HONG KONG athletes who take Chinese herbal medicines increase their chances of testing positive for performance-enhancing substances, according to the territory's Olympic physician.
Dr Julian Chang, doctor to the Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, was responding to a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Sports Institute, which revealed athletes are in danger of being caught for drugs through ignorance.
'There is a big risk for Hong Kong athletes, especially from herbal preparations,' Dr Chang said.
'Now we know that many of these herbal medicines contain banned substances like steroids and ephedrine. We are quite worried about the risks from herbal remedies.' He said local footballers were at a considerable risk because they traditionally seek out the help of herbalists for injuries.
'For external applications, herbal medicines are quite common in football,' Dr Chang said. 'The main thing is for athletes to know what they are taking.
'They should go to their physicians or come to me so any medication they are on can be checked to see if it contains banned drugs.' Before last year's Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, Dr Chang estimated that five per cent of Hong Kong athletes were on medication that could contain drugs banned by the International Olympic Committee.