What is Doping?
Doping means to administer drugs (a racehorse, greyhound, or athlete) in order to inhibit or enhance sporting performance.
Every athlete will tell you the drive they always have to win. Besides the satisfaction of personal accomplishment, athletes often pursue dreams of winning a medal for their country or securing a spot on a professional team.
In such an environment, the use of performance-enhancing drugs has become increasingly common.
Before you start using doping drugs, it is important to know different types of doping and risks that are associated with it.
a) Anabolic Steroids
Athletes use anabolic steroids to increase their muscle mass and strength. The main anabolic steroid hormone produced by your body is testosterone.
Testosterone has two main effects on your body:
- Anabolic effects promote muscle building.
- Androgenic effects are responsible for male traits, such as facial hair and a deeper voice.
The anabolic steroids used by athletes are often synthetic modifications of testosterone.
These hormones have approved medical uses. But improving athletic performance isn’t one of them.
Designer Steroids
Designer steroids is a class of anabolic steroids that are particularly dangerous.
synthetic steroids that have been illicitly created to be undetectable by current drug tests. They are made specifically for athletes and have no approved medical use.
Because of this, they haven’t been tested or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and represent a particular health threat to athletes.
Risks To Men
- Prominent breasts
- Shrunken testicles
- Infertility
- Prostate gland enlargement
Risk to Women
- A deeper voice, which may be irreversible
- An enlarged clitoris, which may be irreversible
- Increased body hair
- Baldness, which may be irreversible
- Infrequent or absent periods
b) Androstenedione
Androstenedione (andro) is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, ovaries and testes. It’s a hormone that’s normally converted to testosterone and a form of estrogen (estradiol) in both men and women.
Andro is available legally only by prescription and is a controlled substance. Its use as a performance-enhancing drug is illegal.
Risk to Men
- Acne
- Diminished sperm production
- Shrinking of the testicles
- Enlargement of the breasts
Risk to Women
- Acne
- Masculinization, such as deepening of the voice and male-pattern baldness
Andro can damage the heart and blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke in both men and women.
No matter how you view it, performance-enhancing drugs is a risky business.