(CN) Beware slugs: Athletes warned on Chinese meds

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Beware slugs: Athletes warned on Chinese meds

Traditional remedies could trigger doping charges, officials warn

Reuters

updated 2:42 p.m. PT, Thurs., Aug. 7, 2008

BEIJING - The oldest and biggest Chinese medicine store in Beijing is

stocked with traditional ingredients like deer's penis, dried

seahorses, fungi, and ginseng.

At one end there is now a counter with signs warning athletes over

centuries-old stimulants.

With the majority of Chinese people taking traditional medicine to

both keep them healthy and to cure illnesses, the government embarked

on a campaign ahead of the Olympics to ensure there was no doubt over

which drugs were off limits to athletes.

Kong Yan Ping, vice-manager of a 339-year-old Tongrentang store near

Tiananmen Square, said about 100 of the 1,200 natural ingredients

used in traditional Chinese medicine were stimulants.

From May 1 all vendors of these medicines were required to isolate

any that could contravene the International Olympic Committee's list

of prohibited drugs and put up warning notices.

" Athletes should be careful with the drugs that include stimulants, "

read the blue signs above and on the counter.

Chinese Olympic officials have advised athletes not to take

traditional remedies during the Aug 8-24 Games when the IOC will

conduct 4,500 doping tests, up 25 percent on the Athens Games.

Several athletes have previously been banned for illegal elements

found in innocuous over-the-counter medicine.

Chinese star basketball player, Yao Ming, is a strong believer in

traditional medicine that dates back 2,000 years.

He returned to China in April to seek advice from traditional Chinese

medicine experts to help the recovery of an injured foot.

" There is no reason to dismiss (traditional Chinese medicine), " he

told reporters. " It's been used in our country for thousands of

years. I don't think it's short on science. "

Dr. David Baron, from the U.S.'s Temple University School of Medicine

who worked at a doping control officer at previous Olympics, said

this was no longer an issue just affecting Chinese athletes with

traditional medicine getting more popular overseas.

 

" Athletes other than just Chinese take traditional Chinese medicine

.... the advice given to the athletes is to assume everything you put

in your body could test positive, " he said.

Kong, whose store is one of a chain owned by Beijing TongRenTang Co

Ltd, said traditional Chinese medicine aimed to make the whole body

run well, not just focus on one area, and treated everyone uniquely

with no single quick fix.

The 60 doctors at her store write different prescriptions for each

patient which are mixed by hand.

Boiling seahorses or deer penis in water and drinking the soup can

help kidneys function better while sea slugs boiled or eaten whole

can help the blood. Swallows nests benefit lungs.

" Lots of Chinese people put powdered medicine into their wine as some

medicines are absorbed better into the body if in wine, " she told

Reuters during a tour of the store.

" Most Chinese people still use traditional medicine which has

benefited people throughout its 2,000 year history. "

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26077967/

 

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