Athletes Who Use Drugs To Enhance Their Performance (Essay Sample)

Athletes Who Use Drugs To Enhance Their Performance
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Trainees underwent various activities aimed at refining their perfect techniques and skills. The transgression to expendable capacities from fixed capacities occurred in the cold war era. Today, the athletes are being encouraged and tend to be expected to better their performance in any means possible, which includes consumption of nutritional supplements, use of medical and scientific support, using hi-tech apparels and design of equipment and finally training that is specialized. Athletes tend to report that the main reason for taking the performance enhancement substances is so as to achieve better performance. That is their inner winning desire. Another reason is they think that their competitors have an unfair advantage over them that is medically or chemically enhanced. Many athletes consider it better to compete without the drug; however, those who compete in high level sport believe that using performance enhancement drugs tends to be necessary to bring about competition. Question, however, lingers, should enhancement performance drugs that athletes use should be legalized or not.
Performance enhancing drugs tend to consist of various substances that include procedures, devices and medication that improve the athletes’ sports performance. They may either be legal or illegal. However, any coaches, athletes and even politicians find it unethical for the use of these substances. The performance enhancement drugs though having a lot of side effects tend to have many benefits. The benefits give the athletes a chance to play better, keeping them employed and keeping their careers on check. They help keep them up with competition due to the pressures that they are subjected to, to perform. We find that their lives tend to be subjected to performance, and it is, therefore, necessary for them to take advantage of the performance enhancement drugs. Some of the major superstar athletes that include Jose Canseco, Lance Armstrong, Shawne Merriman and Rashard Lewis have either been accused or admitted to taking the performance enhancement drugs. Their performance from the drug intake is seen to be impressive just as the various sports they partake in. These include baseball, weightlifting, cycling, football, swimming, soccer, track and field and basketball. Marion Jones was also discovered to have been using performance enhancement drugs, and we could attest that she won in her races (Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness, 2008).
Most of the focused athletes can bear witness that the drive to win that is competitive can become fierce. More to becoming satisfied of personal accomplishment, they tend to pursue their dreams of winning their country a medal and to acquire a spot in a professional team. Due to these circumstances the use of performance enhancement drugs becomes a frequent norm. However, they are not without harmful risks. According to Mayo Clinic Staff, most of the athletes tend to take anabolic steroids at higher doses than those prescribed by professionals for medical reasons. The drug effects that are so called tend to be observed from those athletes who use or misuse them. Moreover, testing high dosage tends to be difficult since it would be very unethical to give high doses to athletes just for scientific research. The effects, therefore, of the use of high doses have not been highly studied.
The physical effects of these drugs include in men baldness, prominent breasts, infertility and even impotence. In women they tend to include increase in body hair, baldness too, experiencing a deep voice and infrequent or even lack of periods. Other general effects may include an increase in the risk of the rupture tendons and even tendinitis. Severe acne, tumors and liver abnormalities, high blood pressure, heart problems, circulatory problems, inhibited development and growth, diseases and infections and the enlargement of the prostate gland. Furthermore, a decrease in the high density lipoprotein cholesterol, increase in the low density lipoprotein cholesterol, psychiatric disorders like depression and last but not least aggressive behaviors like violence and rage.
In my opinion, in controlled situations and if under prescription from a professional these effects can be eradicated. The use of performance enhancement drugs is harmful to the body as is portrayed by the medical reasons and effects above. Therefore, it should be declared illegal and banned from use. Strategies should also be implemented to help curb the use that is currently there.
Various proponents supporting the use of performance enhancement drugs in sports tend to argue that the harmful health effects that have been stated tend not to have been stated but overstated. They claim that the health risks tend to be an athlete’s decision, and they should make it. They also claim that the use of drugs is part of sports evolution as much as the training techniques that have undergone improvement and new technologies. Moreover, they have said that the efforts meant to keep the athletes from the use of these performance enhancement drugs tend to be unfairly administered, bound to fail, unproductive and overzealous (Petróczi & Aidman, 2008).
With proponents, there are also opponents who tend to argue that the use of performance enhancement drugs tends to be potentially fatal and harmful. They also claim that those athletes who abuse them tend to be cheaters and end up gaining unfair advantage, send the wrong message to the young upcoming athletes and children and also tend to violate the competition spirit. They also claim that the drug users tarnish historical achievements of those athletes who did not use drugs. Oppone...