference on Sports Medicine and Fitness

March 23-25, 2015 Chicago, USA

Ramzy Ross

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Sports Med Doping Stud

Abstract :

The placebo effect is acknowledged as a key factor in medical research and, as a result, its effect has been controlled for in clinical trials for over 50 years. However, the understanding of how the placebo effect impacts sporting performance is still in its infancy and relatively little is understood about the placebo effect on real competition performance (as opposed to tests confined to the laboratory). Studies, mostly in laboratory conditions, have shown the positive effects a placebo intervention can have on physical performance where athletes have been shown to improve performance by either exceeding performance limitations, and/or diminishing the perception of fatigue/pain. There are reports of increasing use of performance enhancing drugs in both elite and recreational level sport and in recent years a growing body of research has been undertaken into the health and performance implications of taking these substances. One such drug is erythropoietin (more commonly known as EPO), which is an endogenous glycoprotein based hormone primarily secreted by the kidneys. A key feature of r-HuEPO administration is that it is given by injection, and there is clear evidence that the route of delivery is a key mediator of the size of placebo effect, with placebos administered by injection inducing a larger effect than placebos administered orally. Novel research, covering both quantitative and qualitative aspects, is discussed in additional to ethical considerations relating to placebo performance enhancement.