Why Do Athletes Use EPO?

During the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China had more than 4,700 competitors tested for drug doping. Peptide hormones, growth factors, and related substances are compounds that include treatment of cancer or aiding those born prematurely. The presence of the abnormal concentration of a hormone, it 's metabolites and it 's ratios or markers all contain prohibited substances that include human growth hormone (hGH), erythropoietin (EPO), insulin, human chronic gonadotrophin (HCG) and adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH). The effects one may have using this is a stroke, heart attack, thyroid problems, loss of vision, headaches, diabetes, arthritis, and severe headaches.

Blood transfusions became popular between the 1970s and 1980s with a diverse population of professional athletes. EPOs (a natural hormone made by the kidney’s) followed blood transfusions and gained their popularity in the late 1980s (Eichner). The effects of EPOs were seen through the many health risks that the athletes encountered including the death of 20 European cyclists over a period of 4 years (Eichner). The 1998 Tour de France also saw its fair share of EPO use among athletes with one team being disqualified and 6 more teams dropping out (Eichner). Later came the use of synthetic or artificial blood. In recent years athletes have been accused of, and caught, using all of these methods to increase their endurance and performance. Tests are improving to be able to detect when an athlete has used one of these methods.

All this has changed the whole course of doping. Drugs used to be taken just for a one-off effect which activated various standard bodily functions, but now they may bring about the biological reprogramming of the body. To put it plainly, the time is not far off when it will be scientifically possible to make artificial but lasting changes in the way an organ functions and when the technicians of sport will be able to change each drug to meet the specifications for a particular level of performance.

From the beginning of history, professional and amateur athletes have tempted to use legal or illegal drugs to enhance their performance (1). Athletes have used pharmacological agents, called Performance-enhancing drugs(PEDs), to enhance performance or to become leaner or more muscular (2). In sports, administration of drugs that are forbidden by international world anti-doping agency (WADA) is referred as doping (3). Anabolic androgenic agents (AASs) are the most popular agents that are abused by the athletes, especially bodybuilding athletes. Besides these agents, other classes of drugs such as stimulants and peptide hormones (growth hormone and insulin) are new PEDs that are abused by a lot of athletes in the different sports (1). Other than these compounds, athletes often use dietary supplements like creatine, protein, and vitamins to enhance strength and increase body mass (4-6).

I first learned about this topic on a television show I watch called Hawaii 5-O. The episode had a group of athletes that were blood doping in order to win bicycling races and to get a leg up on escaping the police after robbing their targets. It briefly explained what the group was doing, and why it made them have better stamina and bettered their athletic abilities. Then when Lance Armstrong was accused of many different types of performance enhancing drugs, he admitted to using blood doping among other techniques. He used the method of blood doping that utilizes EPO, which is a hormone that is produced in the kidney for RBC production. He was stripped of all the Tour de France titles in his possession and the bronze medal he won in the Olympics.

Second stage diabetes and bone degeneration can form over time losing strength as the athlete continues to age (“Performance-Enhancement Drugs Are Dangerous 3”). This evidence proves the risks and affects you deal with when dealing with performance-enhancement drugs. Athletes tend to have a change in behavior and start to feel untouchable after taking the performance enhancement supplements (Ungerleider 2). This evidence shows how the drugs can emotionally change the persona of an athlete. These are all ways of how performance-enhancement drugs can be dangerous.

Athletes use substances before or during their performance to increase their ability (Marzilli 12-13). Student athletes will use steroids to increase their strength for a better outcome in their competition. Testosterone is a common hormone in the body that most athletes abuse (Marzilli 12). Testosterone is produced naturally in the body of any animal (“Steroids in Sports”). It creates alertness and aggressiveness to improve performance (“Steroids in Sports”). That is why early athletes used to take some form of medication to boost the production of testosterone in their body. Both males and females will consume steroids to increase testosterone in their body. Due to all the medical advantages that steroids have to an individual, athletes use them to achieve and to sharpen their performance. Apart from fatigue and letting athletes train for hours, steroids also act as a compound to lactic acid which causes muscle pain during physical struggles (“Steroids in Sports”). Steroids also contain the hormones that can increase quickly to recover from injuries (“Steroids in Sports”). Since steroids can increase endurance levels several times, athletes find it simple to run faster and improve their performance in sports. According to Gary Becker, performance enhancers, like steroids and other types of doping, have a negative effect on long-term health ( “Top 10 Pros and Cons”). Athletes will hurt themselves in the long run. Competitors dope and consume steroids to achieve the short term rewards in their teenage years of competitions (Becker). It is not worth achieving something that is temporary than living with a long-term health condition. Student athletes are not educated enough of the effects that drugs have on a

Athletes partaking in performance enhancing drugs is another sport specific risk behaviour to achieve victory. Taking performance enhancing drugs gives an extra edge and is a short cut to good performance. It allows one to perform under any circumstances. In fact, stimulants are the most common types of drugs that are misused. Stimulants reduce tiredness and pain. Further, it increases endurance and explosive power due to the reduction of pain. The earliest reasons for the use of stimulants is because of the restricting barriers to pain. Nevertheless, this causes more injuries as they are pushing their bodies past what they are physically capable of. However, they are not aware of this because at the time the athlete is no responsive to pain.

The use of illegal drugs to enhance performance is called "doping." "What doping involves is misusing medicinal

Out of the 21,849 drug tests during the 1968-2008 summer games there was 105 cases of positive drug tests (“Drugs and athletes”). Performance Enhancing Drugs can either be Stimulants, Anabolic-androgenic steroids, human growth hormones, and Erythropoientin (“Performance Enhancing”). PED’s improve your overall athletic performance. PED’ are harmful and can even be fatal. Athletes use these substances to gain an unfair advantage to become better than their opponent. Athletes who use PED’s violate the spirit of competition and makes it not fun to compete for players who respect the rules. Every year countless players take PED’s to give them an unfair boost that can harm them, it also does not show their true athleticism on the field.

Another one is EPO which stands for hormone erythropoietin. EPO helps increases in their red blood cells which allows athlete to have more energy during their training or competition. Athletes also takes narcolepsy drug like modafinil. Modafinil help increase mental alertness and reaction time during games and training.

The role of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) can be found as far back as 776BC ? 393BC in the original Olympic Games. (Drug Use in Sports - Historical Timeline, 2013) Even back then, the athletes vied for huge cash prizes, as well as having the honor of wearing the olive wreath. These athletes ate meat, which was not a normal staple back then, as well as herbal medications, including hallucinogens, in an effort to boost their performances. In 100AD, Roman gladiators used stimulants and hallucinogens to avoid fatigue and possible injuries. Even during the Modern Olympic Games in 1904-1920, athletes were using PEDs, made up of a mixture of brandy and strychnine (a stimulant). In fact, one marathon runner nearly died from such a concoction. Other mixtures, besides strychnine, included the use of heroin, cocaine, and caffeine; until heroin and cocaine were only available in prescriptions in the 1920s. So, in 1928, the International Association of Athletics Foundation (IAAF), the ruling body of track and field, became the first organization to prohibit ?doping? by athletes. On a side note, the term doping was attributed to the Dutch word ?doop?, which is an opium juice. Amphetamines were also used during WWII to combat fatigue in soldiers,

Erythropoietin controls the production of red blood cells. The red blood cells are the cells that carry oxygen to the muscle and helps endurance the more oxygen the muscles can receive the better the endurance. It can be used by taking out and storing one‘s own blood and re-injecting it shortly before competition a practice that is also banned by many sports as cheating. What are stimulants? Stimulants can increase aggression and competitiveness and reduce tiredness and fatigue. This type of steroid is mostly common in sports such as baseball, and long distance running. If you are running long distances who wouldn’t want a way to reduce fatigue and tiredness.

Anabolic steroids cause the cell nucleus to produce ribonucleic acids at a faster rate. With the increased ribonucleic acids, the body can create more protein in the ribosomes of the cell. As athletes are trying to increase their muscle and strength, their body will need more ATP, and protein. While blood doping increases the number of red blood cells and increasing the haematocrit, which lead to higher protein haemoglobin. Therefore, haemoglobin will carries more oxygen from lungs to muscle, which allow athletes to have higher performance without using the anaerobic energy systems.

The scene is set. It is 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and the final heat of the Olympics is about to commence. The sprinters have been training their entire lives for the opportunity at hand, and the outcome of the most important event of their lives is going to come down to mere milliseconds. With a gold medal on the line, these athletes will be looking for any advantage they can get, whether big or small. One direction these athletes turn for an advantage is supplements. Supplements have emerged as a way for athletes to increase their performance, yet their use is very controversial. Supplements, varying from simple multivitamins to complex chemical supplements, are used by almost every athlete, whether recreational or professional,