Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports Essay - 1678 Words

Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports In all areas of sports, professional, college, and even high school, there is widespread illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. Although there are many reasons for athletes to choose to use these drugs, the cost of such use, both to the athlete and to society can be extraordinarily high. It is important to understand why performance-enhancing drugs are used and what are the consequences of their use to the athlete and society. One of the reason athletes choose to use performance-enhancing drugs is to bulk up. Athletes have guidelines pertaining to size that must be met. If one wants to be a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL), one cannot weigh 175 pounds; so†¦show more content†¦The drugs that increase oxygen in the body also increase how many red blood cells are made. With so many red blood cells, the blood becomes thick and is harder for the heart to pump. The performance-enhancing drugs that help stimulate the body are not as bad as some of the other drugs, but they too have their own side effects. The side effects are similar to caffeine: one can become nervous, have an irregular heartbeat, and have high blood pressure, and in extreme cases there can even be sudden death. Athlete?s who has an undiagnosed medical condition like high blood pressure or irregular heartbeats can make matters much worse for themselves by taking these drugs. The athlete who chooses to use a drug to mask an injury is asking for that injury to become worse. Most of the drugs used for this are narcotics and very strong painkillers. If we use the same example about the quarterback who broke his toe, once he is on the drug to mask that pain he could very well break another toe and not even know it. Also, most narcotics and strong painkillers are addictive, so the player now has to worry about that. Now we have gone over the risks of using performance-enhancing drugs for the athletes, but what about the cost society has to pay? So many people, especially kids, look up to pro-athletes like they are gods and they want to be just like them. It is not right for a grown professional athlete to cheat toShow MoreRelatedPerformance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports1078 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Performance-enhancing drugs in sports: A literature review A number of prominent athletes have recently experienced a fall from grace, because of the revelation that they used performance-enhancing drugs. Perhaps the most famous example of this phenomenon is Lance Armstrong. In an advertisement for Nike that his former sponsor now no doubt regrets, Armstrong is shown asking the viewer what am I on? Im on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day. 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