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Cited by 457Doping in SportsPharmacological Effects and AssaysHormonal and reproductive studies

Hormonal doping and androgenization of athletes: a secret program of the German Democratic Republic government

Franke, Werner W, Berendonk, Brigitte·1997·Clinical Chemistry
DOI 10.1093/clinchem/43.7.1262
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Abstract

Several classified documents saved after the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1990 describe the promotion by the government of the use of drugs, notably androgenic steroids, in high-performance sports (doping). Top-secret doctoral theses, scientific reports, progress reports of grants, proceedings from symposia of experts, and reports of physicians and scientists who served as unofficial collaborators for the Ministry for State Security ("Stasi") reveal that from 1966 on, hundreds of physicians and scientists, including top-ranking professors, performed doping research and administered prescription drugs as well as unapproved experimental drug preparations. Several thousand athletes were treated with androgens every year, including minors of each sex. Special emphasis was placed on administering androgens to women and adolescent girls because this practice proved to be particularly effective for sports performance. Damaging side effects were recorded, some of which required surgical or medical intervention. In addition, several prominent scientists and sports physicians of the GDR contributed to the development of methods of drug administration that would evade detection by international doping controls.

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Crossref · 10.1093/clinchem/43.7.1262

Cites

19 of 19 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • There is anecdotal evidence that testosterone dose-response curves may be left shifted so that testosterone has greater potency in women than in men at comparable doses and circulating levels.

    “Although the dose-response relationship in women may be similar to what is seen in men, there is also anecdotal evidence that the dose-response curves may be left shifted so that testosterone has greater potency in women than in men at comparable doses and circulating levels.”

    From Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance (2018) · cites this paper as [120]

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Authors
Franke, W. W., & Berendonk, B.
Affiliations
  • German Cancer Research Center (DE)
  • HeidelbergCement (Germany) (DE)
Corresponding author
Franke, Werner W
ORCID
Franke, Werner W
Venue
Clinical Chemistry
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1997-07-01
Volume
43
Issue
7
Pages
1262-1279
ISSN
  • 0009-9147 (ISSN-L)
  • 1530-8561
DOI
10.1093/clinchem/43.7.1262
OpenAlex
W2170311200
Cited by
457
References
19
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 28
FWCI
48.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
Locations
  • Clinical Chemistry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Doping in Sports
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Pharmacological Effects and Assays
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
Keywords
state-sponsored doping, anabolic steroids, athletes, East Germany, Stasi, female athletes, adolescent girls, sports medicine, classified documents, human rights violations
MeSH terms
Androgens, Crime, Doping in Sports, Female, Germany, East, Government, Humans, Male, Testosterone, Anabolic Agents, History, 20th Century

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

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