USE of banned amphetamine substances has been shown to slow down the rise of body temperature and mask fatigue during exercise, allowing athletes to run significantly longer, but not without significant risk to their health, report researchers at Georgia State University and Indiana University.
In their study on laboratory rats, the scientists found that animals treated with amphetamine (2mg per kg of their body weight) were able to run significantly longer on a treadmill than a control group. The gains were possibly down to better heat dissipation (cooling through sweating) and slowing down the rate at which core body temperature exceeds the exhaustion threshold. However, the side effect was potentially dangerous overheating of the muscles by the end of a run.
“Your body is tuned to know that if the core temperature, and hence, the muscle temperature reach certain levels, you should stop,” said Yaroslav Molkov, associate professor of maths and statistics at Georgia State. “But when you inject yourself with amphetamine, you don’t know that anymore because your temperature control system is tricked and you think that it’s not time to stop yet because your core temperature is not that high, even though your muscle temperature can already be dangerously high.”