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Physical Education

Drugs in sport

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Drugs aren’t limited to those with addictions. Some athletes take illegal substances to enhance their performance, an activity known as ‘doping’. There are five types of doping classes (banned drugs), the most common being stimulants and hormones. Although they’re performance-enhancing, they have numerous health risks and are banned by sports’ governing bodies. So what’s the difference between these and social drugs?

Doping

Most professional sportspeople are regularly drug tested. Photo courtesy of BBC Sport

Some sportspeople try to gain an advantage by using performance-enhancing drugs. This is known as doping. Many performance-enhancing drugs are banned by sports' governing bodies. There are 5 'doping classes', which are categories of banned drugs:

Doping class	Effect on performance	Dangerous side-effects
Stimulants	Make athletes more alert and mask fatigue [Fatigue: Extreme tiredness caused by physical activity. ]	Can cause heart failure, addictive
Anabolic agents - steroids	Help athletes to train harder and build muscle	Increased aggression and kidney damage
Diuretics	Remove fluid from the body. Used : to make the weight, eg in boxing to hide other drug use	Causes severe dehydration
Narcotic analgesics	Mask pain caused by injury or fatigue which can make the injury worse	Addictive
Peptides and hormones	EPO (Erythropoietin) red blood cells - gives more energy HGH (Human Growth Hormone) - build muscle	EPO - risk of stroke or heart problems. HGH - abnormal growth, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis etc

Blood doping is injecting blood that has been removed from the body a few days earlier, enabling the blood to carry more oxygen. It is banned as it's a form of cheating. It can cause kidney and heart failure.

Beta blockers are banned in archery and shooting as they keep the heart rate low and reduce tremble in the hands.

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