Pharmaciens d'officine et dopage sportif : enquête sur les connaissances et les attitudes au niveau de la région de Dakar au Sénégal

Aim. – Evaluate the knowledge of retail pharmacists of doping in sport and to describe their attitude in front to this phenomenon.Methods. – We proceeded by a prospective self-reported survey by postal mail with 105 retail pharmacists in Dakar which contains 299 pharmacies.Results. – We have received 68 answers. Only 10% of pharmacists know doping definition. They are 66% who think that senegalese sportsmen use doping products. They feel concerned with the problem of doping (81%) and 19% of them said having been contacted during these last 12 months for advice on doping products. They consider that doping is a kind of drug addiction and a public health problem. They estimated to 95% that the most effectiveness means of prevention would be to talk about side effects of doping products with the support of doctors.Conclusion. – This study which has to be extended must bring us to do big preventing actions.     

Vertiges,troubles de l'équilibre et sport

Aims – To point out that dizziness can be generated by sport practice, that unrecognized pathologies can provoke dizziness in sportsmen and that dizziness could be prevented by physical activities.Current knowledge – Balance disorders can be related to pathology of one or more afferences (vestibular, visual, somesthetic), a conflict in these afferences usage (motion sickness, Coriolis forces), central integration (vigilance-deficit, drugs, etc.) or motor effector dysfunction (muscular trauma, etc.).Points of views and plans – Sport practice can modify sensory-motor strategies by reinforcing the preferential usage of a given type of information. In elderly, physical activities, by maintaining or increasing the weight of proprioception, diminish dependency to the visual afferent.     

Dynamique de la locomotion en fauteuil roulant manuel : influences de la masse totale et de sa répartition antéropostérieure sur la résultante des forces de freinage

Purpose. – This study presents a new method for determining the resultant braking force during wheelchair displacement and investigates the respective effects of the level and the distribution of the system’s mass.Method and results. – A three-dimensional accelerometer was fixed directly under the seat of wheelchair and was used to measure the deceleration of the mass-and-wheelchair’s system. Three masses (50, 70 and 90 kg) were laid on a support in 3 positions corresponding to three distributions (10, 40 and 70%) of the system’s total mass upon the front casters. A series of 15 deceleration trials was performed for each of the 9 combinations. Statistical results showed that the system’s deceleration was mainly explained by the mass distribution upon the front casters (92%) and in the least by the system’s total mass (8%).Conclusion. – Considering the fore-and-aft movements of the subject’s centre of mass during wheelchair locomotion, the results of this study let us assume that the resultant braking force does not remain constant along the propulsion cycle. Moreover, the present method could be used to investigate the influence of wheelchair’s adjustments and floor’s characteristics on the resultant braking force.     

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.