Performance enhancing drugs in sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Performance enhancing drugs in sports - Essay Example The use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs has become an all too common occurrence in sports today at all levels, from high school to professional. These substances have the effect of enabling athletes to achieve somewhat superhuman levels of strength and endurance. The pressure on today’s athletes to perform and compete at very high levels is intense, and performance enhancing drugs are a very tempting way to easily push one’s natural performance capabilities to otherwise impossible levels. Unfortunately, they exact a tremendous toll on the athlete’s physical wellbeing, as well as on the integrity of the sport in which it is being utilized. The health ramifications of performance enhancing substances are staggering. They have the potential to wreak havoc on many of the systems in the human body; and have been known to lead to severe and irreversible physical damage to the body, and even death. The drugs constitute substantial risk to any athlete who chooses to utilize them. The peer pressure and other stress to perform in today’s sports environment nevertheless lead many to take that risk. Certainly, the short term potential rewards, often including fame and fortune, can be quite tempting. After all, those athletes in many professional sports who really perform at the top of their game are certain to eventually command unimaginable sums of money. The impact of performance enhancing drugs on the integrity of the game is also a major problem, as those who play clean and push their natural performance levels as far as possible still are often unable to compete with those utilizing these substances.