In the recent years, there has been a rise in the use of performance- enhancing drugs in sports. What are the consequences of doping for athletes? What measures should be taken to combat this issue?
The number of doping cases reported in sports has seen a drastic surge in the past few years. The major concern this trend brings is the long-term medical implications on the health of the athletes, particularly as they get older. Implementation of the latest technologies and controls can counter this issue to a good extent.
The intake of performance- increasing substances, though providing immediate results often has adverse effects on the health. These drugs boost their performance but harms the body as they leave the hormone levels in the body disproportionate. Not only this is detrimental to muscle strength but also leads to serious consequences like cancer and impotency. This is particularly true that many famous sprinters who had taken drugs in their prime suffered severe health issues in their later years.
Effective technology in diagnostics of such drugs in human body and efficient law enforcement procedures could effectively eliminate this issue. Thousands of drugs hit the market every day and we lack proper technological advancements in the same pace to diagnose them in a body. If new advancements in this field are developed to test for any performance enhancing drugs, then the agencies can promptly take actions including suspension or permanent ban of athletes. This could drastically reduce the popularity of such drugs.
In conclusion, the usage of substances by athletes to enhance their performance is prevalent these days which has led to pressing issues of irrefutable health concerns in them as they become older. This illicit activity can be mitigated to some extent by effective technological interventions and timely responses.