Pseudoephedrine in the Sports Industry

Ø  Ephedrine is a derivative of the Ma Huang shrub, and when further synthesized, Ephedrine is known as Pseudoephedrine.

Ø  “Sudafed” is the more or less casual name for Pseudoephedrine that is seen on many cold and allergy medication bottles.

Ø  Pseudoephedrine can be accessed in tablets, capsules or herbal form.

Ø  It is a less commonly seen drug in the sports world as it is more difficult to obtain in North America and hard to avoid passing tests with.

Ø  Testing for Pseudoephedrine is done by a urine sample that is processed to see if it's contents contain methamphetamines (as a key component of Pseudoephedrine is the stimulant, amphetamines)

Ø  If it was desired to take the testing further, the more accurate test would be Gas

Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) test.

Ø  Pseudoephedrine can sometimes be considered dangerous if exceeding the amount of dose that is recommended, as is any drug.

Ø  However, pseudoephedrine is considered the most dangerous when taken alongside other drugs especially those including caffeine and alcohol.

Ø  The use of Pseudoephedrine is most commonly seen in sports such as Track and Field, Football and Body Building which all rank less than 5% testing positive per year.

Ø  While it is possible for Pseudoephedrine to cause death, it is rare when taken properly.

Ø  Two recorded cases of death involving Pseudoephedrine are:

·         Minnesota Vikings offensive tackled Korey Stringer during a Summer Training camp who died of heat stroke. Autopsy results revealed that high heat and high blood pressure caused by pseudoephedrine were the leading cause of death.

·         Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler also passed due to heat stroke during the summer league when high heat and high blood pressure overtook the strength of his respiratory system. Autopsy results stated that he had induced a high overdose of pseudoephedrine into his system prior to death.