Drug Abuse and Athletes

Statistics Related to Drug Abuse and Athletes

There are different drugs that an athlete might abuse. Like any other person, an athlete can abuse alcohol, tobacco, or street drugs, such as marijuana or cocaine. The other types of drugs abused by athletes are performance enhancing drugs. Performance enhancing drug abuse is what this article will focus on.

When a story hits the news about an athlete (or many athletes) taking performance enhancing drugs everyone gets upset. That’s understandable; however, after the commotion dies down from a single event we hear very little about the issue.

In fact, solid statistics about drug abuse and athletes is hard to come by. Both the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Mayo Clinic note that, “Many,” athletes do take drugs to increase their performance. Many is not really a number. Overall, it appears that many organizations don’t know exactly how many athletes abuse drugs. Still, the general consensus is that there are enough athletes taking drug to make this an issue worth worrying about.

Types of Drugs That Athletes Abuse

According to the Mayo Clinic, following are the types of performance drugs that are commonly abused by athletes.

• Anabolic steroids
• Androstenedione
• Stimulants
• Diuretics
• Creatine

Following is some further information about three of these drugs that are especially common and dangerous.

Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids used by athletes are a form of synthetic (fake) testosterone. The main point of taking this drug is to increase both strength and muscle mass. Steroids are actually useful in some ways. Normally we only hear about the bad side of steroids. In the correct dosage amounts, steroids can reduce the amount of strain put on muscles during a hard workout, reduce the recovery time after strenuous activity, and increase muscle size. All of these are perks for athletes.

The problem with steroids is that many athletes take far more than the recommended dose. Consequences and side effects of taking more steroids than necessary include the following:

• Steroids are illegal unless you have a prescription so if you’re found with them (say you borrowed them from a friend), you could get into some legal hot water.
• Very severe acne.
• Drug addiction and dependence.
• Liver problems, tumors, and increased bad cholesterol.
• Rage, violence, and or depression.
• Risk of infection and blood transmitted diseases (for injected forms of steroids).
• Death.

Besides the above consequences and side effects, males may experience breast growth, balding, shrunken testicles, infertility, and a noticeably higher pitched voice. Besides the items listed above, females may experience head baldness but more body hair elsewhere, increased hunger, enlarged clitoris, and an increasingly deeper voice.

Androstenedione

Androstenedione is a real hormone produced by all humans naturally. Coming from the adrenal, ovaries and testicles, androstenedione converts to testosterone and estradiol.

Sythetic androstenedione is supposed to do the same thing as anabolic steroids, increase muscle mass and strength by increasing testosterone. However, some studies say that it does not work the same and may not increase muscle strength at all.

Androstenedione is also illegal and the side effects can be bad. Men may experience shrinking testicles, decreased fertility, and acne, among others. Women can also get acne and some odd male characteristics – male pattern baldness and a deepening voice are common.

Stimulants

Stimulants can include caffeine, amphetamines, ephedrine(medications like Sudafed) and street drugs such as cocaine and meth. Athletes take stimulants to feel like they have more energy or to fight fatigue. In fact stimulants can give a feeling of energy but they always come with a downer affect – meaning you may feel more awake for a bit, but then your body crashes. In reality a healthy snack would be a better stimulant choice. Many people who abuse stimulants end up with insomnia and can’t sleep well, even when their body feels tired.

Other bad side effects for males and females include heartbeat abnormalities, weight loss (so no muscle increase), brain hemorrhage, convulsions, heart attacks and more. Taking excessive stimulants can seem harmless, especially when items like caffeine are so readily available, but really, they’re bad news if you abuse them.

Drug abuse and athletes don’t mix. To recognize the signs of an athlete that may be abusing drugs take a look at this handy guide from NCAA.

For more information about how drugs can ruin, rather than enhance athletic ability take a look at the following resources.

• Article on drug abuse from an actual athlete – very interesting read.

• Sports and Substance Abuse: Offers views about athletes and drug addiction plus treatment suggestions.