Exactly Megan. The fact is that having CAH does not enhance performance - only being well controlled does. Your body can then aproximate what it should do when you are stressed. Elite sport produces stresses on the body - whilst androgens like testosterone might boost performance if taken artificially there is no evidence that this is the case in endocrine disorders - in fact the diminished cortisol levels that would be present in a CAH athlete who CHEATED through not taking there medication would be more of a threat to performance both short term (in terms of recovery between events on the same day) and long term in terms of training.

On the other issue raised by Ann- Marie on not being certain that children with CAH undertake sports I think there are several points to consider.

1) CAH children are potentially imuunologically compromised and all the evidence shows that exercise in kids protects against many everyday illnesses as well as having long term health benefits.

2) If the exercise is regular - part of their lifesatyle then CAH profiles will reflect this and medication will consequently be adjusted.

3) Too many kids are couch potatoes and exercise is a good thing in its own right.

4) CAH adults (particularly male) have a greater risk of coronary heart disease - childhood exercise is therefore excellent prevention (and heart disease runs in our family).

5) The discipline of regular sport has knock on effects for ensuring responsibility and discipline for other aspects -including taking responsibility for medication.

6) It helps the child feel normal and stops them feeling "disabled".

I could go on endlessly.

Suffice to say Tom has benefitted from regular sporting activity. Various sports but swims regularly (5 times/week now) and enters competitions at various levels. Has done so since he was 7. With no ill effects. In fact his doctor encourages it.

He is "popular" in school, partly because of his sportiness (a fact that increasingly important to him). He doesn’t feel different from others and in fact is pleased and proud to excel at something. It boosts his confidence.

An additional bonus is that it gives us all something to focus upon other than his CAH - this is now just a "normal" thing for Tom and not something to worry about.

So please don’t worry about letting your child do sports. If the sport is suitably supervised with qualified coaches who you inform about their condition it is perfectly safe. In fact Tom has never had a serious injury from sport but he has had a couple from play. He fell out of a tree in October and broke his arm!