Performance enhancing drugs

Question 1

What is the effect of stimulants?

Answer 1

• Stimulants (e.g. caffeine) speed up parts of the body or brain. Athletes can increase their alertness, reduce their reaction time or increase their aggression.
• Stimulants are very addictive and have dangerous side effects (e.g. increased blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks).
• Performers returning from injury may be tempted to use these substances because they reduce pain.

Question 2

What is the effect of Anabolic agents?

Answer 2

• Anabolic agents (e.g. anabolic steroids) speed up recovery and allow a performer to train more often. They also make a performer more aggressive and competitive.
• Anabolic agents are highly addictive. Their regular use can reduce the size of testicles, cause high blood pressure, damage the liver, kidneys and heart, cause women to develop body hair, reduce breast size, and deepen the voice.

Question 3

What is the effect of Diuretics ?

Answer 3

• These are drugs that remove excess water from the body.
• They do not improve performance but are mainly used for weight loss.
• They are also used to dilute other substances that may have been taken to pass through urine.
• Diuretics cause severe dehydration, low blood pressure and cramp.

Question 4

What is the effect of narcotic analgesics?

Answer 4

• Performers may take narcotic analgesics (e.g. heroin and morphine) to reduce the pain from overtraining.
• Narcotic analgesics are very addictive and have dangerous side effects including constipation, reduced alertness and a loss of concentration that could lead to a coma.

Question 5

What are effect of peptide hormones?

Answer 5

• Peptide hormones (e.g. EPO) are natural substances that can increase muscle growth and the production of red blood cells.
• EPO (erythropoietin) is a peptide hormone that increases the number of red blood cells in the body:
• Reduces tiredness and gives an advantage to endurance athletes.
• However, EPO thickens the blood, which makes the heart work harder. This can increase the chance of a heart attack and stroke.

Question 6

What are the steps taken during blood doping?

Answer 6

1. Blood removal
   - An athlete removes roughly 2 pints of blood from their blood many weeks before a competition.
   - The blood is frozen and stored for later use.
2. Body produces more red blood cells
   - Whilst the blood isn’t in the body, the bloodstream replenishes itself to make up for the blood loss.
3. Injection of store blood
   - After training, once the blood content has returned to normal levels, the athlete thaws out and injects the blood that has been stored away 1-2 days before competition.
   - This increases the red blood cell content hugely.
   - This lets the body absorb and deliver more oxygen from the air to the working muscles.

Question 7

What are the PROs of blood doping?

Answer 7

• Allows more oxygen to be carried to the muscles to create energy.
• Fatigue slower

Question 8

What are the CONs of blood doping?

Answer 8

• Increased risk of heart attack
• Blockage of blood vessels (embolism)
• Contraction of blood-based diseases. e.g HIV,, hepatitis
• Thickening of the blood

Question 9

What are the effects of beta blockers?

Answer 9

Reduce the effects of adrenaline on the body
-They do this by reducing muscle tension (tightness), heart rate and blood pressure.
With these effects, they - can improve a performer’s fine motor skills (involved in smaller movements that take place in the wrists, hands, fingers, feet and toes) and help with accuracy.

Question 10

What are the CONs of using beta blockers?

Answer 10

• Nausea
• Poor circulation, which can cause heart problems
• Tiredness
• Weakness

Question 11

What are the PROs of Performance Enhancing Drugs?

Answer 11

• Cope with pressure better
• Increased income
  (Better performances bring athletes more success in competition and will increase their income)
• Fame and sponsorship

Question 12

What are the CONs of Performance Enhancing Drugs?

Answer 12

• Banned if caught
  
  • The testing procedures for PEDs are now far more accurate and happen more often, so greater chances of being caught.
• Performers who are caught face a two-year ban from their sport and a heavy fine.
• The performer’s reputation will be ruined.
• Immoral
• Health risks

Question 13

What are the effects of PEDs on sport?

Answer 13

• Harm reputation
• Positive drug testing can be very damaging to a sport’s reputation and spectators begin to doubt whether amazing performances are genuine or not.
• Lost sponsorship
  PEDs can be very damaging for the sport itself because it could lose sponsorship and media coverage.