The Dangers of Enhancing Drugs in Sports

The Dangers of Enhancing Drugs in Sports

From basketball to football to gymnastics, enhancing drugs have changed the face of sports as we know it. Performance enhancement drugs, like anabolic steroids, may help athletes perform better by giving them greater muscle strength; however, these athletes may not realize that these illegal drugs are highly dangerous. Is it rally worth risking ones life or health just to win that game or medal? Performance enhancing drugs are substances that are used to increase certain physiologic functions. These drugs affect muscle strength, endurance, the ability to pump blood, the ability to breathe, liver function and kidney function. Taking these substances help athletes with their performance, which enables them to do better in competition. Performance enhancing drugs range in many types from dietary supplements to steroids. The most common enhancing drugs are the anabolic steroids, which include testosterone, and its precursors; androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate. Dentalplans.com had an article breaking down the process of how steroids work: Anabolic means we build up tissue. So, we as we eat protein, we get more muscle. If we inject steroids that are anabolic, we hold on to that protein and our muscle mass grows; we get stronger. The normal response to running or weightlifting might be to grow muscles and become stronger

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to a degree. But to add anabolic steroids to that recipe, so the muscle get bigger or stronger, is unnatural and there can be hazards from doing that.

When taking these drugs, they are consumed orally or by injection. I guess you could say one would not have to be afraid of needles, that or grin and bare it; athletes will go to major extremes to get to that certain strength. Speaking of athletes, what athletes are taking these dangerous drugs? Savulescu (2004), states that enhancing drugs have been dated back to the late 1800 's and the first official ban on "stimulating substances" was introduced in 1928, by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. He also goes on to state that performance enhancing drugs have been used as early as the games of the third Olympiad by Thomas Hicks. It is amazing to me that an illegal drug so dangerous, causing so much harm, being used still to this day by gymnast, baseball players, weightlifters, and other athletes. Barry Bonds, a well known baseball player, a few years ago on trial for the use of steroids and many other well known athletes being exposed for their use of steroids. One may take the side of the United States and say if it were not for the use of enhancing drugs our country may not have one that medal; if it were not for the steroids, our favorite baseball team would not have one that big game; or if it were not for the enhancing drug that particular weightlifter may not win that weight competition. Athletes would use steroids not only to build mass and strength to muscle and bones, but also steroids increase delivery of
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oxygen to exercising tissue, they reduce weight, and performance enhancing drugs have the tendency to hide the use of other drugs that athletes may be taking. I guess there are some advantages to these drugs, but the use of the illegal enhancing drugs, anabolic steroids, are more dangerous than beneficial. So how exactly is steroids dangerous, legality aside? Anabolic steroids are very harmful to ones health, even for women. When women take steroids, Freudenrich (2006) states, that the excessive concentrations causes male characteristics to develop and interfere with normal female functions, such as: stimulating hair growth on the face and body, interfere with the menstrual cycle and possibly causing infertility, thicken the vocal cords (which causes a deeper voice), and if pregnant it may interfere with the developing fetus. Freudenrich (2006), also adds the affects in a male to be as followed, baldness, infertility, and breast development. Those were just some of the physical disadvantages; there are several side effects that interfere with ones health such as, jaundice, liver damage, and pancreas. Just when you thought that that was enough for disadvantages, one will also suffer from mood swings, depression, and aggression because they act on various centers of the brain, also adds Freudenrich (2006). Volkow (2006), goes on to add some other dangers of steroids which are: heart attacks, strokes, and liver tumors, not to mention if you are injecting steroids with a needle you take the chance of contracting HIV/AIDS or hepatitis b and c. All of these disadvantages and athletes still risk the lives of themselves and other teammates taking these very addictive drugs.

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Performance enhancing drugs are not only addictive and dangerous, but they are illegal. Collin states, "Under the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990, which applies across the country, steroids are in the same legal class – Schedule III – as barbiturates, LSD precursors, veterinary tranquilizers like ketamine and narcotics painkillers like Vicodin. Simple possession is a federal offense punishable by up to one year in prison and/or a minimum fine of $1,000.00 (most states have added anabolic steroids to their schedules of controlled substances)." The athletes take these drugs to gain that win or medal, however what if they get caught taking these drugs? These illegal drugs can not only cost you and others around you their lives , but they can also cost you the career you are trying so hard to excel in. If an athlete does get caught taking steroids, they take the chance of being suspended or being kicked of the team they are on, not to mention if they are caught in society with these drugs, they take the chance of being arrested and serving some jail time. So I ask myself why? What happened to playing sport and it being just for the fun of it? Today games are being played unfairly, with athlete taking these enhancing drugs and "cheating" there is no fairness to playing sports. Why put your body through all of the turmoil and stress of taking some drug that may kill you? I believe those who play "by the book", who train and play fair, regardless of winning the game or not, they are the true winners. Our athletes are super heroes in the eyes of some, let us show that a real hero plays a game for the fun of it and fairly.

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References

Clayton, M., Frody, B., & Savulescu, J. (2004). Why We Should Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport. BrJSports Med. 38, 666-670. Retrieved November 19, 2006, from http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/38/666/?eaf
Collins, Rick. Arrested For Steroid Use? Here 's What To Do! Retrieved December 12, 2006 From http://www.Bodyduilding.com/fun/legalmuscle2.htm
Freudenrich, C. How Performance Enhancing Drugs Work. Retrieved November 16, 2006, From http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/athletic-drug-test1.htm
Kroichick, R. (2006, March 8). Why Bonds Used Steroids. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 28,2006 from http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file-/c/a/2006/03/08/MNGAKHKF371.dtl
Svare, B. (2006, April). What athletic directors can do about the steroid abuse crisis. Coach and Athletic Director, 75.9, p.76. Retrieved November 18, 2006 from Thomson Gale PowerSearch.
Side Effect of Steroids – The Shortcut You Shouldn 't Take: Steroids and Growth Hormones. (2005, September 29). Retrieved November 18, 2006 from http://dentalplans.com/articles/2590/
Volkow, N. Research Report Series – Anabolic Steroid Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved November 30, 2006 from http://drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Steroids/AnabolicSteroids.html

References: Clayton, M., Frody, B., & Savulescu, J. (2004). Why We Should Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport Svare, B. (2006, April). What athletic directors can do about the steroid abuse crisis. Coach and Athletic Director, 75.9, p.76. Retrieved November 18, 2006 from Thomson Gale PowerSearch. (2005, September 29). Retrieved November 18, 2006 from http://dentalplans.com/articles/2590/