Impact of Performance Enhancing Drugs
Sports is one of the most physically challenging fields to be in and the physical and the psychological stress to perform in the different kinds of sports remain constant. The overall understanding regarding the individual performance in the sports sector and the aspects regarding the overall performance of the different athletes in the various sporting events. The role of the different people in the society play a major role in the creation and the mitigation of the stress. In a bid to excel in their sport the athletes sometimes go wayward and take the help of the different performance enhancing drugs to affect their performance (Kwan, Bobko, Faulkner, Donnelly & Cairney, 2014). These performance enhancing drugs are banned by a number of different organizations and the sporting bodies. The use of the drugs helps in the overall performance improvement of the athletes but results in the long term harm to the overall health and the often leads to addiction.
The performance enhancing drugs in the society include a large a number of drugs ranging from metabolism enhancers to the hormonal supplements which affects the overall performance of the athletes and helps in their overall performance on and off the field. The effects of the drugs may be conducive for the growth of the individuals in the modern times but the rise of the usage of the different drugs and the supplements leads to a number of health issues among the different athletes. The rise of the different drugs has led to a number of issues ranging from the rise in the usage of the drugs for the performance enhancing purposes to the improvement of the overall health in the society (Hargreaves, 2014). The athletes have to undergo rigorous amount of training before being involved into the different types of sports. Apart from the training there is a large amount of competition to overcome which the people have to face to excel in the field of sports forcing them to take the help of the different drugs. The different types of the hormonal supplements often have the tendency to cause the dependence on these kinds of the drugs leading to a number of different psychological disorders.
The drugs are used to help in the different purposes depending on the sports that they the athlete competes in. the different sports need different kinds of drugs for the improvement of the performance of the people in the society. The endurance sports like marathon and long running need the help of the drugs that increase stamina and the performance of the athletes in the different athletes. One of the major issues in this context is the involvement of the different people in the society ranging from the rise in the competition levels and the difference in the training patterns of the different athletes in the society. The usage of the different drugs in the paradigm of sports are majorly due to the inclusion in the different perspectives of the society (Dimeo & Taylor, 2013). The role of the drugs have a great impact on the different people in the society. One of the major issues in this context is the fact that the long term effects of the drugs on the people are often overlooked in the lieu of the short term successes that the players wish to achieve.
Types of Performance Enhancing Drugs Used By Athletes
The pressure on the athletes are enormous in terms of the different issues that the people face in the society. The rising competition in the different types of the sporting events and the work ranging from the rise in the involvement of the people in the different kinds of sports in the society. The rise in the different sporting events leads to the involvement of a large number of people in the society ranging from the inclusion of the larger number of athletes in the modern society. The rise in the sporting events lead to the overall rise in the drug usage in the society (Houlihan, 2014). One of the major issues in this context is the factor that the athletes have to be consistent in their performance and even a slight slack in the performance of the athletes’ leads to their being sent down the line in their sport. The over exertion of the players have to be mitigates and that is where the drug come in as the performance enhancers of the athletes.
One of the major factors playing a role in the drug usage increase is the fact that the different sporting events have become the year round affair and an entertainment factor creating an extra pressure on the athletes to perform better. The year round gaming events create a large amount of pressure on the athletes to perform in the sporting events leading to a rise in the drug usage among the modern athletes.
During the earlier days of sports there were no regulations regarding the use of the different products for the improvement of the performance of the individuals. In this context there is another factor that affects the overall usage of the drugs that in the earlier times of the sport the medical science was not so improved that it could understand comprehend and use the different products relating to the different sporting events in the society (Bracken, 2012). The major factors that plays the role in the increase is the gradual development of the countries leading to the introduction of the international sports meets and the increased pressure on the different athletes to perform in these meets. Later when the different issues regarding the usage of the drugs and its implication was understood they were banned in a number of sports. The testing for the drug use in the different sports also has to be stringent because in the hormonal supplement and the developed drugs due to the improved medical research often give the athletes the undue advantage to the athletes who use it over the other athletes who are competing. In the modern times the usage of the drugs in sports have dropped drastically but they continue to be one of the major issues in the sporting business (De Hon, Kuipers & van Bottenburg, 2015). The increase in the use of the drugs in the sporting events not only affects the performance of the athletes in the society but also leads to a major issue in the competitive spirit of the game as the promising sportsmen playing ethically may lose.
Factors Contributing To Drug Use Among Athletes
The performance enhancing drugs have a long lasting influnces on the overall performance of the athletes and has a trace in their bodies for a long time. This has led to the use of a number of different processes for the drug testing among the athletes.
Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry: This tests is done on one of the samples including the blood and the urine samples to test the traces for the different drugs that are banned in the sport. In gas chromatography the sample is vaporized and the vapour is passed through the different samples of the chromatographic tests to identify the traces of the different samples in the body of the individual (Grigoryev, Kavanagh & Melnik, 2012). In mass spectrometry the samples are bombarded with the electron beams and the unique mass fingerprints of the different substances are analysed for the better understanding of the tests and the results.
Immuno Assays: There are a number of substances in the drug tests that are tested using the immuno assay sample of the urine. The immuno assay sample is mixed with the anti-body of the substance to be tested and the results are taken into consideration for proper analysis (Thevis, Kuuranne, Geyer & Schänzer, 2014). The anti body is tagged with the fluorescent substance for then proper understanding of the different drugs that may be present in the system.
EPO Test: The EPO tests have been recently developed in the modern times which tests the size of the red blood cells to understand the presence of the performance enhancing drugs (Schumacher, Saugy, Pottgiesser & Robinson, 2012). It is seen that the person using the performance enhancing drug will have a smaller Red blood Corpuscle compared to the normal RBC giving it more affinity to bind the oxygen affecting the performance of the athletes.
Conclusion
Hence it can be seen that the drug usage have been an integral part of the competitive sports since time immemorial. The drug usage greatly improves the performance of the athletes temporarily but in the long run affects the overall health. The drug tests and the banning of the athletes that have been tested positive has led to the reduction in the drug use. Despite this, due to the busy schedules and the constant rise in the overall introduction of the extreme competitiveness in the sports have led to the rise in the overall drug use among the athletes. It is one of the major problems to be mitigated in the modern society due to its long term effects on the human health.
References
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