Saturday 19 May 2018

Diuretics and Masking Agents

Diuretics are products which help to remove body fluids. They cause a lost of water due to partial paralysis of water reabsorption. Powerful diuretics can increase orine flow about 6 liters per day.

Masking agents are compounds which are taken with the purpose of hide or mask the presence of others ilegal drugs during the antidoping tests. Masking agents have the potential of ruin or hide the prohibited substance in orine. For that reason, diuretics can be considered as masking agents due to orine dilution that give rise to smaller levels of the prohibited substance when is excrete by the body.

Diuretics and others masking agents has the 5º position among the most used drugs of all adverse analyzed results in the world. They are prohibited both inside and outside the competition. In the following image we can see specifically which are prohibited by WADA:

Kidney is the main organ trough these drugs are excreted.  Chemically, diuretics are a group of compunds which stimulate or inhibit several hormones that are naturally present in the body for regulate the orine production by kidneys.

Athletes use diuretics with the purpose of lose weigth quickly, specillay in that sports classified by weigth categories, and/or to cover the presence of other prohibited substances. However, the fluid losses through orine causes by this kind of drugs can lead to the depletion of intravascular volume. For that reason, an overage diuretics use generally drive to dehydration and hypovolemia, which is one of the main causes of hypokalemia. This situation may produce effecst as hypotension, muscular weakness, muscle cramps, irregular neurological functioning, cardiac arrhythmias or even heart attacks.

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