Steroids and Other Drugs in
Sports
(Ch. 18)
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DRUGS USE BY ATHLETES TAKES ON GREAT
IMPORTANCE
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Why? 1) athletes are role models -
when drugs are used by these athletes there is concern that impressionable
young people will see drug use in a more positive light, 2) may give users
an unfair edge, and 3) users of these drugs may be endangering their health
and perhaps their lives for the sake of a temporary burst of power or speed
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DRUG USE BY ATHLETES IS AN OLD TRADITION
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Early Greeks and Aztecs may have used
drugs similar to stimulants
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In the 1800s and early 1900s three
stimulants used by athletes were strychnine, cocaine and caffeine
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Amphetamines were reportedly used by
soccer players, boxers, cyclists, and speed skaters - it seemed to be the
ideal ergogenic (energy-producing) drug for both training and competition
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As a result of the death of cyclist
Tommy Simpson at the 1967 Tour de France, the International Olympic Committee
in 1968 established rules requiring the disqualification of any competitor
who refuses to take a drug test or who is found guilty of using banned
drugs
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The National Football League banned
amphetamines in 1971, although they were not difficult to obtain. Current
NFL policy restricts all use of amphetamnes, as well as many other drugs,
no matter where they are obtained
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Soviet athletes reportedly used testosterone
at the 1956 Olympics - this helps men and women to become stronger since
they gain more muscle mass
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By the 1960s American and British track
and field athletes were using anabolic steroids (usually synthetic hormones
promoting constructive metabolism). These drugs were not officially banned,
nor were they tested for in international competition until the early 1970s,
mainly because a sensitive urine test was not yet available
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Professional U.S. athletes were being
sent for treatment of cocaine dependency in the 1980s
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THE RELATIONSHIP OF STIMULANTS AND
PERFORMANCE
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Determining an exact cause and effect
connection is difficult - experiments on these drugs can never prove that
a drug has no effect - you might have done a hundred experiments and not
used the right dose or the right test
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The conclusions from a 1959 double-blinded
study indictaed that athletes (high endurance and strength) performed better
using amphetamine - bu the improvement was small (however, this could be
the difference between 1st and 6th place)
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Under laboratory conditions caffeine
has been shown to improve performance. Small amounts of caffeine are acceptable
in most sports (but a urine concentration of 12 micrograms/mL will lead
to disqualification in may competitions)
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The effects of cocaine on performance
have not been tested (but we know that their stimulant properties are similar
to amphetamine)
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STEROIDS AND THEIR ROLE REGARDING
PERFORMANCE
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Anabolic steroids increase muscle mass
and various internal organs, control body fat distribution, and increase
bone synthesis and calcium in bone
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In the 1950s, drug companies synthesized
various anabolic steroids that have fewer of the androgenic (masculinizing)
effects and more anabolic effects than testosterone.
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Well-controlled studies of steroid
use on strength and muscle mass are nonexistent
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What is not so clear is the effeect
of adding additional anabolic stimulation to adolescent or adult males
who already have high circulating levels of testosterone
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The effects of steroids may be due
to an "active placebo effect," with a belief in the power of steroids,
enhanced by the clear sensation that the drug is doing something because
you can "feel" it.
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Psychological effects, including a
stimulant-like "high" and increased aggressiveness, might be beneficial
for inceasing the amount of work done during training and for increasing
the intensity of effort during competition.
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Psychological depence develops in some
users, who feel well when they are on the steroids but become depressed
when they are off them
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Steroid users report a manic rage referred
to as "roid rage" - violent feelings and actions among steroid users
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In young users who have not attained
their full height, these steroids can cause the premature closing of the
epiphyseal plates of long bones, thus limiting their adult height
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Side effects for all users include
blood cysts in the liver, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, and heart
disease
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Steroids dramatically increase muscle
growth and masculine characteristics in women
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OTHER HORMONES AND PERFORMANCE
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To compete as women, some males may
take female sex hormones to feminize them
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Hormone receptor blocking drugs delay
puberty, and this is an advantage to female gymnasts
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Human growth hormones may increase
height and weight
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There is clear evidence that Creatine
helps to regenerate ATP, which provides more energy for muscle contractions
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The Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1990
placed anabolic steroids on the list of controlled substances and also
made it a crime to distribute human growth hormone for nonmedical purposes