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The Trouble With Too Much T
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Hello All,

http://www.nytimes.com/...es&nlid=45162987

Excerpt:

In 2009, the South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya was barred from competition and obliged to undergo intrusive and humiliating “sex testing” after fellow athletes at the Berlin World Championships questioned her sex. Ms. Semenya was eventually allowed to compete again, but the incident opened the world’s eyes to the process of sex testing and the distress it could bring to an athlete who had lived her whole life as a girl. When an endocrinologist, a gynecologist and a psychologist were brought in to determine whether the teenager was really a woman, she simply asserted, “I know who I am.”



Cheers,

Neal

+1 mph Faster
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Re: The Trouble With Too Much T [nealhe] [ In reply to ]
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I think you missed a lot of key excerpts and didn't even provide your thoughts which frustrates me since it indicates try to troll.

Here are some of the more interesting points in my opinion. I'm sure others will focus on different areas of the article:
  • Science doesn't match up with the assertion that athletic performance is driven by testosterone levels.
  • Testing for doping screens out natural production of hormones so they know the difference between doping an naturally high-T.
  • There is a natural variation of T levels and an overlap between the ranges where some athletes fall.

A new study in Clinical Endocrinology fits with other emerging research on the relationship between natural testosterone and performance, especially in elite athletes, which shows that T levels can’t predict who will run faster, lift more weight or fight harder to win. The study, of a sample of 693 elite athletes, revealed a significant overlap in testosterone levels among men and women: 16.5 percent of the elite male athletes had testosterone in the so-called female range; nearly 14 percent of the women were above the “female” range.

And the biggies:
  • Female athletes with high levels of naturally occurring T are undergoing surgeries to remove whatever is causing it, including removing their clitoris.
  • Athletics are a way out of poverty in many areas of the world so to save their careers, some female athletes are consenting to the surgery.


If there is an overlap of naturally occurring T levels between the sexes, what is the ideal level and why aren't those low on those levels subjected to intrusive intervention? The science doesn't back up the claims that naturally occurring T influences athletic performance so why the radical surgeries?

This finding undermines the idea that sex-linked performance differences are mainly because of testosterone. The authors suggest that lean body mass, rather than hormone levels, may better explain the performance gap. They also conclude that their research makes the I.O.C.’s testosterone-guided eligibility policy for women “untenable.”


Why not consider surgery for men in the high range of naturally occurring T levels?

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
Last edited by: JenSw: Apr 12, 14 11:16
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Re: The Trouble With Too Much T [JenSw] [ In reply to ]
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Hello JenSw and All,

No intent to troll .....

And good points noted by you ...........

I was not aware of the procedures required for women with high T until I read this article .... perhaps you were.

I was concerned that some agencies are requiring some drug intervention or surgery to change a natural body function to meet an arbitrary standard for competition.

I can see justification for preventing the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs but not for changing natural body functions.

My opinion is that the IOC and other agencies are overreaching in trying to level the playing field with this policy of requiring modification of natural body functions.

Cheers,

Neal

+1 mph Faster
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Re: The Trouble With Too Much T [nealhe] [ In reply to ]
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Does Caster have male or female bodyparts? Was that question resolved?
Last edited by: johnnybefit: Apr 13, 14 14:31
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