Trimetazidine

2022 - 2 - 11

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Image courtesy of "NBC News"

How trimetazidine drug works and why it is banned in Olympics (NBC News)

Reports Russian skater took banned drug trimetazidine puzzle experts ... “I cannot imagine a figure skater taking this drug. It's one big head scratcher,” a Mayo ...

“If you talk to people, physicians and scientists, it’s never made a lot of sense why this is being used in the first place. “Figure skaters would take the standard stuff to make them stronger, make them focus, and those are easy to test for. He’s even more confused as to why a champion skater would have this in her system. This one doesn’t. “It’s easy to test for — you want to find substances that are hard to test for. In 2014, Chinese swimming superstar Sun Yang tested positive for the banned substance, which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) classified as a banned stimulant. “Why things get banned is — anything that has a remote possibility of influencing performance gets banned.

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Image courtesy of "Verywell Health"

What Is Trimetazidine and Why Is It Banned at the Olympics? (Verywell Health)

At the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games, Kamila Valieva, a 15-year old Russian gold medal figure skater, tested positive for a banned drug called trimetazidine.

The most notable and high-profile case involving trimetazidine is Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, who tested positive for the drug in 2014. It may be detected in athletes’ urine for several days after their last use of the drug. “This is unlikely to improve performance in young athletes like [Valieva],” Joyner said. Trimetazidine has been listed in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) list of prohibited substances since 2014 under the  "hormone and metabolic modulator” category. It works by increasing blood flow to the heart and limits rapid spikes in blood pressure. It should only be used as a symptomatic treatment or as an add-on treatment in patients with angina (chest pains).

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Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

What to know about Trimetazidine, the drug at the center of the ... (The Washington Post)

Trimetazidine, also known as TMZ, is a heart medication designed mostly for older people who suffer from angina.

The drug could, in theory, give an athlete such as Valieva an edge by allowing her to train for longer periods of time in a sport in which medals are won by razor-thin margins, said Robby Sikka, a sports medicine physician and anesthesiologist who works with NFL and NBA teams. There is virtually no reason a healthy teenager would be given a legitimate prescription for TMZ, Baggish said. In theory, it could aid endurance athletes who have to generate high cardiac output, such as cyclists, rowers and long-distance runners, but would be unlikely to have a direct impact on a figure skater’s performance, where there is less demand on the heart, said Aaron Baggish, director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

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