Role of Drugs in College Athletics

This paper will discuss the role of drugs in college athletics today. Among the items to be discussed are the trends in drug abuse among college athletes today, what drugs are most popular among college athletes, the effects that various drugs have upon athletes, the reaction of the NCAA to collegiate drug abuse, and the reasons that athletes submit to drug abuse.

Athletes subject themselves to drug abuse in the expectation that it will improve their athletic performance. Many top athletes feel that reaching the top is not possible without the use of drugs, and many athletes would do almost anything short of killing themselves to attain improved performance. Though anabolic steroids have received much of the media attention, athletes abuse other drugs (Donohoe & Johnson 1-17).

Doping, the word often applied to drug use, comes from the Dutch word dop. Dop is a type of brandy made from grape skins in South Africa, though the term dop has expanded to cover other stimulating beverages. Around the turn of the century, the term doping came into being in connection with race horses and greyhounds, who were doped to reduce their chances of winning (and benefit gamblers). A major problem in modern athletics is that those supplying the drugs or advocating their use, as well as the athletes themselves, often do not understand the drugs. This lack of understanding leads athletes to use dosages greater than used in medical practices, and results in adverse physical and psycholo

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the 120 different testosterone steroids used are brands like Anavar, Pregnyl, Durabolin and Winstrol. Doctors in the United States sometimes issue prescriptions for steroids, though friends, other athletes, coaches, trainers and the black market are sometimes the source of steroids. Steroids upset the hormonal balance of the body, causing hardening and thickening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) and hastening the onset of heart attacks. Steroids also increase blood pressure by promoting water retention -- this can lead to strokes when a blood vessel bursts in the brain. To counteract the water retention (steroid bloat), athletes take diuretics (drugs which promote excessive urination to get rid of body fluids). Too much diuretic can result in the body being depleted of essential electrolytes like potassium, an ion that helps regulate heart beat, and have resulted in death of athletes. Kidney failure and cancer of the liver and kidney are other steroid results (Dolan 1-43). Steroids can breakdown muscle tissue, as well as build it. Thus, steroid use may explain injuries to the biceps, quadriceps and tendons of weight-lifters. If the tendon holding the biceps gives out, then the muscle rolls up the arm like a window sha

Category: Medical - R