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Are Performance-Enhancing Drugs ?
Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) are prescription medications, like anabolic steroids and stimulants, as well as sports supplements and growth hormones that some athletes take to improve their energy, stamina and power while training or competing. Who's Using PEDs?
You’d be surprised. A number of professional athletes have recently been accused of or admitted to using PEDs, and it’s a growing problem among young athletes and even teens not involved in sports.
In fact, teens who do not play sports are just as likely to use sports supplements and PEDs as teen athletes.1 Many teens – 8 percent of girls and 12 percent of boys -- admit they use PEDs and sports supplements to increase muscle definition, lose weight and look “cut.” 2
Why Are Teens Using PEDs?
Teens and young athletes are under extreme pressure to succeed from their parents, peers, coaches and, especially, themselves.
Training is hard work. When athletes reach a training plateau, they may feel pressure to take the easy route and use PEDs to help them move to the next level. Some teens may see using PEDs as just another sacrifice they make to pursue their love of sports and competition. It’s also all too easy for teens to give in to pressure from friends and teammates who use PEDs. Testing is too expensive for most schools to test all athletes, so it’s almost impossible to get caught.
And it’s not just about athletic performance. Using PEDs may help a teen develop a strong muscular body, which leads to increased self-esteem and admiration from friends, teammates, and potential girlfriends and boyfriends. To a 17-year-old these may sound like good reasons to use PEDs, but there can be serious side effects. It’s up to adults to help teens understand the effects of PEDs and help them make wise decisions and compete drug-free.
Common PEDS Anabolic Steroids
Steroids are probably the best-known PED. Anabolic steroids are prescription drugs used to treat uncommon hormonal conditions as well as body wasting in patients with AIDS and other diseases that result in loss of lean muscle mass. Any other use of steroids without a prescription is illegal and dangerous.
Since these substances are usually purchased illegally, the products that claim to be steroids might be anything. There’s no way to know for sure unless a lab tests the substance.
How Steroids Work
Anabolic steroids build strength by increasing cell production of muscle protein. This process leads to an increase in muscle strength and size, which is amplified by weightlifting and training. Steroid use can lead to a gain in strength and muscle mass in a very short period of time.
Effects of Steroids
Steroids have a number of adverse side effects from increased acne and oily skin to violent mood swings and depression to heart attack and stroke. Ironically, because steroids cause muscles to grow stronger than the tendons that attach them to bones, steroid abuse can lead to career-ending and even crippling injuries.
Athletes who inject steroids also expose themselves to contracting serious diseases like HIV and hepatitis.
Stimulants (amphetamines)
Stimulants, like pseudoephedrine found in cold medicine and even caffeine, decrease fatigue, increase alertness, and suppress appetite by stimulating the central nervous system. Because they cause the body to function on “overdrive,” the side effects of stimulants – increased heart rate and blood pressure and a rise in body temperature -- can be extremely dangerous, especially for athletes who practice or compete outside in hot conditions.
While athletes may take stimulants to improve athletic performance, the nervousness and irritability caused by these drugs can actually make it difficult to concentrate on the game and impair performance.
In December 2003, the sale of the stimulant ephedra, also known as ephedrine or ma huang, was prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because the substance, which was previously widely-available, poses unacceptable risks to health.
Sports Supplements
Nutritional or sports supplements are widely-used PEDs that can be legally and easily purchased. Most people think because these products are sold at gyms and health food stores that they are safe to use and good for you.
While most research has shown that these substances in small doses are essentially harmless for adults, no research has been conducted with children and teens. Also, sports supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), so there’s no way to know what ingredients are in a product, the purity of those ingredients and the amount of each ingredient present.
Common sports supplements include:
Because of a lack of scientific research into these products their side effects are not fully known. These substances have been linked to symptoms ranging from nausea and dehydration to heart attack and death.
Creatine
Creatine monohydrate, a compound produced naturally in small amounts by the liver and obtained from protein-rich foods like meat and fish, is probably the most widely-used sports supplement. In fact, in a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic in 1999, 8.2 percent of teen athletes reported using creatine. 3
While scientific research does show that creatine may have a positive effect on athletic activities, there are side effects that can impair performance. The body only needs a small amount of creatine – the liver produces about two grams a day. High doses of creatine can damage the kidneys, liver and heart.
While small doses of creatine may be harmless to adults, the effects of creatine use in teens are not known. Because so much isn’t known about creatine and its effects on young people, creatine use by teens should be discouraged.
Androstenedione
Androstenedione (andro) is a hormone produced by the body that is converted to testosterone and estradiol in men and women. Basically, andro acts like a steroid once it is metabolized by the body and poses the same health risks and side effects as steroids.
In October 2004, the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 classified andro as a controlled substance, and its use as a performance-enhancing drug is illegal. Despite these regulations, it is still possible to purchase products that claim to contain andro on the Internet.
Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is not technically a drug. It is an external source of a naturally produced hormone that promotes growth.
Because the body is very sensitive to HGH – just a small amount controls a slow but steady rate of growth from birth – it is very dangerous to tamper with the body’s level of the hormone. The natural production of too much growth hormone, a disease called acromegoly (gigantism), leads to disfigurement and early death.
Athletes and others who artificially increase their bodies’ levels of HGH face serious potential side effects ranging from disfigurement to joint and ligament problems to heart disease.
Blood Doping
Blood doping can be done in two different ways – by a transfusion of the athlete’s own blood or by taking a hormone like erythroprotein (EPO), which causes the body to produce an excess amount of blood.
In both cases the body has more blood, and more red blood cells than normal. This improves the body’s ability to carry oxygen and allows athletes to run or jump farther and faster without cramps.
Blood doping by either method can lead to life-threatening increases in blood pressure as well as thickening of the blood that can result in blood clots. Other serious side effects, including seizures resulting from EPO use, have been reported.
Because blood doping involves needles and injections, athletes who use this method to improve their performance could contract serious diseases like HIV and hepatitis.
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Sources:
1National Performance-Enhancing Drug Study. BlueCross Blue Shield Association, 2001 - www.healthycompetition.org.
2 Report published in the August 2005 edition of Pediatrics based on the Growing Up Today Study,an ongoing study established in 1996 to examine the relationship between diet, exercise and a host of health issues in teens.
3 Performance Enhancing Drugs: Dangerous, damaging and potentially deadly . Mayo Clinic. www.mayoclinic.com.
Other Sources:
U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- www.fda.gov
Mayo Clinic -- www.mayoclinic.com
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign -- www.theantidrug.com
Healthy Competition -- www.healthycompetition.org
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