Dangers Of Boosting

One athlete's decision to use performance enhancing drugs also exerts a powerful effect on the other athletes in the competition. As reported by Sports Illustrated, half of all recently surveyed Olympic athletes admitted that they would be willing to take a drug, even if it would kill them eventually, as long as it would let them win every event they entered five years in a row. This type of win at any cost mentality is pervading sports at all levels of competition and results in athletes

The issues that surround the use of steroids among athletes raises much controversy and debate.  What most users tend to overlook are the dangers and risks of steroids.  One of the biggest problems with steroids is the fact that athletes only look at the immediate results, muscle and strength, and not at the long-term results that will damage their health.

Each year an athlete's creativity comes into play to create ways to become the best in his/her competitive sports; especially when one have to use a lot of endurance and energy to win. In order to be the best you have to put in the work. Some athletes do it the hard way, such as eating healthy, exercising and training. Others use the easy way out, engaging with steroids, enhancements, and blood doping to get ahead of the competition. Many professional athletes have taken to the practice of blood doping in order to gain a competitive edge in their field. But there are those who are crying that doing so can have serious consequences not only to the sports world, but to one’s body as well. Sometimes they look for harmful procedures that increase their athletic ability but can potentially do more harm than good. In this argument, I will be discussing called induced erythrocythemia, commonly known as blood doping, which can lead to medical, physical, and psychological problems.

In society today, winning is considered everything. Man is always trying to beat their opponent no matter what it takes. Some athletes are willing to do anything that could potentially be life threatening in order to get their 15 seconds of fame. This “something” is known as anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids have come to improve many athletes physical activity, but also ruin an immense amount of lives forever. Although it may give someone the power to feel good, be stronger, and build up more muscle, the negative effects strongly outweigh the positives. All athletes dream big. They have the desire to stand on the podium with a gold metal, receive an athletic award, or win the world championships. Sometimes the desire to achieve gets so high

There are those that also point out that steroid’s and performance enhancement drugs are not the only kids of enhancement methods. One of these methods, “such as taking up temporary residence at a very high altitude in order to increase one’s read blood corpuscles, tremble on the edge between tolerated and reprobated methods of improving one’s athletic performance” (Posner). Though not a drug, this describes someone still gaining an unfair advantage over the competition, which is why this is frowned upon, although not as seriously as steroids or drugs. Others also seek to separate sports and real life, meaning that different rules apply. “Some argue for a ‘bracketed morality’ within sports. This

An athlete is a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina. Athletes train and practice year-round to prepare for the competition and challenges. Most high school, college, amateur and professional athletes participate in sports for the opportunity to pit their abilities against those of their peers, and to experience the satisfaction that comes from playing to their potential. Others do so to satisfy a desire for recognition and fame. Unfortunately all this creates some athletes who are determined to win at any cost. Have you heard or know of

Some go to extreme measures to succeed. What they don’t realize is when they decide to talk the “easy” route, is what they sacrifice. Serious health risks include; blood, liver, heart, skin, skeletal, immune and psychological issues says (Department of Health). There are many different supplements that get similar end results with low health risks. In fact, (What Are the Health Consequences of Steroid Abuse) states, “the ATLAS program has increased football players' healthy behaviors and reduced their intentions to abuse steroids”. Both articles provide analysis of health risks like stated above but, they also go in depth with recovery programs like ATLAS and others that provide real results for example “Studies show that 1 year after completion of the program, compared with a control group, ATLAS-trained students in 15 high schools had Less abuse of "athletic enhancing" supplements” (What Are the Health Consequences of Steroid Abuse). “Department of Health” and “What Are the Health Consequences of Steroid Abuse” provide helpful tips to the dedicated athletes to become stronger while still staying safe. The side of doping in sports is harmful and unfair on the playing field. Legal, more safe ways to become bigger, stronger and faster are recommended for excelling in

Dating back to ancient times, a wide variety of substances have been used to enhance an athlete’s performance, and with new biochemical and technologic advancements on the horizon, we will see this practice unscrupulously continue (Duncan, 2013). The factors that motivate this behavior are probably many, but when athletic performance equates to the high salaries and lucrative endorsements reaped by today’s professional athletes, any additional help to gain an edge is certainly a powerful motivator. For the non-professional athlete, other less tangible forces; such as vanity, competitiveness, or praise may drive people to seek these enhancers.

Sports performance enhancers help a lot in competition but are definitely damaging you in many ways. It can damage your health, your lifestyle and the people around you. Besides damaging the sport enhancers also change the way you are as a person. If you take something like Anabolic steroids this can make you more aggressive and violent. That's why enhancers shouldn't be taken at all but people still decided to take the risks and end up sick. Then make others worry for them even when they did that to themselves knowing all the consequences.

Pledger 1 Mason Pledger Mrs. Daugherty English 9 Honors 20 March 2017 Performance Enhancers and Athletes Why would athletes even need to use performance enhancers? Some athletes use steroids to boost their strength. There are many health risks that steroids can cause. Things like irregular heartbeat and heart failure can occur. I think that athletes who steroids or other drugs to enhance their strength should have a harsher punishment. Athletes need to know not to use steroids because they can get serious health problems. “For athletes that do decide to take steroids on a regular basis, 80% of them show some form of biochemical abnormalities of the liver during medical testing” (“20 Incredible Statistics of Steroid Use in Professional Sports”).

There are many health risks associated with the use of anabolic steroids, and actually the effects vary from males to females. In men it causes shrinking of the testicles, development of breast tissue, and reduction in sperm production. In women it causes a deepening of the voice, increased hair growth on certain body regions, abnormal menstrual cycles. While for both genders, it causes an increase in acne, liver damage, and can be a disruption of puberty (“Effects of Performance Enhancers” 2014). There are many doctors that believe that all substances should be banned but not all. One doctor, Robert Simon, believes it should be the athlete's choice, “If we shouldn’t forbid smokers from risking their health by smoking, why should we prohibit track stars or weight lifters from taking risks with their health in pursuit of their goals?” (“Top ten Pros and Cons” 2016). That argument is true for almost every drug and procedure on the banned substance

To start off, “HGH brings its own set of risks. The list includes cardiomyopathy, an enlarging and thickening of muscles in the heart, that weakens heart function over time. HGH can also impair glucose regulation leading to 2 types of diabetes. HGH can lead to heart failure arthritis and acromegaly, or disfiguration of the jaw, skull hands and feet” ( Performance- Enhancing) (Scott). This shows that even though PED’s can help you in your sport for a little bit of time there are always going to be many side effects that can be life threatening and could impact you a lot. “EPO’s have been implicated in the death of at least 18 cyclist during alleged heavy use in the 1990’s. These cyclist were victims of bleeding events: stroke, heart attack, and blood clots in the lungs” (Performance enhancing drugs). This shows that because these cyclist took PED’s to boost their play in their sport they ended up losing their life and everything that they have trained for their entire life has gone to waste and they lost their life because they took those PED’s. “Steroids can interfere with the natural process of puberty. For boys, the sudden surge of testosterone steroids creates can cause male pattern baldness and violent mood swings….They can also cause people to grow breasts and get high voices” ( Drugs and Athletes). Because of young people using steroids the drugs can interfere with their puberty

The higher levels of blood cells in the blood can result into more oxygen being transported to the muscles. Which can cause an athlete to increase its stamina and performance. There are three methods of blood doping: erythropoietin, synthetic oxygen carriers, and blood transfusions. Erythropoietin stimulates the production of red blood cells and haemoglobin in the blood. By injecting EPO, the athletes aim to increase their concentration of red blood cells and their aerobic capacity. EPO can increase the ability to eliminate lactic acid. The usage of EPO can result into blood clots, heart attacks/strokes, and death. Synthetic oxygen carriers are purified proteins or chemicals that carries oxygen. This delivers oxygen to muscles, increasing aerobic capacity and endurance. The health risk that has a possibility of happening is are heart attacks, stroke, and pulmonary embolism. Blood transfusion is when blood is transfused into your system to allow athletes to improve the number of red blood cells in their blood, improving their endurance and aerobic capacity. The health risks people can endure are clotting of the blood, heart attack, and stroke. Also there can be an infection in the blood, which can lead to major health problems, even death. Beta Blockers effects adrenaline. The blockers work to slow heart rate, which reduces blood pressure, anxiety and muscle tremors, and improving the ability to focus. There are over twenty types of beta blockers, which can be injected in different ways. When using beta blockers without a legitimate health reason, the side effects can cause fatigue, dizziness, dry mouth, asthma attack, memory loss, or heart failure. Athletes consume diuretics to assist with weight loss. Diuretics help to promote the production of urine. There are also more than twenty diuretics that have been banned throughout the years. The side effects can

The worst case is death, but drugs cause many of the following symptoms in a human: stunted growth, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart problems, psychiatric disorders, and more. PED’s effects are short term, but the risks of using them can be for the rest of an athlete’s life. They are in no way healthy for any person to use. The products do not assure safety and efficiency, which are two very important things to be assured while using any drug to help improve your body. When using performance enhancing drugs, the biological functions and human body are drastically altered (Effect of Performance-Enhancing Drugs). Never is that good for someone’s body to go through as it throws a person’s whole body off of its usual functions and

In today’s society, athletes are revered as heroes. There is immense pressure to be the best. Athletes are willing to do whatever it takes to gain an edge, even if it means compromising their health. For almost three decades, athletes have been supplementing their strength program with anabolic steroids to enhance their performance. To be sure, anabolic steroids are effective supplements to strength training programs, but there is no doubt that the consequences can be deleterious.