Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Detection of Anabolic steroids part 3

Home Urine Kits

The steroid detection kits can also be used at home, school or gym. The company usually sends a kit which contains sterile containers. One collects urine in the container and ships it back. Within a week, the results are ready.

Detection time frame

The detection of anabolic steroids in the urine is a tricky task. Not all steroids appear in the urine at the same time. Some steroids are excreted faster and can be detected in the urine in a few days after use. Other anabolic steroids remain in the body for months and can be detected in urine months after their use has been discontinued. Detection of testosterone in the urine is meaningless. Testosterone is a natural hormone and low amount are normally detected in urine of most males. However, when high levels of testosterone are detected in the urine, it is usually due to exogenous use.

Facts about Anabolic Steroid Testing in Urine

Laboratories who work in conjunction with sports agencies must be certified to ensure that they have decent quality and excellent staff.

The laboratories have a standard cutoff level of 2 ng/ml for all anabolic steroids. If the levels of an anabolic steroid are more than 2 ng/ml, it always raises suspicion of illegal use.

Since all tests can detect levels of testosterone and epitestosterone, the cut off point for these two steroids are different.

For Testosterone and epitestosterone, the ratios of two substances are compared in the urine. The cutoff is 4:1. In the healthy adult male, the ratio of testosterone and epitestosterone is roughly 1:1. when this ratio is altered, there is always suspicion of illegal steroid use. While the ratio of 4:1 is the standard cutoff, there are some laboratories that use a cut off of 6:1.

When the testosterone levels are 4 times or more than the levels of epitestosterone, it means that someone has been using anabolic steroids.

In the majority of cases, the naturally occurring testosterone will not be detected in urine unless the dose is greater than 2 ng/ml.

No comments:

Post a Comment