Dopage et sport : connaissances et attitudes des pharmaciens de la ville de Yaoundé

Introduction – Fourty-one retail pharmacists (23 females and 18 males) out of 70 that Yaoundé town counts, participated to this study aimed at determining their attitudes towards and knowledge in doping. They answered a questionnaire concerning their knowledge of doping agents, how they face doping and the role of pharmacists in doping prevention.Synthesis – Results suggest that pharmacists (54%) have been confronted to doping, less than once a month for 27% of them and at least once a month for the rest. Six pharmacists (15%) have been offered to provide doping agents to sport men. 51% (mainly females) consider that the use of food supplements could induce consumption of forbidden drugs. The majority (83%) of pharmacists (mainly females) consider that doping is a public health problem. They agree (88%) that pharmacists have a part to play in doping prevention but also agree (58%; mainly females) that they are poorly or very poorly informed to that effect.Conclusion – The requests made to pharmacists suggest the consumption of doping agents by sport men in our region. It is therefore necessary to carry out an epidemiologic study on prevalence and consumption patterns.     

Évolution de la lactatémie lors d'une séance de vitesse chez des sprinters de niveau national

Aim – We measured in this work the plasma lactate concentrations in male sprinters competing at national level after repetitions of 50 m sprint at maximal speed on the track.Results – Plasma lactate concentration increases significantly after the first repetition of sprint, from 3.9 ± 0.1 mmol.l⁻¹ before the first sprint to 14.0 ± 3.0 mmol.l⁻¹ observed after the 3th repetition.Discussion and conclusion – Our results confirmed that the activity of the lactic anaerobic metabolism reflected by plasma lactate concentration is very high during the first seconds of sprint exercises below seven seconds. Sprint coaches must take into account these data when they program sprint sessions.     

Effets de la pratique de la gymnastique d’entretien chez des seniors sur la condition physique,la fonction cognitive et la prise médicamenteuse

Objective. – The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of regular gymnastic activity practice on fitness, cognitive function and medication in healthy elderly women.Method. – Twenty-four women were separated into 2 groups, a sedentary group and a gymnastic group. In order to be included in the gymnastic group, women needed to have participated for at least 2 consecutive years in gymnastic sessions for a minimum of 10 months per year. Subjects were on average aged 60.3 ± 1.4 years. All the women filled in clinical and physical activities questionnaires. Then the following tests were taken: Martinet, 6 min walking test, 3 static balance tests and a memory test.Results. – Walking speed (P < 0.01) and distance of walking (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in the gymnastic group in comparison with the sedentary women and the consumption of medicine was significantly lower in active compared with sedentary women (P < 0.05). So, regular gymnastic practice reduces the consumption of medicine and could preserve autonomy by maintening an optimal walking speed, thus decreasing the risk of falls.     

Effet de la course d’endurance et/ou des isoflavones sur la masse osseuse de la rate castrée

Aim – To study the effects of endurance running (15 m/min during 20 min/day to 28 m/min during 1 h/d, 6 days/week during 12 weeks, corresponding to 62% of the VO₂ max of the animals) or of a treatment by isoflavones (Soylife 100 : 400 μg j^–1 g^–1 of body weight during 12 weeks), either only or cumulated with running, on the osteopenia induced by castration in adult female rat.Results and discussion – Each one of these two treatment has a protective effect of the bone mineral density at the femoral total, diaphysaire and metaphysaire level. But contrary to what had been reported on the cumulated effects of long term endurance running and of a 17β-estradiol treatment 〚3〛, we did not note any additive effect of these two treatments.     

Médicaments et performance de la fonction d'équilibration

Introduction – Balance control in some sports discipline can be the aim of the action, and its breaking off can expose to severe trauma.Synthesis of facts – Some drugs' adverse effects can induce lower equilibrium performance, in relation for example with vigilance drop or vestibular ototoxicity. The drug effect site can concern one or more links in the chain (peripheral or central impact). Individual sensitivity is variable, as well as speed of reversibility.Conclusion – Symptoms induced by pathology for which therapy is prescribed are sometimes difficult to distinguish from those induced by therapy itself.     

Les bases génétiques et moléculaires de la performance et de l'adaptation à l'exercice physique

Objectives – This paper reviews the state of our knowledge on the genetic and molecular bases of performance and the response to exercise training, the theme of the inaugural conference of the XIXth annual meeting of the Société Française de Médecine du Sport held in Rennes in October 1999.Topics – The studies on the genetic bases of performance performed over the past 20 years suggest that 25 to 50% of interindividual differences observed in maximal and sub-maximal oxygen consumption as well as in other indicators of aerobic performance could be explained by genetic factors. For metabolic and histochemical properties of skeletal muscle, heritabilities ranging from 40 to 70% have been reported. Considerable interindividual differences are also observed in the cardiorespiratory, metabolic and morphologic adaptations to exercise training and results from twin and family studies suggest that these differences are also determined by genetic factors. Unlike many other complex traits such as hypertension or obesity, the search for candidate genes of performance is in its infancy. Only a few studies with candidate genes such as the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), the muscle specific creatine kinase (CKMM) or genes of mitochondrial DNA have reported positive results with indicators of aerobic performance.Conclusion – More studies are needed before any conclusion could be made about the role of these genes in performance and adaptation to exercise training. Although the molecular dissection of performance and adaptation to regular exercise is a complex task, considerable progress will probably be achieved in the next decade in our understanding of the molecular basis of these complex phenotypes.