2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis was found to have an abnormal testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. What does that exactly mean? Is it possible to have an “abnormal” level through legal means - Biotest supps, etc? Is that ratio the definitive way to test for doping, or is the media blinded by ignorance?
The public is sure quick to point an accusatory finger at Landis, but I have my doubt as to the guilt of Landis. Some scientific clarification would be appreciated.
[quote]samdiesel wrote:
2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis was found to have an abnormal testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. What does that exactly mean? Is it possible to have an “abnormal” level through legal means - Biotest supps, etc? Is that ratio the definitive way to test for doping, or is the media blinded by ignorance?
The public is sure quick to point an accusatory finger at Landis, but I have my doubt as to the guilt of Landis. Some scientific clarification would be appreciated.[/quote]
these guys are tested often. i’m pretty sure, as with crit, they take into account each athlete and their respective “normal” levels. here’s a link to a wada tech doc on t/e:
http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/end_steroids_aug_04.pdf
i’ve read that in this case what flagged landis was not that he had high t levels but abnormally low t levels and a t/e ratio of 11:1. the allowable ratio being 4:1. i have no link for that info but that’s what some insiders are saying on a message board.
[quote]samdiesel wrote:
2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis was found to have an abnormal testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. What does that exactly mean? Is it possible to have an “abnormal” level through legal means - Biotest supps, etc? Is that ratio the definitive way to test for doping, or is the media blinded by ignorance?
The public is sure quick to point an accusatory finger at Landis, but I have my doubt as to the guilt of Landis. Some scientific clarification would be appreciated.[/quote]
Hello,
I’ll link a great paper that you can read on the subject.
As for your question about having a higher T/E ratio from the Biotest supplements or any compounds which increase endogenous testosterone, the answer is no.
The T/E ratio is effective but has its own flaws. There have been a number of case reports indicating false positives and a small percentage of the population may naturally have a T/E ratio higher than 6. Various research groups have investigated alternative methods which have some advantages, but despite this, I continue to see the T/E ratio used in most cases. The paper I’ve linked includes one alternative method, the T/LH ratio.
Is there a chance he could be part of the population that has a naturally occurring T/E ratio higher than 6? Certainly. However, the probability isn’t exceptionally high.
As a side note, this paper also has some good kinetic data for testosterone cypionate for those interested, namely the elimination half-life.
It would be nice if exact test numbers were shared.
What exactly is high testosterone to them? Is his testosterone really high or epitestosterone low?
He also said he is taking cortisone shots for pain in his hip and an oral medication for hyperthyroidism.
What would that oral med be? Impact on test results?
they are just made because he is made in the U.S.A. and has testes that contain more testosterone than other country men. LONG LIVE THE U.S. AND HIGH TESTOSTERONE LEVELS.