Maria Sharapova announced today that she tested positive for a banned substance.
In her announcement, she stated that her family physician prescribed the drug “mildronate” for several health conditions one of which is a “family history of diabetes.”
I don’t know the entire story but for me it’s offensive that the only option Miss Sharapova had to address her health issues one of them being high risk for T2DM is a now-banned substance.
What do you think?
Here is the link:
Jo
As a professional sportsperson I think Maria or her trainer should have checked the list of banned substances. However, as far as I am aware this is only banned for sporting events.
@Pastelpainter I agree. I just think it is a slap in the face for those who are living with T2DM and are successfully managing it with healthy eating and being active. She doesn’t yet have it and claims to use the once unbanned substance for preventive reasons and refers to her risk as a health issue.
As an African American woman who is genetically predisposed to T2DM and who has family members with T2DM that would mean her doctor wold prescribe me to the antiischemic to for preventative purposes because I am high risk? I just don’t get it.
Thanks for your response though! 8))
I am trying not to be too cynical but…
1.Russia has a terrible reputation for doping in sports (see the recent problems in Athletics)
2.The drug in question is manufactured in Latvia and not approved for use outside of Russia and a few former Soviet Eastern European Countries
3.The drug is designed to improve blood flow in patients with advanced heart problems.
4.A “side effect” of the drug is that it also improves circulation in healthy athletes - hence it has been used routinely in Russia by sportspersons.
Do we really believe the story about Ms Sharapova’s family history of diabetes or is it more likely that she has been taking it for 10 years because it is a performance-enhancing drug that had until last year escaped the attention of WADA?
If it is found that she knowingly took a performance-enhancing drug, she faces a ban of 4 years. If she can demonstrate that she was unaware of its properties or that she took it unknowingly, the ban could be reduced to 2 years. If she can show that she took the drug for a medical condition, but failed to apply for an exemption (which can be given in these circumstances, e.g. insulin, asthma medicines etc.,) she could be facing an even shorter ban.
Now go figure…
Joel
as each countries in the big sport
“The Creator of Meldonium refused to consider the drug doping”
https://latestnewsresource.com/en/news/sozdatel-meldonija-otkazalsja-schitat-preparat-dopingom
@jjm335 It is interesting that the manufacturer of the pharmaceutical makes no mention of its usage in the treatment of diabetes.
I just think it is so uncool for such a healthy athlete to say she is at risk for diabetes when so many people are living with it and managing it successfully w/o meldonium. I must research type 2 diabetes in Russia and Latvia to see what the common pharmaceuticals are that physicians in Russia and Latvia use to treat diabetes.
I don’t know much about T2. I can drop you a link. This is a PDF doc about Meldonium and Dia T2. But it’s in russian lang.
But I agree. That was a stupid excuse. Sharapova, Shame On You ! 
The diabetes portion of the “explanation” was an absolute b/s, throw spaghetti at a wall excuse, no doubt. It may help in the treatment of diabetes when taken in conjunction with other drugs. So unless Sharapova has diabetes and we don’t know it, the insinuation that she was taking to PREVENT diabetes is ridiculous.
Regardless of why she was taking it, I’m not sure how I feel about her getting in so much hot water when the drug was just recently banned 2 months ago. To me, anything prior to Jan 1 is irrelevant as it wasn’t banned. Will be interesting to see how long she will be suspended for.
I was also astounded when i read this in the news this morning.
I guess first of all, out of fairness we have to appreciate that she takes full responsibility in this. She said it was her fault and she should have known. the drug she was tested positive for was banned in january, so it was banned for less than a month before she tested positive. i guess it is bad luck.
however, it is questionable why she would take a drug known to raise blood circulation years before that positive test. i guess the russians just like to test boundaries and got caught for once.
i guess the reason she took this was to enhance her performance, it was legal after all until dec 31 2015. the diabetes thing was just a short explanation as nobody takes a drug for no reason, and admitting taking it “for its performance enhancing benefits” wouldn’t have sounded good.
the question i asked myself is how would that help her if she had diabetes? is this a common drug prescribed for people who have higher a1cs or have a family risk of developing T2? would this prevent or delay an onset of T2?
@swisschocolate that is what I was thinking. "how would it help a person who is at risk for developing T2 and whether it is more effective in preventing or delaying the progression of t2 more effectively than all the tennis she plays.
Warning: Emotions speaking…
I personally think it is a slap in a face to populations living with diabetes. It appears that she is doing everything to minimize her risk, regular exercise and healthy eating. The fact that she is not part of a high risk group minimizes the risk of her developing T2, so what gives?
Well, while I don’t see the benefits of this drug, I also don’t know its mechanisms and hence don’t know how it works. I guess we also have to appreciate that many T2s are very active and lean, and developed it just with a genetic predisposition, and if Sharapova fits into that category, well then I’d understand any drug she takes to lower that risk, as no Tennis in the world could prevent some of those onsets.
Not only obese and inactive people belong to the high risk group of developing T2, also people who are at risk because of sheer genetics. Maybe Sharapova belongs to that group.
But again, I have never heard of anyone taking it to prevent or postpone the onset of T2, so i guess we can question the reasons behind it. Does any research exist on that drug regarding prevention of T2? Has anyone any references to papers?
@swisschocolate I totally agree. I am a researcher in type 2 diabetes and have a strong genetic predispostion to developing T2DM. Six of my twelve immediate have type 2 diabetes. From a pathophysiological/organ perspective the mediators of T2DM are adipose tissue, the liver, pancreas and skeletal muscle.
Just from the process of deduction, it is highly unlikely that the cause is dysfunction as a consequences of excess adipose tissue or lack of skeletal muscle. The risk she claims could be at the pancreas or liver. The American Association of Clincal Endocrinologists state that the go to pharmceuticals are secretagogues or biguanides–not an antiischemic.
Just doesn’t add up for me.
Thanks for your post though! 8))
Frankly I just feel sorry for Maria Sharapova. I really can’t criticize her. So many sports have such heavy drug use, it is not just pervasive but ingrained into the sports. Just look at the Lance Armstrong story, a systematic deception not just by him but by the entire sport. And let’s not even start on football.
For athletes at the very highest level in their sports where the slightest advantage means millions of dollars, this puts intense pressure on using anything for an advantage. And if a drug is not banned, then it is ok. Those are the rules. It would seem that Maria simply made a mistake in not being aware that mildronate had been banned and she suffers terrible potential consequences. And those consequences are disproportionate and reflect our “zero tolerance” society. I hate zero tolerance, the world is not black and white.
I see nothing that suggests that she had intent to use a banned substance, rather she was unaware of it being added to the banned list. I think we should be open to being a bit more empathetic before leaping to criticism of her.
@Brian I am not questioning her her intentions. I am simply saying that to say mention “diabetes” as her reason to be taking this pharmaceutical for 10 years is insulting to many who struggle on a day to day basis to manage their diabetes.
The question for me now is, if she gets suspended for any period of time will she still use the drug as a form of prevention for diabetes. If there is truth to her statement that she is high risk for T2DM then that should be enough reason for her to continue using the drug in order to prevent diabetes. If she does not and a physician does not prescribe any other drug or tell her to use what the evidence-base says is effective “healthy eating and regular physical activity” then I wonder how much of a risk to progression towards diabetes does she really have.
For me, her words are a slap in the face to those who live with type 2 diabetes.
Just so we are clear, here is the quote from the article:
“I was getting sick very often,” she said. “I had a deficiency in magnesium. I had irregular EKG results, and I had a family history of diabetes and there were signs of diabetes.”
Low magnesium and irregular EKG are all indicators of serious heart problems and being described mildronate by a doctor does not seem inappropriate. Further, being told you have a history of diabetes and are displaying signs of diabetes suggests places you at even higher risk of CVD. I see absolutely nothing which suggests a claim that mildronate was being used to address diabetes.
Whether mildronate was actually prescribed to manage her heart problems or she obtained the assistance of a doctor in getting mildronate as a performance enhancement is unknown. But I don’t think it is appropriate to “read in” that she is claiming that the mildronate was prescribed to treat diabetes.
According to the article, the dosages used for performance enhancement are much higher than she was prescribed.
@Brian_BSC makes a good point about diabetes & elevated CVD risk.
Why are they giving her a drug for being high risk? This is totally unacceptable and should have the book thrown at her for doing this. If she had completely developed T2D then there may be some sympathy but as it stands this is totally unacceptable. In the quest to be perfect and better than everybody else, athletes forget why there purpose. I hope this is a lesson to other atlete how may think about going down this route to claim they may potentially have a disease to take a drug that is not legal.