Performance Enhancing Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Performance Enhancing Drugs - Essay Example The first factor is the developments in the field of science that have led to the finding of a larger number of performance enhancing drugs. The second factor has been the dramatic increase in the financial rewards that accrue to successful sportsmen, and hence the incentive to attempt to use any means to succeed. Measures have been introduced to discourage the use of performance enhancing drugs in the field of sports, but anecdotal evidence suggests that these measures have in no way reduced the use of performance enhancing drugs in the field of sports. (Athletes and Performance-Enhancing Drugs). Strychnine, heroin, cocaine, and morphine have seen use as performance enhancing drugs, but probably was more harmful than in providing an enhancement of performance. During the Second World War amphetamines were used widely by soldiers to avoid fatigue, due to the toll of a long war on their physical capabilities, and as such represents the first use of performance enhancing drugs in the form of stimulants. (Athletes and Performance-Enhancing Drugs). The stimulant group of performance enhancing drugs includes amphetamines, caffeine, B-agonists, phenylpropanolamine, and ephedrine. Stimulants work on the Central Nervous System, and speeds up certain parts of the brain and body. This capacity of the stimulants makes it useful to sportsmen like athletes and weight lifters, as it quickens reflexes, improves confidence, and reduces an athlete’s sense of fatigue. The side effects due to the use of the stimulants include anxiety and psychosis. The anabolic-androgenic steroids makes up the next group of performance enhancing drugs, and include stanozolol, methanedienone, nandrolone, clostebol, oxandrolone, and testosterone. Anabolic steroids are the synthetic equivalents of testosterone, which is the naturally occurring male hormone. Chemical modifications enhance the muscle building capabilities,