The substance “trimetazidine”, which was found in the doping test of the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, would not help her in any way in the competitions. This opinion was expressed by the American cardiologist Dr. Benjamin Levin, who is an honorary professor in the medical faculty of the University of Texas.
“There was a lot of misinformation about trimetazidine in the media,” said Levin, who is also the director of a Dallas hospital.
“First, it has nothing to do with an increase in myocardial (heart) blood. It suppresses a certain enzyme involved in fatty acid metabolism and is thought to encourage the heart to use glucose. It is not approved in the United States, but a similar drug, ranolazine.” “It is approved in both Europe and the United States. These drugs belong to the second level of drugs used in the treatment of certain categories of patients with cardiovascular disease,” he added.
The specialist emphasizes that ranolazine is not included in the list of banned substances.
“As far as I can tell, there is no evidence that trimetazidine can actually alter myocardial metabolism in the human heart or that this effect would somehow help the heart in a young body with normal blood vessels in any activity. Not to mention one that “lasts four minutes or is repeated during training. A healthy heart is fully capable of delivering blood and using various food sources and does not get tired during periods of activity,” the expert continued.
He added that the other substances in the sample of 15-year-old Valieva are additives. The positive test contained three drugs, two of which – hypoxene and l-carnitine, are not on the banned list.
“As for the other substances that are in the doping test of Kamila Valieva, they are only supplements that are not banned and have nothing to do with the heart and its work. In fact, it can be argued that L-carnitine, which is “Very common and usually found in meat, has the opposite effect of trimetazidine, as it stimulates the oxidation of fatty acids,” Levin said.
However, the cardiologist clarified that elite athletes should check the composition of each supplement to make sure that it does not contain banned substances.
The 15-year-old Tatar Kamila Valieva won gold in the team competition at the Beijing Olympics, but after a doping scandal erupted around her, she failed to win a medal in the individual competition, where she finished fourth after failing in the free program. The title was for another Russian in the person of Anna Shcherbakova, Alexandra Trusova, also from Russia, won silver, and Kaori Sakamoto from Japan won bronze.
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