DRUGS IN SPORT: EVEN A MOTHER'S MILK IS SUSPECT

It is the first thing that a newborn baby will taste and its nutritional
content is considered vital to ensure a healthy start to life. But few would
expect a mother's breast milk to be at the centre of an international sports
scandal.

Calls were issued yesterday for an investigation into the effect on athletes
of colostrum - a yellow fluid new mothers produce in their breast milk -
after it emerged it was being given to members of the Australian cycling
team at the Commonwealth Games. The yellow sticky substance includes a
growth hormone banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Team members are being given colostrum from cows in an experiment approved
by Australian officials. Its use in sport has never been heard of until now.

Rich in proteins and immunoglobulins, the substance is thought to be ideal
for building resistance to infection, something which athletes are prone to
when heavily training. Colostrum also contains the growth hormone, IGF-1,
which is on the IOC's list of banned substances and is used by athletes to
aid body building.

Colostrum helps repair damaged tissue, releases other hormones and promotes
the production of cells. In newborn babies it helps to activate hormones and
naturally immunise against infection.

Since the beginning of the year, a laboratory in Adelaide has been testing
the effects of colostrum extracted from cows' milk on Olympic cyclists. The
trial has been approved by an Adelaide University ethics committee which
helped formulate the experiments.

Australian cycling team doctor, Mr Peter Barnes, said: "Our general
impression is that there has been less illness. It does seem to have
beneficial effects on resistance levels and we would encourage its use in
these heavy training phases."

The British Olympic Association yesterday called for a full investigation
into the use of colostrum. Association chief, Mr Simon Clegg, said: "I have
never heard of it being used in sport before. The fact that it is
pharmaceutically extracted worries me. Some serious work needs to be done on
its impact on athletes and what effect it has on enhancing performance. We
also need to know the levels of IGF-1 in colostrum."

Ms Michelle Verroken, head of the anti-doping unit at the UK Sports Council
said: "We have to ask whether the use of colostrum is a legitimate
scientific advancement for sport, or cheating. Nobody knows where the
dividing line is."

Dr Barnes, who is chairman of the Australian Drugs in Sport Committee, said
he would not be involved in administering banned substances. "The colostrum
we are giving team members is a dairy product, not a drug."

According to reports, some cycling team members are anxious about the
uncertain status of colostrum following the drug scandals that have recently
surrounded the sport, including the Tour de France in Ireland in July.

The use of colostrum further highlights the use by sports people of
biological compounds which are naturally produced by the body. With regular
drugs such as steroids easy to detect, many athletes are turning to more
obscure, natural substances. Australian officials are preparing to implement
the most rigorous drug testing regime for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney
and have already called for athletes caught importing or taking
performance-enhancing drugs to be treated in the same way as those caught in
possession of heroin.

Checked-by: Don Beck