Performance-enhancing drugs in combat sports -
Some sports, federations or countries may have many variations when it comes to their list of rules and enforcement of them.
When it comes to combat sports, many fighters have been caught and appropriately punished sometimes for their transgressions, yet PEDs are still prevalent in fighting and it seems that everyone knows it. The incentive to use performance enhancing drugs in most sports is usually due to a certain competitive spirit, peer pressure and the amount of money one can earn.
There are many cases of athletes not knowing that they are taking a banned substance that their coaches have been administering to them. An athlete may also know, or assume, that the rest of their competition at higher levels of the sport are taking PEDs and think that they themselves have to take PEDs in order to reach those elite levels.
Also knowing that reaching elite levels of your sport would come with bigger contracts and sponsorship deals would incentivize an athlete to take PEDs since everyone knows that money is one of the biggest influences.
When it comes to combat sports, you are sometimes putting years of your life or your life entirely on the line for your sport. Serious injury usually occurs anytime a fighter hops into the cage, ring or mat, and the use of PEDs to give someone an advantage is much more dangerous in the world of combat sports than in any other sporting arena.
Imagine being an amateur fighter going against another who is now able to increase his stamina and power due to drug use. That fighter has, without any increase in skill level or training, decreased your chances of victory and increased your chances of living less.
Of course, the use of PEDs in other sports can endanger the opposition especially in contact sports like football, but in the context of combat sports, it is much more of a health hazard to go up against an enhanced athlete.
Testing for PEDs would seem like a no-brainer. In my opinion, the UFC has the best standard for testing in the world of combat sports with its use of USADA testing protocols that allow for their fighters to be tested at random for a massive list of compounds through their use of blood and urine analysis.
But even with the chance of being randomly selected for testing, athletes are still being caught. Unfortunately, there are many ways around some of the most stringent testing protocols.
Certain compounds are nearly impossible to detect as the tests being used are only able to detect known compounds. If an athlete is able to skirt around testing by their use of a novel substance, the tests will not be able to detect it.
There are also compounds with half-lives less than a few hours which, even with random testing, could allow an athlete to get rid of a compound and its detectable metabolites within a day or two.
Testing of athletes weekly and randomly would cost any organization millions of dollars per year as the tests can be quite expensive and an immense inconvenience to the athletes. It would seem that current testing does catch the fighters who are cheating, but those are the fighters who manage to get caught.
Some fighters may have their PEDs under control and know how to manage detection times and get around testing. Fighters who do get caught usually face fines and lengthy suspension, but it has been shown in the Journal of Physiology that short term uses of PEDs can still boost performance later on due to the increased myonuclei retention and effects on muscle memory.
In that case, should the fighters who have been caught still be able to return? It is hard to create perfect testing parameters and punishments for PED use and it leaves a questionable aura around many fighters and organizations because no one can truly know besides the fighters themselves.
It can be hard to trust fighters to stay honest as it seems that some who have been adored by fans have been caught at some point with a banned substance. At times I think it would be easier to get rid of all the rules and just let fighters beat each other up as juiced up muscle monkeys.
Doping with anabolic steroids is banned by most sports leagues and groups. And it is not legal. It's never safe to buy anabolic steroids from a drug dealer. The drugs could be tainted or labeled the wrong way. Androstenedione, also called andro, is a hormone everyone's body makes.
The body turns andro into the hormone testosterone and a form of the hormone estrogen. Andro can be made in a lab. Some drugmakers and workout magazines claim that andro products help athletes train harder and recover faster.
But some studies show that andro doesn't boost testosterone. They also show that muscles don't get stronger. Andro is legal to use only if a health care provider prescribes it. It's not legal to use as a doping drug in the United States.
Andro can damage the heart and blood vessels in anyone who takes it. This raises the risk of a serious problem that can happen when the heart doesn't get enough blood, called a heart attack. It also raises the risk of a condition that keeps the brain from getting enough oxygen, called a stroke.
Heart attack and stroke can be deadly. Athletes take human growth hormone, also called somatotropin, to build more muscle and do better at their sports.
But studies don't clearly prove that human growth hormone boosts strength or helps people exercise longer. A health care provider can prescribe human growth hormone for some health reasons.
It is given as a shot. Erythropoietin is a type of hormone. It treats anemia in people with severe kidney disease. It raises the level of red blood cells. It also raises the levels of the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to the body's organs, called hemoglobin.
Taking erythropoietin improves how oxygen moves to the muscles. It's common for athletes who exercise for long amounts of time to use a lab-made type of erythropoietin called epoetin. In the s, it was common for pro cyclists to use erythropoietin. But the drug may have played a role in at least 18 deaths.
Doping with erythropoietin may raise the risk of serious health problems. These include stroke, heart attack and blocked arteries in the lung. Diuretics are drugs that change the body's balance of fluids and salts.
They can cause the body to lose water, which can lower an athlete's weight. Diuretics also may help athletes pass drug tests that check for signs of drugs in the urine.
They dilute the urine and may hide traces of drugs. Diuretics can cause side effects when you take them at any dose — even at doses that health care providers suggest.
These drugs make athletes more likely to have side effects such as:. Nutrients are vitamins and minerals in foods that are good for you. Some people try to get more nutrients from products called supplements. Supplements are sold in stores and online as powders or pills. One supplement that's popular with athletes is called creatine monohydrate.
The body makes its own creatine too. It helps muscles release energy. Creatine supplements may help athletes gain small, short-term bursts of power.
Creatine seems to help muscles make more of an energy source called adenosine triphosphate ATP. ATP stores and moves energy in the body's cells. It's used for activity that involves quick bursts of movement, such as weightlifting or sprinting.
But there's no proof that creatine helps you do better at sports that make you breathe at a higher rate and raise your heart rate, called aerobic sports.
Some athletes try to gain weight so they can get bigger in size. Creatine may help you put on weight over time. But that might be due to the extra water that creatine causes the body to hold on to. Water is drawn into muscle tissue, away from other parts of the body.
That puts you at risk of getting dehydrated. Studies show that it's safe for healthy adults to use creatine for a short or long time. It's important to use the doses that creatine makers suggest on the package.
Stimulants boost the levels of some chemicals in the brain. They also make the heart beat faster and raise blood pressure. Common stimulants include caffeine and drugs called amphetamines. Cold medicines often have a stimulant in them. Energy drinks are popular among many athletes.
They often have high doses of caffeine and other stimulants. The street drugs cocaine and methamphetamine also are stimulants. Some athletes may seem to get an edge from performance-enhancing drugs. But doping can have bad effects on health. In general, the long-term effects of performance-enhancing drugs haven't been studied enough.
And any short-term perks come with risks. Doping is banned by most sports leagues and groups too. There is a problem with information submitted for this request.
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