Performance enhancing drugs in sport Essay

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Records have been broken constantly and athletes get better as the years go on. But the main question is, what is it that is giving these athletes of today such a big competitive edge on the ones in the past. The athletes may have gotten more talented, but the doctors and performance enhancing drugs have also become more advanced as the years passed as well. Performance enhancing drugs have impacted sports in a way that nobody seems to realize, and they will continue to do that for the many years to come in the future years to come.
Performance enhancing drugs, or "PED's" are any substance taken by an athlete to improve his/her performance and gain an athletic edge on their opponents and teammates. The use of PED's gives athletes an edge on competition that is potentially unfair, and that is why they're so controversial in the world of sports today. Besides steroids there are several different kinds of PED's including Anabolic steroids, Androstenedione, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), Erythropoietin, Divretis, Creatine, and Stimulants.
Each of these substances may help you out and give you the edge you are looking for but in the end they will cause serious damage to you due to the high risk of using them. Here is what some do and the risk of them. Androstenedione is a drug that allows athletes to train harder and recover quicker from intense workouts the risks are acne, decrease in sperm cells, shrinking in testicles, and masculinization in females who take it. Another one is HGH, this drug is only available by prescription from a doctor and is consumed by injections. The risks of this one are cardiomyopathy, which is weakening of the heart muscles, along with muscle weakness, and joint pain. Next is Erythropoietin, this is taken to increase the movement of oxygen throughout your muscles taking this drug may result in death, heart attacks, or strokes. Lastly is Stimulants,
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stimulants are taken to improve endurance, increase alertness, and decrease fatigue. Yet this also can cause strokes, dehydration, convulsions, heart attack, and heart palpitations.
The use of PED's have been a problem since the 1960's. For example, O.J. Simpson played in the 60's and he use to lead the league in all-time rushing yards, he is now the 21st on the list. (ESPN.COM). That was over 50 years ago. Also there have been huge cases of steroid use with some big time athletes. One in particular was Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds broke the single season homerun record in 2001 and the all-time homerun record in 2007. But, Bonds was tested for PED's and in 3 tests it came up positive that he took anabolic steroids. He claims that he didn't know they were steroids, and his trainer gave him them without informing him about the drugs and medications he was giving him. This here is just one case of PED use and it is 2 records that have been broken by this man.