The PerformanceEnhancing Drug Controversy Essay Research Paper

The Performance-Enhancing Drug Controversy Essay, Research Paper

Performance-enhancing drugs are a topic in today.s society which is currently under hot

debate. Performance-enhancing drugs are substances which are used to stimulate certain

areas of the body to make an athlete excel in a certain event. The most common form of

performance-enhancing drugs are called steroids. According to Hank Nuwer in his book

Steroids, steroids are .…compounds that are necessary for the well-being of many living

creatures, including human beings. These include sex hormones, bile acids, and

cholesterol. (15). Steroids are used in the medical field to treat many ailments, and this

use is not the use which is currently under controversy. The medical reasons are to treat

anemia, burns, asthma, anorexia, intestinal disorders, and much more (Nuwer 15). These

types of steroids are called cortical steroids.

But the other use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs is that they are

used by athletes who wish to gain an unfair advantage over their competitors, or use them

to keep up with the competition since so many athletes are using these types of drugs.

These drugs are taken in a variety of ways. The two most common ways are to be taken

orally in pill form, or injected into the body with a needle. Just a few of these

performance-enhancing drugs are Nelvar, Deca-Durabolin, Anavar, Stanzolol, Dianabol,

and Anadrol-50 (Nuwer 17). These drugs are much more dangerous than the legal

performance-enhancing drugs because the athletes take much, much more than the

recommended doses that would be prescribed by a doctor. They feel that the more pills or

injections they take, the stronger, faster, and better they will be when competing, but this

is not always true.

Performance-enhancing drugs are relatively unstudied today. There are not many

known fact about performance-enhancing drugs and steroids. But, there is some evidence

that shows some of these substances may be dangerous to one.s health. Although there is

yet to be certain and definite proof that performance-enhancing drugs and steroids may be

harmful, there have been some studies which indicate that they can be dangerous. These

studies have shown that steroids may have been the reason or a major factor which caused

liver damage, cardiomyopathy (a worn out heart), jaundice, peliosis hepatis (blood-filled

cysts in the liver), and adverse affects on both the cardiovascular system and on the

reproductive system (Meer 69). These products have also been linked to causing some

types of cancer. Because of these hazards, many performance-enhancing drugs have been

banned in certain national and international sports, such as the NFL, NBA, and the

Olympics. This does not mean that athletes participating in these sports do not take them,

however.

Athletics is the major area in which performance-enhancing drugs are used.

Although some people use them just to try to make themselves look bigger and better,

most people use them to help them to either keep up with competition in athletic events,

or use them to beat the competition by an unfair advantage, usually because they want to

achieve fame or want to win some sort of cash reward. Unfortunately, it is not just the

major athletes in pro sports and in the Olympics who use these drugs.

Performance-enhancing drugs are used in all levels of competition today, whether it be in

the Olympics, in the pros, in colleges, or even in high schools. Athletes see other people

taking these drugs and winning events and breaking records, and they want to do the

same. Also, many of these athletes are misinformed about the dangers of

performance-enhancing drugs. But on the other hand, many other athletes are aware of

the consequences and dangers, yet they are stubborn and take them anyway.

The Olympics have long been known for having athletes who take steroids. For

years now, certain countries such as the former nation of East Germany and the former

U.S.S.R, as well as China, have been known to, or at least it has been highly suspected,

that they contained a numerous amount of athletes who have taken

performance-enhancing drugs leading up to and during Olympic competition. Currently,

there is an investigation involving the coaches and athletes from East Germany who

competed in the 1976 Olympics. As Don Kardong reports in Runner.s World:

A German investigator–searching for evidence for a criminal trial of four

coaches and two doctors accused of giving steroids and other

performance-enhancing drugs to unsuspecting athletes–had discovered 10

volumes of secret Stasi police files documenting the East German doping

program. Each athlete was coded by number, and among them was #62.

Waldemar Cierpinski. (72)

Waldemar Cierpinski was a runner who won the marathon race in the 1976

Olympics and thus pushed Don Kardong to come in fourth place instead of third, makin

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