Pumped-Up Performance
Some athletes abuse performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)—like anabolic steroids and stimulants (including caffeine and ephedrine, and even methamphetamine)—to help them perform better. Steroids
build muscles
and improve athletic performance. Stimulants increase focus, endurance, and speed.
Why do athletes take drugs in sport?
Athletes that use drugs in sports often do
so to treat pain caused by injuries
. Many sports can lead to serious injuries that require prescription medications. Unfortunately, athletes often attempt to play through the pain of a permanent injury or one that requires an extensive recovery.
How do drugs help athletes?
Pumped-Up Performance
Some athletes abuse performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)—like anabolic steroids and stimulants (including caffeine and ephedrine, and even methamphetamine)—to help them perform better. Steroids
build muscles
and improve athletic performance. Stimulants increase focus, endurance, and speed.
What happens if an athlete is caught using drugs?
If caught using drugs, a student-athlete can be
kicked off of the team
, kicked out of school, lose his or her scholarship, and potentially go to jail.
How can drugs affect sport?
Using drugs in sport undermines values like fair play and teamwork. When sportspeople use drugs, they not only might damage their own health, they also
give sport a bad reputation and set a poor example to others
.
What drugs do athletes take?
Among the most popular PEDs are
anabolic steroids
, human growth hormone, erythropoietin (EPO), beta-blockers, stimulants and diuretics to name just a few. While drugs such as these get a lot of publicity, they are perhaps not well understood.
How can we prevent drug use in sport?
- Educate. Educate your children or peers about the harmful side effects of both short-term and long-term steroid abuse. …
- Advocate. Regularly discuss healthy ways to achieve athletic goals such as through training and diet. …
- Communicate.
Which drugs are banned in sport?
- S0. Non-approved substances.
- S1. Anabolic agents.
- S2. Peptide hormones, growth factors, related substances and mimetics.
- S3. Beta-2 agonists.
- S4. Hormone and metabolic modulators.
- S5. Diuretics and masking agents.
- S6. …
- S7.
Who used drugs in sport?
- Maria Sharapova. Maria Sharapova and Meldonium at the Australian Open. …
- Tyson Gay. In July 2013, Tyson Gay was meant to make Usain Bolt sweat in the 100-metre dash at the Moscow World Championships. …
- Diego Maradona. …
- Anderson Silva. …
- Roy Jones Jr. …
- Ben Johnson. …
- Lance Armstrong. …
- Shane Warne.
Should athletes be banned for using steroids?
Using steroids to improve athletic performance is considered cheating, and can lead to
athletes being penalized or banned from participating in sports
. More importantly, using performance-enhancing steroids can have serious, long-term health consequences.
What are the negative effects of drugs in sport?
- Heart palpitations.
- Heart rhythm abnormalities.
- Weight loss.
- Tremors.
- Mild high blood pressure (hypertension)
- Hallucinations.
- Stroke.
- Heart attack and other circulatory problems.
Is creatine a PED?
Creatine is a naturally occurring acid that supplies the muscles with energy, and is believed to increase lean muscle mass, and help the body recover more quickly after exercise. Unlike other enhancement supplements, it
is legal
, and is not considered a performance enhancing drug by the World Anti-doping Authority.
Why are drugs unethical in sport?
Drug use in all sports is
considered unethical and quite dangerous
. The use of illicit substances can have long term, negative effects on the health of the athlete. Drug use also creates an unequal competitive environment as doping can provide athletes with a short-term and unfair advantage against their opponents.
Why is sport the best drug?
Because, to play is a great way to deal with anger, frustration, stress and other such factors that drives people to substance abuse in the first place. Sports also
provides the necessary distraction and vent to stress
caused by denying the drug an addict is habituated to.
Do Olympians use steroids?
In an attempt to keep sports competition “clean” and to help protect athletes from harmful drugs, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the United States Olympic Committee have rules stating that
the use of anabolic steroids is illegal.
Is technology in sport cheating?
While technology has facilitated perfectly legitimate advantages – from equipment to medical treatments to nutrition – which have improved standards across sports; it has simultaneously opened up new means of cheating.
