Performance Enhancing Drugs Essay

What effects do performance-enhancing drugs have on athletes who take them?

BSC101: Fundamental Concepts of Biology
Fall, 2013

Performance Enhancing drugs are something that athletes have been using for years to gain an unfair edge over their opponent. "Athletes have always sought to outperform their competitors and regrettably some have resorted to misuse of drugs or doping to achieve this (Fitch 2012)”. This has been going on and will continue to go on in not just one sport but various sports. Performance Enhancing drugs are applied to any sport and it will give an edge which is why it is not just subjected to one. Athletes putting these drugs into their bodies are subject to several health risks as well. In today’s sports world there is plenty of doping (use of PED’s) going on, some of it caught and dealt with but at the same time there are many athletes using these drugs and getting away with it each year. Now the common perception of PED use is that it is only used in sports and athletic competitions. While this is true, it is also used by bodybuilders and weightlifters every year. The use reaches out to more than just athletics. As far as the type of sports use of PED’s is mostly found in, there’s really not just one answer to that. It is a very open ended question because of the different sports it’s involved with. According to Singhammer, "age was the only covariate included that significantly accounted for variance of AAS”(Singhammer 2013). The preceding quote explains that after a study was done, age was the only aspect that made the use vary, while the type of sport did not factor into use. A common opinion on steroids is that there most useful in high contact sports like football but according to a source of mine that had a study done users of PED did not agree with that. “Athletes don’t think PEDs are useful in just “high Risk” sports like football” (Singhammer 2013). Users are well aware the use varies through many sports.
The health risks users take when they take these substances are very substantial. Early use of steroids is thought to be the most harmful because "Multiple risks are associated with early use of anabolic androgenic steroids"(Lorang et al 2011). Steroids can affect the growth of someone using them in their adolescent or teenage years. Another study found that using PED’s causes a tendency to engage in an increase of other drugs such as alcohol and tobacco among others. Not only are you putting the harmful PED’s into your body but that is also causing you make a habit out of using other harmful drugs. A huge health risk is taken by users and that risk is considered even more dangerous when these drugs are used at an adolescent age. As far as the use of PED’s in the sport’s world today, it is very much prevalent. In the Olympic Games, It has been known to happen. Athletes at the highest level of competition with all the natural ability and skill engage in doping. According to Fitch "Athletes have always sought to outperform their competitors and regrettably some have resorted to misuse of drugs or doping to achieve this”(Fitch 2012). Athletes will undoubtedly continue to use these drugs as long they have access to them. Most of them know the risks they can face if they partake in usage of these drugs but still continue to use them. A decent amount of the athletes we watch on a day to day basis on TV engage in doping and officials in those sports are oblivious to that fact.

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