Pharmacological Aids

Pharmacological aids are drugs, both legal and illegal, that are used to enhance an athlete’s performance. Reliance on drugs, or doping, is defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as: • “The use of an artifice, whether substance or method, potentially dangerous to athletes’ health and/or capable of enhancing their performances.”

Pain-masking Drugs

Pharmacological aids to enhance performance include pain-masking drugs. • These drugs include morphine, heroin, pethidine, and dextropropoxyphene. • They work by interfering with the brain’s ability to sense pain, blocking the nerve impulses that normally travel to the brain. • Side effects include addiction and possible serious injury because the body’s natural response to pain is blocked.

Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids are also classified as pharmacological aids. • They are synthetic versions of the male hormone testosterone. • Non-medical use of anabolic steroids is illegal and banned by most major sports organizations. • No enhancement of athletic performance has been truly demonstrated as a result of steroid use, other than an increase in lean body mass. • Harmful side effects include liver damage and increased aggressive behaviour

Prohormones

Prohormones, a type of androgenic steroid, are pharmacological aids that are banned by most sport-governing bodies. • They either convert to testosterone or simulate it. • Androstenedione is touted to increase physical power and decrease body fat. • There is little support for this claim and harmful side effects include stunted growth and increased aggressive behaviour.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

HGH is produced by our bodies naturally, yet some athletes seek to raise its level in their bodies by injecting synthetic preparations. • Extra amounts of HGH are believed to increase muscle mass, strengthen bones, limit weight gain, and improve aerobic endurance. • The effectiveness of HGH remains unproven, however. • High use of HGH can lead to heart, kidney, and liver problems as well as skeletal abnormalities.

Erythropoietin (EPO)

EPO, a natural protein hormone produced by the kidneys, stimulates the production of red blood cells. It can also be manufactured and injected. • Synthetic EPO has been shown to increase hemoglobin levels, which increases the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells. • EPO has been linked to the professional cycling world, especially in the high-profile case of Lance Armstrong. • EPO is on the banned substance list. • Because EPO increases red blood cell count, it causes the heart to work harder, which in turn increases the risk of cardiac failure.

Physiological Aids

A physiological aid is any substance or technique used by an athlete that directly influences the physiological capacity of a particular body system, thereby improving performance. • Physiological aids include blood doping and drug masking. Both practices are banned by sportgoverning bodies, including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Blood Doping

Blood doping involves the intravenous administration of blood, red blood cells, and related blood products to raise the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity, thus enhancing aerobic athletic performance. • Athletes may use their own blood or someone else’s. Blood is removed from an athlete, stored for six to eight weeks, and then reinfused into the athlete from one to seven days before competition. • Following the infusion, cardiorespiratory endurance performance is improved. • The practice was popular in the 1970s and 1980s and has been widely replaced by EPO.

Drug Masking

Drug masking is the practice of using certain drugs to mask or reduce the presence of banned substances. • Drug masking includes the use of agents to dilute the concentration of banned drugs in the bloodstream, and diuretics, which increase the amount of urine produced and therefore can dilute the concentration of banned substances in the urine tested. • Any technique used by an athlete to escape detection of the use of banned substances, including substitution of urine samples, is prohibited.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is a sport-governing body that promotes and coordinates at the international level the fight against doping in all its forms. • Through this agency, the Olympic Movement and the world’s public authorities have intensified their efforts to keep drugs out of sport. • Because new methods of drug testing are continually being developed and current ones improved, athletes who use banned substances and methods run a high risk of detection.

Drug-Testing in Competitive Sports

Drug testing in some form occurs in all sports, both in and out of competition, throughout the year. • The kinds of drugs that are tested for and the rigour with which they are tested vary by sport. • National and international level athletes can be tested anytime, anywhere. • In the case of Olympic-level and major international competitions, testing positive for a prohibited substance means automatic disqualification and often more severe penalties, such as being banned from future competition.

The Prohibited List

Illegal ergogenic substances and techniques are on the Prohibited List. • The Prohibited List is the international standard identifying substances and methods prohibited in sport. • The International Olympic Committee first began publishing the Prohibited List in 1968. • Since 2004, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has been responsible for updating the list every year