Performance-Enhancing Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Performance-Enhancing Drugs - Essay Example Nowadays, sportsmen and women will go to extreme lengths to improve their athletic abilities (Mottram 18). Many sports personalities admit that the competitive desire to be victorious is unusually severe. Apart from the pleasure of benefiting individually, sports individuals share a dream to participate in large sporting events, high class teams, and the young athletes pursue the school scholarships. The common, competitive situation, made by the human culture, has caused the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs such as stimulants, sedatives, lean mass builders and painkillers among individuals taking part in sporting activities (Bahrke and Yesalis 8). The people who use the substances for enhancement may appear to have acquired gains that are physical. There has not been a thorough study on the long-term effects of performance-enhancement drugs, but evidence suggests that the short-term effects are destructive with numerous consequences like loss of scholarships, medals, el igibility, side-effects, and sometimes death. This paper will look at the performance-enhancement drugs that should be accepted in sports, and whether creatine should be illegalized in Major League Baseball Several performance enhancement drugs should be legalized in sports, they include: Lean Mass Builders This are the types of performance-enhancement substances that are used to amplify or facilitate the enlargement of lean body mass and muscles, and from time to time to lessen fats in the body. These drugs may include several human hormones, anabolic steroids, and Chromium Picolinate. Chromium Picolinate, for instance, helps an individual to make use of the body glucose. It helps an individuals’ body to access fats and convert it to energy. This drug is more useful to people who have additional body fat and they would like to lose it (Mottram 23). Stimulants They are used to stimulate an individual’s mind and body to function at the top level by increasing energy, aggression, and focus. The examples are amphetamine and caffeine. Caffeine has been for a long time been used as an aid for muscle endurance by many athletes. Caffeine lengthens the duration of fatigue that occurs in the muscles at the heightened power levels. Nowadays, caffeine is a performance-enhancing drug that is not listed as illegal for use by sports personalities. In addition it is proven that stimulants can promote endurance, enhance accuracy, and improve reaction time. The dose of caffeine and the athlete’s condition and exercise determine if the person’s performance is enhanced or not (Mottram 26). Painkillers Painkillers cover up pain that is experienced by the sportsmen so that they can keep on performing and competing without their normal pain limit. Painkillers used in sports vary from over-the-counter administered drugs to prescriptions that are powerful, such as narcotics and NSAIDs (Mottram 28). Sedatives The drugs in this category are mostly used by people who take part in sports which have the need for being steady, accurate and overcome too much discomfort and nervousness. Examples include valium, alcohol, and marijuana (Jeffrey, Jose, and Douglas 34). Diuretics These are drugs that remove water from the body. Diuretics are most often used in different t ypes of wrestling and contact sports because the sportsmen have to conform to weight restraints (Jeffrey, Jose, a