{"id":1209,"date":"2023-01-12T14:13:02","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T14:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/?p=1209"},"modified":"2023-01-12T14:13:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T14:13:02","slug":"tramadol-in-sport-will-tackle-multiple-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/2023\/01\/12\/tramadol-in-sport-will-tackle-multiple-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Tramadol in sport will tackle multiple issues\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) <\/span><\/b>has announced that Tramadol will be banned for in-competition use in sport from January 2024<\/span><\/b><\/a>. Dr Lex Mauger, Reader in Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kent, led research that was pivotal to WADA\u2019s decision after the study provided compelling evidence that tramadol is a performance enhancing drug.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Commenting on the ban, Dr Mauger says: \u2018While there are several wider issues and concerns about the use of tramadol and despite cyclists identifying it as a doping agent, until recently the World Anti-Doping Agency have held off banning the drug in sport, primarily because there hasn\u2019t been the evidence to show that it is performance enhancing.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018This study has <\/span>provided compelling evidence to show that tramadol is a performance enhancing drug, which has led to this welcome move by WADA to ban it for in-competition use. <\/span>Not only will it address the issue of athletes gaining a performance edge, but it also helps tackle the other concerns around taking tramadol during exercise and competition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Tramadol is a synthetic, centrally-acting and potent analgesic that displays opioid-like effects \u2013 it is a narcotic and is highly addictive. This significantly increases risk of overdose, depression, and suicide. There have been a number of high-profile athletes who have talked candidly about their battle with addiction to pain killers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Secondly, tramadol has a number of side effects including nausea, dizziness and vomiting and it can affect motor control. For those in sporting competitions, these side-effects can prove dangerous \u2013 for the athlete taking the drug as well as fellow competitors. If you\u2019re a cyclist riding in a peloton at high speed and you have less control of your bike, there is a bigger chance of a crash that could injure you or other riders. If you\u2019re a rugby player, and your co-ordination is impaired then the chances of making a badly timed or dangerous tackle and injuring someone is also higher.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Finally, if tramadol is used to mask the pain from an actual injury there is a risk to the individual of making that injury significantly worse, and either prolonging the recovery time from that or risking permanent damage. Tramadol is such a strong pain killer that the question probably needs to be asked whether the athlete should be competing if they need tramadol to get through the pain.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The lengthy delay in this ban taking effect reflects the complicated history of the drug and will enable athletes and athlete support personnel to prepare for the change, WADA-Accredited Laboratories to update their procedures, and sports authorities to develop educational tools.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About the research:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a randomised controlled trial, the team showed that highly trained cyclists performed a 25-mile time trial on average 1.3% faster than a placebo condition \u2013 a highly meaningful improvement in a group of this standard. To put this improvement in context, in this group the 1.3% difference could change the make-up of the medalling positions, or take a rider from the bottom half of the rankings into the top half. This performance enhancing effect was seen in 80% of the participants, suggesting the effects are pervasive.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced that Tramadol will be banned for in-competition use in sport from January 2024. Dr Lex Mauger, Reader in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40702,"featured_media":1210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137637,70],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40702"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1211,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions\/1211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/unikentsportsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}