Proffesional sport in Australia is littered with drug taking. This is going to be massive

The new crop of drugs out there.

Australian athletes have been turning to a "new generation" of banned substances to get the edge over their opponents, according to today's Australian Crime Commission report.

The report says hormones and peptides, such as growth hormone releasing hexapeptide (GHRP), are being used by athletes across Australia's major codes.

On top of that, Google searches for GHRP are much more common in Australia than in the US or UK.

"Peptides and hormones are considered a new generation of substances and most are prohibited in sport," Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority chief Aurora Andruska said.

"In many instances, the substances are not yet approved for human use."

Former ASADA head Richard Ings says peptides and other hormones can be very hard to detect.

"These are very serious performance enhancing drugs and at the moment they're very hard to detect through testing so at the moment the only way to determine that athletes are using them is through coercive powers," he said today.

But how much do you know about the substances like GHRP, pig brain extract, and the other weapons in the dopers' chemical arsenal?

Growth hormone releasing peptides

Peptides are short chains of amino acids and are the building blocks for protein.

They occur naturally in the body but can also be taken in supplement form.



Web searches for GHRP

Web searches for growth hormone releasing hexapeptide (GHRP) have been growing worldwide and are much more common in Australia than in the United States or the United Kingdom, Google Trends data suggests.View interactive charts



Some peptide supplements are legal, and work similarly to protein supplements to help the body recover from strenuous activity.

However, there are also a variety of peptides that encourage the body to release growth hormones.

These type of peptides stimulate muscular growth with fewer side effects than anabolic steroids.

They are sold either as a cream or in a solution for injection.

The ACC report notes that various types of growth hormone releasing peptides, including hexapeptides like GHRP-2 and GHRP-6, are being used.

The report notes that these type of peptides are also used in combination with anabolic steroids to maintain muscle gains.

From an anti-doping perspective, the ability to detect the use of growth hormone releasing peptides is complex, as the substances are rapidly metabolised.

Growth hormone releasing peptides are prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Growth hormone variants

The ACC report identified the use of growth hormone variant AOD-9604 in Australian sport.

The hormone helps burn fat and stimulates weight loss, though does not necessarily enhance muscle strength.

Clinical trials have suggested it also helps repair muscle and tissue after strenuous activity.

AOD-9604 is not prohibited by WADA

any one who is fit slim young and healthy may be a potential performance enhancing drug taker. Us old fat types are obviously performance enhancing drug free as our ample physiques and general level of lethargy prove. hence to ensure that only clean athletes win contests and titles I suggest that only people sporting substantial beer bellies and weighing in at 100 kg or over be allowed to enter any professional sport. This way we can rest assured that our champions are the cleanest of athletes and that never again will sport be tarnished with performance enhancing cheats. Ah my dream of becoming world champ is getting ever nearer!