Running Header: At What Cause Will Athlete Stop Using Performance Enhancer

At What Cause Will Athlete Stop Using Performance Enhancer
Kha’Lashia Ketchum
Axia College of University of Phoenix
COM/120
Sandy Lacer

Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports A performance-enhancing drug in sports is a big thing these days. Athletes are using them to increase their ability to win. Ethically speaking at what cost do we say enough. Think about their lives, by continuing to take these form of enhancement what effect will they have in the long run. Maybe if we understand the types of drugs, the side effects, health risk, and consequence of taking drugs. Athletes would stop using these forms of performance-enhancer.
The type of Drugs Athletes Take Athletes use many different types of performance-enhancer in professional sports today from pills to steroids; they will even go as far as self-injecting their own blood as a dope. Blood Doping is where the athletes take there own blood and injected in their bodies to produce more oxygen in their blood in order to increase their chances of win. The positive thing about doing this is that it makes it easy for the athletes to breathe a longer time, which give them a better chance for winning. “Athletes have always been aware of the possible benefit of improving oxygen carrying capacity in endurance sport, hence many train at altitude. More recently athletes have used blood doping – in which blood is taken off, stored and later rein fused, thereby boosting the packed cell volume.” (MacAuley 1996, para 4 pg. 3). They also used diuretics to help them pass their required weight limit in order for them to compete in sports. The good thing that comes from athletes using diuretics to make the weight requirements is that they will be able to complete. As stated by MacAuley (1996) diuretics has been used and abused in sports today in which athletes uses them to reach their require weight by shed weight quickly. They also used them to increase there ability to urinated in volumes and the dilution make it hard to detect a small quantities of banned substances more difficult. Most time athletes really do not care about the risk as long as they win. Now what are the possible effects of these types of drugs?
Side Effect of Performance-Enhancing Drugs Athletes today use many different performance-enhancing drugs to increase their ability, not knowing what the side effect. Some of the effects of the type drugs are harmful in men and woman in many of the same ways. Different in many ways, in some cases it even ends in the death of the athlete. “Performance-enhancing substances are used widely by athletes despite the potential for serious adverse effects. Since the deaths of a Danish cyclist at the 1960 Olympics and of a UK cyclist at the 1967 Tour de France,” (Dhar, 2005). Then other case the side effects are different for man and woman, in man it result in the change of the bodies in ways that you could never imagine. As stated by Selig (1999) men suffer from enlargement of their prostate gland as of a result of this they have difficulty urinating and they even have obstruction of their urethra,” This is some of the problem that the man have after all of this you think they would quit. No, they just continue to use them until they have enlargement of breast tissue and a decline in their sperm production. This decline of sperm leaves them sterilized and enhances the of man nipple and breast size. Now let discuss the effects that these type of drug have on the women athletes. In woman athletes, they suffer from different side effect of these drugs because of take them. Selig (1999) stated that these drugs increase hair in the face and body, also lower their voices, clitoral enlargement. It also causes the woman breast to shrink, menstrual is irregularities and possible cessation of ovulation. After all of this would you really want the possible effect from something you yourself have put in you body. Not only are the effect different in men and women but there are some effect of these drug that are the same in both sexes. “increased body hair, beard growth or heavier beards, baldness, only skin and acne; levels of good cholesterol fall and levels of cholesterol associated with heart disease rise; blood pressure rises and body retains more fluids.” (Selig, 1999, pg 2 para 5).
Health Risk of these Drugs. With all the health risk in the world today why would a professional athletes want to cause more health risk for themselves, it is a lot of pressure to be good at sports but why risk it all for a moment of fame. The body was design to take only so much “If a self-injected form is used, you may face a higher risk of infections and diseases that are transmitted in blood, such as HIV and hepatitis.” (Mayoclinic, 2006 para 3). At what cost is win not important to athlete, if the death of ones own fellow athletes want change their mind about performance-enhancement what will. The children of the world today look at the athletes as if they where Greek gods. So maybe if one of the world children decided that some of the athlete’s abilities are so great because of the uses of drugs that may decided to take them to increase their abilities to win. As stated by the Mayoclinic staff (2006) most young athletes have the drive to compete to win can be fierce. The satisfaction of personal gain, in young athlete is often a dream to become a professional athlete in which increases the chances of them using performance-enhancer.
Consequence of Taking Performance-Enhancing Drugs In life, there are always consequences for what you do so why should sports be any different then the rest of the world. You should have to pay for what every you do in sports, but the cost should not be with your life. The Sport Council has set a rule that all athletes in professional sport should be tested for drugs. To prevent them from taking drug that has been banned or any other form of drugs. As stated MacAuley (1996) the Sports Council offers an information system so that athletes may find out about various agents and help protect themselves against the inadvertent use of a banned substance, but not only banned be any form of enhancements. Ethically, what are the consequences for using these form of performance- enhancement? Your integrity is always important when it come to life. If you can use a performance-enhancing drug to cheat your way through sports who to say you want cheat at anything you in life. Yes, you may win the competition but I must say in the long run you have lost much more.
Conclusion
After all that say and done a professional athletes has to look at the bigger picture. They may win at the sports they are playing, but they are losing much more then they are win. Win at what cost is not good for any one. You life should not be used as a tool to gamble with. In life you have a choice to make so to me athlete should make the right one. There a lot of children look up to them as Greek gods. Therefore, if the children follow in their footstep it can cause us our young people. If athletes are using performance-enhancer to win what message is that give are babies that are looking up to them, it okay to use drugs as long as you win. Death is the only outcome for this type of life.

References
Dhar, R., Stout, C., Link, M., Homoud, M., et al. “Cardiovascular Toxicities of Performance-Enhancing Substances in Sports” Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Rochester: Oct. 2005. 80(10) pg. 1307-9. Retrieved Wednesday April 4, 2007. from http://proquest.umi.com.
MacAuley, D., “Drugs in Sports” British Medical Journal 313.n7051 July 27, 1996: 211(5). Retrieved Wednesday March 28, 2007 Academic OneFile. Thomson Gale. University of Phoenix.
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Taking Performance-enhancing drugs: Are you risking your health?” Mayo Clinic Proceedings Rochester: Dec. 26, 2006 Retrieved Tuesday March 27, 2007. http://www.mayoclinic.com
Selig, R., Cozza, J., “Performance Enhancing Drugs” Andorra Pediatrics Philadelphia: June 1997 Retrieved Friday March 30, 2007 from http://www.andorrapediatrics.com