December 12, 2011

DHEA?

Did Ryan Braun take DHEA?

After the embarrassments before Congress and the public shaming and the cries for a clean game and the protestation that Major League Baseball is really, truly, swear-on-momma’s-grave trying to tidy its act, get this: a baseball player can still swallow a steroid with absolutely zero repercussions.

It’s true. There is a drug called dehydroepiandrosterone, better known as DHEA, and it’s legal in the United States and available at your friendly neighborhood meathead market. Experts are divided on the performance-enhancing impact of DHEA. On the steroid spectrum, it is considered a lower-grade testosterone.

DHEA can undergo conversion to testosterone in the body. Experts say they can tell if a player takes this drug or a banned one. Manny Ramirez claimed DHEA use:

So if an athlete claims to be taking DHEA when actually taking a banned steroid, Ayotte said she could tell the difference. Therefore, MLB could have evidence to establish whether Ramirez’s testosterone level was elevated from taking DHEA or a banned substance.

“We know very well how to differentiate those produced by androstenedione, DHEA and testosterone,” Ayotte wrote in an email. “Well, most of the time.”

This might explain what we know, Braun claiming he did not take a PED but still showing an elevated level of synthetic testosterone.

3 thoughts on “DHEA?

  1. Pingback: What Ryan Braun is up against in his appeal | HardballTalk

  2. David C

    From most scientific accounts, over the counter testosterone boosters (of which there are many, DHEA being one), impact on overall T-levels is not significant. Meaning that companies can quote literature that they increase T-levels and sell product, but the amount of increase is so small that it has no size/performance impact. There’s no way an athlete could supplement with DHEA and exceed the 4 to 1 ratio of Testosterone/Epitestosterone that triggers a positive test.

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