Athletes and Performance- Enhancing Drugs
Performance- enhancing drugs are pharmaceutical products or illegal drugs that are used by sports people to gain a competitive advantage over those who do not use them. Performance enhancing drugs commonly used include anabolic androgenic steroids, testosterone, human growth hormone, erythropoietin and other androgens (Grace & Baker, 2012). These drugs for example anabolic androgenic steroids imitate the activity of natural testosterone and lead to fast rate protein production by muscle cells and thus achieving bigger muscles and increased endurance. The illegal use of these products to gain a competitive edge is doping. According to my research, this practice has been on the rise for decades now not only in the sports world but also among performers and the young generation in general. The fight against it is almost being lost rather than being won even after improved detection methods are being introduced to help curb the practice.
The use of performance enhancing drugs dates back to 1904 when a St. Louis winner in Olympic marathon was administered strychnine and brandy during the race. Many years later the use of these drugs does not seem to end with even new previously unknown steroids being discovered for example tetrahydrogestrinone in 2003 by United Stated Anti-Doping Agency (Malik, & Malik, s. 2011). …show more content…
The case of Taylor Hooton, a very young promising baseball pitcher, has revealed how the use of steroids and other drugs for to gain muscles can be risky. He was using anabolic androgenic steroids to enable him to bulk up after being advised by a coach that he needed to be bigger. He later hanged himself in his bedroom. No one knew the reason for his suicide until it was noted that he had been using drugs. Steroids can cause extreme acne on back, chest and face, permanent hair loss cancer and heart-related problems and also damage to the
Performance- enhancing drugs are pharmaceutical products or illegal drugs that are used by sports people to gain a competitive advantage over those who do not use them. Performance enhancing drugs commonly used include anabolic androgenic steroids, testosterone, human growth hormone, erythropoietin and other androgens (Grace & Baker, 2012). These drugs for example anabolic androgenic steroids imitate the activity of natural testosterone and lead to fast rate protein production by muscle cells and thus achieving bigger muscles and increased endurance. The illegal use of these products to gain a competitive edge is doping. According to my research, this practice has been on the rise for decades now not only in the sports world but also among performers and the young generation in general. The fight against it is almost being lost rather than being won even after improved detection methods are being introduced to help curb the practice.
The use of performance enhancing drugs dates back to 1904 when a St. Louis winner in Olympic marathon was administered strychnine and brandy during the race. Many years later the use of these drugs does not seem to end with even new previously unknown steroids being discovered for example tetrahydrogestrinone in 2003 by United Stated Anti-Doping Agency (Malik, & Malik, s. 2011). …show more content…
The case of Taylor Hooton, a very young promising baseball pitcher, has revealed how the use of steroids and other drugs for to gain muscles can be risky. He was using anabolic androgenic steroids to enable him to bulk up after being advised by a coach that he needed to be bigger. He later hanged himself in his bedroom. No one knew the reason for his suicide until it was noted that he had been using drugs. Steroids can cause extreme acne on back, chest and face, permanent hair loss cancer and heart-related problems and also damage to the