Sunday, August 14, 2016

Performance-enhancing Drugs Do More Harm Than Good!

Competitive running has seen performance-enhancing drug (PED) use for years. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency reports that 477 American track and field athletes were tested a total of 1,202 times last year. However, even though testing is frequent there are still athletes who try to get away with PED use.

Athletes who are found to have banned substances in their possession, or who tamper with or refuse to submit to drug testing, can receive bans from the sport. Typically, any athlete who tests positive for banned substances after having served a previous ban receives a lifetime ban from the sport of athletics (track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking).

Anabolic steroids, a catch-all term for male hormones, are the oldest and still the most widely used banned drugs in sport. Nearly half of banned substances detected in drug tests are steroids.

Although PEDs can give an athlete unfair advantages on the track, they also bring adverse health effects in the long run. Many of these substances cause cardiovascular conditions, organ damage, tumors and endocrine effects, all of which do more harm to the athlete than good. ProjectKnow.com, a drug and alcohol addiction treatment resource, created an infographic to illustrate the effects of PEDs. Click on the graphic below to download it and view a larger version.

From Him, Through Him, For Him (Romans 11:36),

Paul J. Staso
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