Westport: ABC-CLIO, They are widely used by weight lifters and body builders as well as track and field athletes. Drugs and sports [ It was sultry hot. Football has reported the highest use with ten percent; track and field follows with four percent, and basketball, two percent, performance enhancing drugs in sports essay. They also stand a chance of being prosecuted in a court of law and losing credit to what they had achieved, whether they achieved on a clean record or not.
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Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports For most professional athleteswinning is everything. In fact, most professional athletes find the drive to win insatiable. Further, apart from the satisfaction that comes with personal accomplishment, most of those in professional sports are usually under significant pressure to win medals for their countries. It is under such circumstances that professional athletes contend with a fierce desire to use performance -enhancing drugs. However, the use of such drugs carries with itself significant risks. In this text, I explore why performance enhancing drugs are bad in professional sports. Use of Performance-enhancing Drugs in Professional Sports: A Brief History Human beings have been known to engage in competitive sports from time immemorial.
The competitive nature of professional sports and the presence of significant rewards for winners have always pushed participants to the edge in an attempt to gain a competitive edge over performance enhancing drugs in sports essay competitors. Indeed, by his very nature, a human being is constantly seeking a competitive advantage over adversaries real or perceived. It is important to note that there exists some evidence suggesting that drugs believed to enhance the performance of individuals in one way or the other have been in existence since ancient times. Indeed, steroids are believed to have been used widely in Ancient Greece Robinson, This was most particularly during the early Olympic Games.
However, performance-enhancers being used then were not known as steroids at the time. Some accounts show that to enhance their performance, athletes ingested a number of substances believed to have a positive impact on performance. These substances included but were not limited to sheep testicles crushed and selected herbs. Sheep testicles are known to contain significant levels of testosterone, a hormone closely associated with performance enhancing drugs in sports essay performance. However, when it comes to their modern day usage, performance-enhancing drugs were being widely used by body builders in the early s. Indeed, it is believed that the sterling performance of Soviet body builders at the Helsinki Olympics in was partly based on their usage of performance-enhancing drugs including but not limited to testosterone.
Soon after, a special drug referred to as Dianabol was developed by John Ziegler. This drug soon become popular with those who were seeking a competitive edge in professional sports, especially bodybuilding. Among the most notable athletes who have admitted to having used performance-enhancing drugs in the past include Arnold Schwarzenegger Rosen, In his own words, Schwarzenegger is on record as having said "steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in preparation for a contest" Rosen, However, it is important to note that Schwarzenegger's use of the drugs was a time when the same were still legal. It was not until that the World Health Organization received an official complaint in regard to the use of steroids.
Consequently, anabolic steroids were banned by the International Olympic Council and this lead to similar bans by quite a number of professional sport leagues, performance enhancing drugs in sports essay. Performance-enhancing Drugs: The Risks One of the questions that have been asked in relation to the widespread usage of performance-enhancing drugs is: does the pressure from the society push athletes to try performance-enhancing drugs or is the desire to win so overwhelming that athletes overlook the risks associated with performance-enhancing drugs? There are also those who believe that double standards performance enhancing drugs in sports essay applied when it comes to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. For instance, why should performance-enhancers be allowed in matters sexual to heighten sexual experience while at the same time they are denied to athletes keen on enhancing their performance?
It is however important to note that in most cases, these concerns are largely misguided and fueled by sheer lack of knowledge on the nature and usage of performance-enhancing drugs. It can be noted that over time, quite a number of medical practitioners have observed that the fame and recognition that comes with winning in professional sports through any means necessary including the use of performance-enhancing drugs isn't worth the risk. Though the potential benefits are apparent in terms of monetary gain and recognition, the use of performance-enhancing drugs including but not limited to stimulants and creatine, diuretics, erythropoietin, anabolic steroids etc.
poses significant health risks which I will use below to demonstrate why performance enhancing drugs are bad in professional sports. However, apart from the heath risks posed by these drugs, it is also important to note that other adverse effects including damage to reputation abound. Further, the use of performance-enhancing drugs in some cases could inform quite a number of legal sanctions. It performance enhancing drugs in sports essay be noted that in this performance enhancing drugs in sports essay, testosterone is the body's primary anabolic steroid hormone. Basically, testosterone is used in its modified or synthetic form by most athletes It has been noted in various quarters that when anabolic steroids are taken in high doses, they do bring about some adverse physical side effects.
These side effects may include an increased risk of infertility, shrunken testicles, acne severerisk of hypertensiontumors and liver abnormalities etc. In an attempt to mask their use of steroids, most athletes have been known to take "designer steroids. Based on the clandestine way in which they are manufactured, these "designer steroids are not subject to rigorous tests by the Food and Drug Administration and other relevant authorities to ascertain their safety. As such these modified anabolic steroids pose a wide range of dangers to professional athletes performance enhancing drugs in sports essay use them. Androstenedione This is yet another common form of performance-enhancing drug used by professional athletes.
In its natural form, this hormone has its production taking place in testes, performance enhancing drugs in sports essay, ovaries and adrenal glands. In this contextit can be noted that andro's availability is usually on a prescription basis, performance enhancing drugs in sports essay. However, the same is also available for sale in most outlets as a supplement. It is important to note that although andro is often touted as being beneficial to training athletes especially when it comes to quick recovery, the same has been banned in the U. As a performance-enhancing drug. According to Mayo Clinic Staff, the use of androstenedione carries with itself significant health risks N.
These risks include but are not performance enhancing drugs in sports essay to testicles shrinking in men performance enhancing drugs in sports essay, acne as well as a decreased sperm production in men. Further, supplemental androstenedione exposes its users to an increased risk of stroke and heart attack based on its tendency to lower or decrease the levels of 'good' cholesterol. Human Growth Hormone Another commonly used performance-enhancing drug, this growth hormone is believed to enhance performance and muscle mass. Mayo Clinic Staff observes that in a way, the use of the hormone without a prescription occasions adverse effects including cardiomyopathy, carpal tunnel syndrome and an impairment of the body's ability to regulate glucose N.
Erythropoietin Used widely in the treatment of anemia amongst those exhibiting severe kidney diseases, this hormone also has widespread usage in professional sports as a performance-enhancing drug. According to Mayo Clinic Staff, those who are most commonly known to use the hormone are endurance athletes N. Some of the hormone's side effects include pulmonary edema as well as an increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. Diuretics Commonly branded 'masking' agents for their ability to dilute urine hence effectively helping those in professional sports pass drug tests, these drugs expose athletes to a number of health risks including heatstroke, drops in blood pressuredeficiency in potassium as well as muscle cramps.
Creatine Identified as a common performance-enhancing drug by the Mayo Clinic Staff, this compound helps in enhancing the release of energy from the muscles N. However, the main risk in the usage of the compound lies with its mode of production. In this case, FDA considers it as a food given that it is essentially a supplement. Thus its production is not necessarily in conformity with the same standards applied when it comes to the production of conventional drugs. This exposes it to contamination. Other side effects associated with the same include weight gain as well as stomach and muscle cramps. Ethical Concerns Apart from medical reasons, there also exists other arguments as to why performance-enhancing drugs are bad in professional sports.
In this case, those who are against the use of the same are of the opinion that gaining an unfair advantage over competitors by using performance-enhancing drugs is largely unethical. The reasoning in this case is that for the most part, other athletes are competing legitimately. Hence should a professional athlete win a competition based on performance enhancers, such a win is not legitimate. The idea is that all professional athletes should be allowed to begin…. Works Cited Mayo Clinic Staff. Learn how these drugs work and how they can affect your health. Mayo Clinic. Robinson, Paul. Foundations of Sports Coaching. New York: Taylor and Francis, Print Rosen, Daniel M. Dope: A History of Performance Enhancement in Sports from the Nineteenth Century performance enhancing drugs in sports essay Today.
Westport: ABC-CLIO, Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports To compete and excel is part of human nature. In sporting activities, it has always driven young athletes to perform feats of ever-higher levels of strength, performance enhancing drugs in sports essay, endurance, and speed. Most have achieved glory through relentless effort, physical training, and an iron will to be the best. Unfortunately, the pressure to be the best has also driven some to seek shortcuts to success, performance enhancing drugs in sports essay, mainly through the use. Performance-Enhancing Drugs and Sports In the yeara Dr. Gabe Mirkin asked athletes the following: "If I could give you a pill that would make you an Olympic champion -- and also kill you in a year -- would you take it?
Of the people questioned more than half responded that they would indeed take the pill if given the opportunity despite the risks involved. Drugs and sports [ Athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs compromise the integrity of their sports for a number of reasons. First, there is the issue of the records they set. For example, Barry Bonds has set numerous home run records, including hitting more than Hank Aaron, performance enhancing drugs in sports essay. However, now these records are suspect, because of his use of these. Anabolic Steroid and Performance Enhancing Drug Use Among High School Athletes Anabolic steroid use has, at least in the past, been prevalent among major college and, especially, professional sports.
Major League Baseball implemented a drug testing regimen very recently after backlash from fans made it an issue that the sport believed it had to listen to. The National Football League has a testing program that has been in place since. Lyle Alzado, who played with the Cleveland Browns and the L. Raiders as well as with the Denver Broncos, died in because the chemicals in steroids caused him to develop brain cancer. Prior to his death, Alzado stated, "I started taking anabolic steroids in and never stopped. It was addicting, mentally addicting. Now I'm sick, and I'm scared. Ninety percent of the athletes I know are on the. Sports Sociology Sports played either by professionals, amateurs, or just for leisure, are a large part of all industrialized societies.
Nonetheless, early on sociologists have looked at sports with distain.
persuasive essay topics about animals
Anabolic steroid users have been known to take twenty times the prescribed dosage. Many sports facilities have rules and regulations against drug use, so the teams and organizations perform drug tests to eliminate the drug problem in the organizations. I think that the use of drug tests is a good idea to discharge the players that have a drug abuse problem. Players today have the urge to use the performance enhancing drugs to make them perform at a higher level. With all the drugs in sports today the games seem almost useless to play because the advantage that the users have over the true competitors is unfair. Cocaine and amphetamines are the drugs that are most frequently tested for in colleges. Sports officials have found different strategies for combating drug abuse by athletes.
Drug testing is also very ineffective because many athletes get passed over for drug testing. The popular athletes and the world record holders are the ones who get passed over, to avoid drug scandals. This is done to protect someone else in their organization from getting caught. The drug situation in sports today is horrible and part of that is because only certain athletes abide by the rules. A clinical survey was taken on the drug testing policies in colleges and the study showed that out of two hundred and forty-five schools, only twenty-nine percent of those schools reported drug testing. The use of these terrible drugs is very high in colleges which are sad because kids are going to throw their athletic talent out the window with the use of the performance enhancing drugs. The clinical survey also stated that sixty percent of the schools conducting positive tests must be referred to the team physician or drug treatment center.
Forty-five percent of the schools said that treatment was required to remain active on the team and thirty-one percent said another consequence of testing positive was dismissal from the team. Thirty percent gave a temporary leave to athletes and twenty-six percent revoked the athletes' scholarships. With all the new drugs out on the market it is virtually impossible to have tests that can identify all the different drugs. Athletes have come up with new ways to escape positive testing. Athletes can take the performance drugs shortly before their race to increase their chances, but the one drawback to this is that they can be easily detected through the athletes' urine at the end of a race.
Athletes try repeatedly to escape positive detection but once they are tested positive the sports officials will be watching very carefully. After a player's return from rehab, they are they are watched carefully by the league. Many of the world class athletes are able to adjust their normal dosage so they can escape detection. Most of the professional leagues and the NCAA have lists of banned drugs and testing procedures. In , the National Basketball Association set its drug policy and it is now viewed as the most progressive in all sports. The NBA has the right to administer drug tests to players if it feels there is a need to administer one.
If a player is tested positive for the use of drugs they are banned from the NBA for two years. Players may reapply for entrance to the league with the approval of both the commissioner and the players union. In the NBA expanded its policy to include random drug testing of the rookies that enter the league in their first year. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association more than seventy substances of different types of drugs including stimulants, steroids, and street drugs are on the organization's prohibited list. In , the NCAA instituted a very stiff policy regarding steroids. The policy states that division one football players must undergo a year-round, mandatory testing for steroids on a random basis.
Any player testing positive on the first offense is faced with suspension for a year and on the second offense the player is handed a lifetime suspension from NCAA competition. At one time Stanford University was able to compete in sports with disregard to collegiate rules about the mandatory drug testing. I think that statement is very wrong because drug testing should be a mandatory event in every college whether or not it is an invasion of their privacy. It is a policy and every school should abide by the rules no matter what. Drugs in schools ruin the reputation of the school and if it continues, schools will have less kids applying and they will have no other options but to get rid of the problems of drugs.
Sooner or later the drug problem will just keep growing and growing and all sports are going to lose attention. Most important, sports are going to lose the support of their fans which affect the finances of the players and organizations. Without enough financial support sports cannot survive and sports would be ruined forever. Author: Admin Etiam at libero iaculis, mollis justo non, blandit augue. Blog Comments Facebook Comments 0 comments:. Search Blog. Popular Posts. Essay on Duties of A Student for Class 6, 7, 8, 9, Essay on Duties of A Student for Class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Introduction - A student is the future of a country.
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Hence, there should be zero tolerance for the use of such drugs in professional as well as amateur sports. History of Drug Use in Sports People involved in sports have used performance-enhancing drugs since times immemorial. In ancient Greece for example, extracts of mushrooms and plant seeds are known to have been consumed by athletic competitors to enhance their performance. In the Roman period, when chariot races and gladiator fights were major sporting events, horses as well as gladiators were frequently 'doped' to run faster or fight more ferociously.
By the turn of the century, sports had become a worldwide source of entertainment and gradually achieved the status of " big business. The first recorded death from drug-use in sports was in when a cyclist died from an overdose of trimethyl. In the Olympics, Thomas Hicks, a marathon runner from the U. collapsed after winning the race as he had used a mixture of brandy and strychnine to enhance "endurance. Coaches and sport administrators either turned a blind eye to the practice or were active participants in the proceedings. Drug use was reportedly rife at the Helsinki Games and at the Melbourne Olympics but was largely ignored at the official level. By the mids, anabolic steroids had been invented and were massively abused by athletes to transcend their limits of natural ability active collaboration with coaches.
The Soviet Union and the East Europeans were particularly guilty of tolerating or even promoting performance-enhancing drug use in order to underline the "superiority" of Communist countries in international sports. Other famous examples of drug use in sports include the Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson who was stripped of a gold medal at the Seoul Olympics in and was banned from track-and-field competition for life after he tested positive for steroids. More recently, Major Baseball Leaguers Rafael Palmeiro of the Baltimore Orioles and Ryan Franklin of the Seattle Mariners were suspended for alleged steroid use. Anti-Doping Initiatives The first significant international anti-doping initiative was taken in when a group of twenty-one western European nations tabled a resolution against the use of doping substances in sport and individual countries such as France and Belgium enacted national anti-doping laws.
The International Olympic Committee IOC began to take notice of the problem when cyclist Tommy Simpson died during a televised race in the Tour de France. It established a Medical Commission the same year, defined "doping" and the first drug tests were conducted at the Mexico Games in Since then, the IOC has released a comprehensive list of banned substances and developed standard procedures for drug testing. After a major drug scandal at the Tour de France, the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA was set up in It is an independent international agency, which is responsible for making unified standards for anti-doping work and to co-ordinate the efforts of sports organizations and public authorities.
Sports that Ban Performance These include all the Olympics sports as well as other international professional sports such as soccer , tennis , and cricket etc. The four major American sports: Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League had rather lax drug-control laws until recently. However, legislation the "Clean Sports Act of " for introducing uniform testing standards calls for Olympic-style drug testing and stringent penalties for drug use in professional sports is under discussion in the Congress and is expected to be passed soon. They are synthetic versions of the male sex hormone testosterone that build muscle and bone mass by stimulating the muscle and bone cells to make new protein.
They are widely used by weight lifters and body builders as well as track and field athletes. Its use is widespread among professional as well as college sportsmen including. Recent drug scandals have revealed that steroid abuse is common in American professional sports such as baseball too. The side effects of steroids are physical as well as psychological. Physical effects of steroid abuse include cancer, liver damage, high blood pressure , heart problems, enlarged prostate in males, stunted growth in young adults, impotence and breast growth in males, and 'masculization' of females.
Psychological effects include severe mood swings: bouts of depression , extreme irritability and aggression. Some of the major prohibited stimulants that are commonly abused are Ephedrine, and amphetamines. Ephedrine causes a dramatic increase in the activity of the central nervous system, stimulates metabolism and improves the force of skeletal muscle contractions. Its side effects include heart problems and blood pressure as well as headache, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, trembling, and troubled breathing. The general side-effects of amphetamine , a powerful synthetic stimulant of the central nervous system, are well-known and include weight loss, kidney damage, increased risk for seizures, irritability, paranoia, hallucination, and even psychosis.
A dangerous side effect of amphetamine causing blood to flow away from the skin increases the risk of heat stroke. At least two athletes have died due to amphetamine use during competition -- British cyclist Tommy Simpson died in during the Tour de France and Danish cyclist Knut Jensen died of heat stroke during the Olympics. Masking Agents. Diuretics are used by athletes to reduce the concentration of drugs in the urine. It induces frequent urination and helps users to escape detection of banned drugs in a urine test. Use of Drugs by High School Athletes Professional sportsmen are leading role models for the young generation.
Since drug use for performance is so common among them, it is only natural that college and school level athletes mimic their behavior. The culture of 'winning at all costs' is another powerful incentive. Apart from performance enhancing drugs, use of 'recreational drugs' such as marijuana for relaxation and to relieve stress is also common among athletes in U. Prevention and Awareness Strict action against professional athletes and a 'zero tolerance' policy on drugs in sport would reduce use of performance enhancing drugs. Such policies should also be strictly followed in schools and colleges where the sports administrators and coaches share a major responsibility for preventing drug use. References "The Prohibited List" World Anti-Doping Agency.
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