The Irish Times - Tuesday, June 28, 2011
DÓNAL O'MATHÚNA
Can DMAA help athletic performance?
BACKGROUND: Finishing fourth in a major championship rarely leads to much joy for the athlete in question. In the Commonwealth Games last October, the English sprinter Katherine Endacott crossed the line fourth in the women’s 100 metre final. By the time everything was settled, however, Endacott had the silver medal.
The first place finisher was later declared to have false-started and was disqualified. With that, the Nigerian Damola Osayemi was declared the winner, only to fail the drugs test and allow Endacott to move into second place.
Osayemi tested positive for a drug that goes by several names, most commonly methylhexaneamine or dimethylamylamine (DMAA).
This was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list of banned substances last year and led to several disqualifications of international competitors in numerous sports.
WADA has since moved DMAA to its “non-specific” list which carries lesser penalties. Drugs in this category are deemed to be more likely to be used inadvertently by athletes because they occur in some medications and supplements.
DMAA occurs to a tiny extent in rose geranium oil (which is why DMAA is also called geranamine). This oil does not come from a true geranium plant, but from a South African flower called Pelargonium graveolens.
Geranium oil has become a common ingredient in supplements marketed as sports performance-enhancing agents. However, those taking such supplements may be obtaining a lot more DMAA than they realise.
Part of the problem is that when these products are sold as food supplements, there may be no indication of how much of each ingredient they contain.
EVIDENCE FROM STUDIES
Current interest in DMAA focuses on its use as a stimulant, especially in combination with caffeine.
In 1944, DMAA was manufactured synthetically and patented by the US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
In the 1970s, the company marketed it as a nasal decongestant without much success.
Under 1994 US regulations, DMAA became classified as a dietary supplement because it occurs naturally. It soon appeared in various food supplements as a general stimulant.
When ephedra was banned in 2005 because of safety concerns, DMAA was one of several compounds used in its place in “natural” stimulants and sports supplements.
South African Nursing Regulations - News
This oil does not come from a true geranium plant, but from a South African flower called Pelargonium graveolens. Geranium oil has become a common ingredient in supplements marketed as sports performance-enhancing agents. However, those taking such
Which, according to CNN, she proceeded to do: "The president promised the African-American community, he promised the Hispanic community, that he would make their lives better. And that is what we want for every American," Bachmann said.
"The Sioux Falls economy has been rather stagnant," said Ralph Brown, professor emeritus of economics at the University of South Dakota. "Construction and financial services have shown decline. Banks are dealing with new credit card regulations.
Bridget Lynch, president of the International Confederation of Midwives, said South Africa was renowned for training some of the best midwives in the world in the 1970s but they had been "subsumed by nursing regulations". The figures for maternal
Clearing the name of a nursing home attendant who stood to lose her right to practice her Profession. Serving by court appointment in pursuing claims by prisoners for violation of their constitutional rights. This year's Pro Bono Service Awards
New books – South African nursing and a Canadian perspective
The analysis of the impact of neo-liberal policies is less directly relevant to hazard management of HIV/Aids risks to nurses from needlestick injuries. For any health sector workers outside of South Africa, the level of resources and the attitudes to needlesticks is confronting. Any stigma relating to HIV/AIDs in non-African countries is doubly problematic in South Africa. Interviews with hospital managers and nurses show a lack of confidentiality and
“the intractable difficulties in changing sexual behaviour and traditional relationships…” and
“If true, the acknowledgement that all African women are living in fear of being infected, in the context of occupational exposure and reporting requirements, means that most nurses have a legitimate fear of reporting injuries and agreeing to VCT [Voluntary Counselling and Testing]“.
Several chapters in this book include a Chapter Summary and Chapter Conclusion which are very useful as there is so much information and discussion that, occasionally, one must be reminded of the major chapter points.
What was also quite powerful and a feature that would be good in other books is a chapter of excerpts from first-person interviews. Too often academic titles summarize interview responses into comparative percentages and, although this indicates significant statistics, it also dulls the voices. In the chapter “Nurses Speak” Zelnick writes
Much of the content of this book contrasts remarkably with the OHS issues faced in other countries. Manual handling risks pale when reading about the lot of nurses in South Africa.
Canadian Perspectives
Bennett’s book is more comfortable to this reviewer as the ideological/Commonwealth environment is more familiar as there is greater overlap with general safety management. However, this book includes a balanced approach to environment as well as OHS, a combination rarely include in the one book but it works. There is a similar level of activism and regulatory response to these two areas of law and that overlap, that convergence, is reflected in the increase of integrated HSE professionals.
Bennett devotes one chapter to “Occupational Health: A Discipline Out of Focus”. In that chapter he writes about us living in a “scientific culture” which reflects some of the push for evidence-based decision-making.
South African Nursing Regulations - Bookshelf
Juta's Manual of Nursing
In South Africa, this act is known as the Nursing Act, No 50 of 1978 (as amended ). ... are also used in nursing practice, or in other nursing regulations, ...Juta's statutes of South Africa
'prescribed' means prescribed by regulation; 'pupil nurse' means a person enrolled ... 2 Establishment of South African Nursing Council (1) There is hereby ...The Auxiliary Nurse's Guide
Main aims of the South African Nursing Council. 3. Powers of the South African ... regulations of the SANC 3 Legislation on nursing — Nursing Act, No. ...Juta's manual of nursing
Chapter one: South African Nursing Council This chapter creates, ... provide provident fund for employees of the Council; and recommend regulations. ...Southern Africa
South African Nursing Council The South African Nursing Council (SANC) was established by ... The same nursing regulations apply to all population groups. ...Everyday Note Directory
SANC Regulations: Index
Regulations relating to examinations of the South African Nursing Council ... Regulations relating to the course in Clinical Nursing Science leading to ...
Documents - Nursing Strategy for South Africa 2008
Implementation aspects of the Nursing Strategy for South Africa ... Nursing regulation must therefore evolve to meet the changing health care needs of the South African public. ...
-- South African Qualifications Authority --
South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) PUBLIC NOTICE BY NSB 09, HEALTH SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SERVICES, TO RE-REGISTER AN SGB FOR NURSING ...
SANC Regulations: Additional Qualification in Nursing Education
The South African Nursing Council. Regulations Concerning the Minimum Requirements for Registration of the Additional Qualification in Nursing Education ...
SOUTH AFRICAN NURSING COUNCIL
The structure and functions of the South African Nursing Council; ... Regulations of the South African Nursing Council. Course Directives. Regulatory Guidelines ...