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Methylhexaneamine information for athletes to consider

08.18.2015

Methylhexa
neamine information for athletes to consider

The world is awash with more and more news about methylhexaneamine and positive drug tests related to it. We have already written a couple blog posts about the compound and provided methylhexaneamine information. Yesterday we noted an article in The Herald Sun in Australia entitled: Athletes warned of supplement risk: FRESH warnings have been sent to Australia’s elite athletes outlining the risks of taking dietary supplements containing the banned substance methylhexaneamine.

The article describes an e-mail from the Australian Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) warning athletes against taking dietary supplements containing methylhexaneamine, “Athletes need to be aware that, under the policy of strict liability, they are responsible for any substance found in their body”, the ASADA e-mail reads. “Athletes using supplements do so at their own risk. This substance is classed as an S6 stimulant on the Prohibited list and is prohibited in-competition. ASADA is advising all Australian athletes subject to in-competition doping control to carefully consider their use of supplements and products containing methylhexaneamine.”

The article then goes on to quote track star Tamsyn Lewis’ response to the warning: “There is simply not enough information and for younger athletes coming up through junior ranks, including the football codes, they’re driving blind,” Lewis said. “They haven’t been educated or informed about this banned substance and the specific supplements to avoid.”

So, where do you find methylhexaneamine information if you’re an athlete and want to avoid positive tests related to the compound? Given all the attention on the compound recently, we thought we would explore ASADA’s website to see what kind of methylhexaneamine information they have. We found four listings after putting ‘methylhexaneamine’ into the search box on the site, all in the last month. We also went to the USADA and WADA websites to see if information was available through their search boxes; surprisingly neither site returned any matching items for methylhexaneamine information.

Digging into the second link on the ASADA site, you can find ASADA’s formal advisory on the compound that contains some very good methylhexaneamine information including a list of the various synonyms.

What seems to be missing is a listing of the various supplement products and label names, which hides the reality that methylhexaneamine is present. Many products, for example, contain geranium oil extract, a seemingly benign ingredient. In reality, geranium oil extract is a common label name for methylhexanamine in supplement products. Mistaken use of methylhexanamine can easily result.

We have responded to the methylhexaneamine issue by creating ADR’s Searchable Database of Banned Stimulants. The database includes banned stimulants, their synonyms, label names, and also brand names that contain this and other banned stimulants. With the hope of providing a simple tool for athletes and other drug-tested professionals to help avoid similar issues in the future, we are working on raising financial support to further develop the database and expand it to other categories of drugs. Please contact us at 310-482-6925 or info@antidopingresearch.org if you would like to help.

Comment on title: Perhaps you have noticed that we have spelled methylhexanamine in the title without the extra ‘e.’ This is because the compound is more commonly listed on internet sites without the ‘e’ even though the scientific name includes it, as a PubChem search demonstrates. The Wikipedia page is found by searching without the ‘e,’ yet the first line of the article includes the ‘e.’ This example further demonstrates the confusion that swirls around this compound.