The close match between the inquiries and the seasonal variations in pollen allergies (data not shown) provided further reassurance for the validity. This report presents an analysis of inquiries made on vasodilators to the DID™ during 2006-2008, leading up to the Beijing

Olympics. It covers inquiries relating to i) prescription only phosphodiesterase inhibitors   ii) nitric oxide precursor supplement products. A key distinction between these two classes of vasodilator is their legal status with the former having been the subject of exhaustive clinical trials while the latter have been less ZD1839 cell line well documented in terms of effects on human health   A further distinction is that the official standing of the prescription medicines affords the ability to study their use which is unavailable for the grey area of “”nitric oxide precursor”" supplement use. Additionally, it should be noted that the second class is comprised of supplement products of various compositions. Some of these are nitrogen-containing products that take advantage of the nitric oxide synthase pathway to form NO. Other compositions contain nitrites/nitrates (e.g., there is patent protection for a supplement agent containing sodium nitrite [21]). The differences within this class may not be apparent to many consumers, but the ingredients may have significantly different health or detrimental MK0683 in vivo effects (Figure 2). Reports suggesting the use

of prescription vasodilators to enhance athletic performance by professional athletes [4], may lead to an increased interest in prescription vasodilators in the sub-elite level of athletes leading to wider public health

concerns. Furthermore, use of prescription Myosin vasodilators, whether obtained by prescription or not, may lead to the adoption of non-prescription nitrite supplements. For these reasons, it is timely to study the observed interest in these distinct classes of vasodilators in order to compare and contrast trends in interest by athletes. A key aim is to investigate fluctuations in the numbers of queries in each category, to establish if concerning trends in interest in the use of vasodilators has occurred over a two year period leading up to the Olympics. Figure 2 Categories of nitric oxide-related compositions based on mechanism of action. Methods The UK Sport’s Drug Information Database (DID™) has been Selleckchem 4SC-202 previously interrogated to gain an insight into what substances athletes and their support personnel are interested in [20]. In order to elucidate the potential use or misuse of vasodilators, data previously downloaded from the DID™ were re-analysed. The data, limited to inquiries made in the UK, were downloaded in July 2008 in two segments: Dataset 1: Time covering between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007. Dataset 2: Six sets of 2008, in monthly segments, to monitor any changes during the months leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.