Hoping to Gain a Competitive Edge Through Performance-Enhancing Drugs?

Understand how these drugs work and how they impact your health.

Most serious athletes will tell you that their desire to win is very strong. Besides the personal sense of accomplishment, athletes often strive to win a medal for their country or secure a place in a professional team. In such an environment, the use of performance-enhancing drugs is becoming increasingly common.

Risks of Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs (Doping)

Taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) carries risks. Take the time to learn about the potential benefits, health risks, and many unknown factors of so-called PEDs (e.g., anabolic steroids, androstenedione, human growth hormone, erythropoietin, diuretics, creatine, and stimulants). You might find that the benefits these drugs provide are not worth the risk.

 What Are Anabolic Steroids?

Some athletes take a type of steroid (known as anabolic-androgenic steroids or simply anabolic steroids) to increase their muscle mass and strength. The main anabolic steroid hormone produced by the body is testosterone.

Effects of Testosterone on Your Body:

1. Anabolic Effects:** Promote muscle building.

2. Androgenic Effects:** Responsible for male traits such as facial hair and a deeper voice.

Some athletes take testosterone directly to enhance their performance. The anabolic steroids used by athletes are often synthetic modifications of testosterone.

These hormones are approved for medical use, but enhancing athletic performance is not one of their approved uses.

Why Are These Drugs So Appealing to Athletes?

Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids can reduce muscle damage that occurs during strenuous workouts, helping athletes recover faster and allowing them to train harder and more frequently. Some athletes, like non-athletes, may enjoy the muscle appearance after taking the drugs.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

What Is HGH?

HGH is a hormone that has anabolic effects. Athletes use this hormone to increase muscle mass and muscle performance. However, it has not been conclusively proven that this hormone can enhance strength or endurance.

HGH is available only by prescription and is administered by injection.

Risks

The severity of adverse effects associated with HGH can vary and may include:

- Joint pain

- Muscle weakness

- Fluid retention

- Diabetes

- Vision problems

- Carpal tunnel syndrome

- Impaired glucose regulation

- Enlarged heart (cardiomegaly)

- High blood pressure (hypertension)

Stimulants

What Are Stimulants?

Some athletes use stimulants to stimulate the central nervous system and increase heart rate and blood pressure.

Stimulants Can:

- Enhance endurance

- Reduce fatigue

- Suppress appetite

- Increase alertness and aggressiveness

Common stimulants include caffeine and amphetamines. Cold medications often contain stimulants such as ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.

Energy drinks, which are popular among many athletes, often contain high doses of caffeine and other stimulants. Street drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine are also stimulants.

 Risks

While stimulants can enhance physical performance and aggression on the field, they also carry side effects that can impair athletic performance:

- Nervousness and irritability, making it difficult to concentrate on the game

- Insomnia, leading to lack of sleep

- Dehydration

- Heatstroke

- Addiction or tolerance, meaning athletes need larger doses to achieve the desired effect, often exceeding recommended medical doses

Other side effects include:

- Palpitations

- Heart arrhythmias

- Weight loss

- Tremors

- Mild hypertension (high blood pressure)

- Hallucinations

- Stroke

- Heart attack and other circulatory problems

Bottom Line

Do performance-enhancing drugs really enhance performance? These drugs seem to offer physical benefits to some athletes, but at what cost?

The long-term effects of performance-enhancing drugs have not been rigorously studied. Short-term benefits are also fraught with many risks. Not to mention, most athletic organizations ban the use of such substances.

No matter how you look at it, performance-enhancing drugs are a risky proposition.