TRT and Sports Ethics 1
TRT and Sports Ethics
Frederick Wingate
Concordia University at St Paul
TRT and Sports Ethics 2
TRT and Sports Ethics: An Objective Review
Continuously in sports we run the problem of anabolic steroid use for athletes trying to
get an edge. Whether it be for exceeding natural limitations or recovering faster after an injury,
professional athletes are continuously searching for a way to get ahead. But at what point do we
draw the line between what is necessary for health and what is too much leading to an unfair
advantage. I will look at the current research on health and testosterone replacement therapy to
make an argument for the usage of it in professional sports.
First, let’s talk about what low testosterone (hypogonadism or Late Onset Hypogonadism) is.
It is defined as total testosterone at or below 300 ng/dl and is close to 40% in men aged 45 years
and older (Mulligan T, Frick MF, Zuraw QC, et al, 2013). During an Aging Males’ Symptoms
questionnaire, it was reported that symptomatic testosterone deficiency was in the area of 80%
for men between the ages of 16-89 with a notice that 40% of the participants in the study were
reported at younger ages (Trinick TR, Feneley MR, Welford H, et al., 2011). Now this could be
for any numbers of reasons from obesity (Ng Tang Fui M, Hoermann R, Cheung AS, et al., 2013)
or stress (Maestripieri D, Baran NM, Sapienza P, et al., 2010). And when looking at professional
athletes who have to either go through bouts of weight loss for position changes in the example
of a NFL lineman switching to tight end or in the case of a professional MMA fighter dropping
weight to get into a certain weight class, we can see how fluctuations and even adaptations in
free testosterone can occur.
TRT and Sports Ethics 3
But is the competition edge the real reason for testosterone replacement therapy? In my
opinion, health should be the reason. And it is the main reason it is used in the first place. If one
were to take a logical though process to this, one would assume that someone being brought back
up into normal ranges of testosterone production would level the playing field. However let’s
look at a table of what actually happens during the process of dieting:
(McDonald, N.D)
As we can see from the table, there are many hormonal factors going on in the body when
