Drugs and Sporting Performance

LO: You will know - • The kinds of drugs used

• What they do• Why they are banned in international competitions

Drugs and Sport• In sport, the taking of drugs to illegally

improve performance is known as doping, and is a major problem.

• A drug is a chemical substance that brings about changes within the body. Most drugs were developed as medicines, but they all have possible side effects and often cause damage to the body if abused.

• Even a simple cold remedy can cause side effects....does anyone know what this is?

Legal BUT Harmful

•Alcohol

•Tobacco

Drugs and the IOC

Banned Drugs

• Stimulants • Narcotic Analgesics• Anabolic Agents

(steroids)• Peptide Hormones• Diuretics

Restricted Drugs

• Corticosteroids• Marijuana• Alcohol• Beta Blockers

There are a number of drugs used in sport and the IOC has put them into 2 groups

Banned DrugsStimulants• Stimulants – benefit to performer1)Speed up your reactions and increase agression2)Make you feel less pain• Stimulants – Side effects1)Feeling less pain can cause an athlete to train too

hard.2)They can lead to – high blood pressure, heart and liver

problems and strokes3)They are addictive

Amphetamines are one of the most commonly used can you name another stimulant we use everyday?

Caffeine – Found in coffee and tea!!

FACT: Caffeine used to be banned over a certain limit. However, as of the 2004

Olympics, it became a monitored substance. This means that any amount is legal, but its

use is being monitored in case it gets misused.

Narcotic Analgesics

• Narcotic analgesics – benefit to performer1)Kill pain so that the athlete can train longer and harder and when injured to improve their performance

•Narcotic analgesics – Side effect1)They are addictive with unpleasant withdrawl symptoms2)Feeling less pain can make an athlete train too hard3)They can lead to constipation and low blood pressure

The most common forms of narcotic analgesics are codeine, morphine and heroin – can someone tell me where a mild form of these are found in a product used everyday by us?

• Anabolic Agents (steroids) – Benefit to performer

1) Increased muscle size2) Allow athlete to train harder

(It is similar to what the male hormone .................... Does to the body, can anyone tell that

hormone?)

• Anabolic Agents (steroids) – Side effects

1) Can cause – high blood pressure, heart disease, infertility and cancer

2) Women may grow facial and body hair and their voice may deepen

3) Can cause long term damage to major organs of the body

4) Athletes can become very agressive

Peptide Hormones also known as Growth Hormones – they have a similar effect to anabolic agents

• Peptide Hormones – Benefit to performer1)Increase growth of muscle (improves strength and bulk)2)Bones grow bigger and faster (can cause a person to get taller)

• Peptide Hormones – side effects1)High Blood pressure and strokes2)Abnormal growth3)A loss of fertility can occur in both men and womenEPO – (Erythropoietin) has a similar effect to blood doping which will will be looking at later on in the PowerPoint.

Diuretics• Diuretics – Benefit to performer1)Make you urinate, causing weight loss2)Can flush out traces of other drugs used

•Diuretics – side effects1)Causes rapid water loss which leads to dehydration2)Due to a loss of salts in the body can lead to cramps and muscle fatigueOne sport where weight is a target is horse racing......can you think of some more???

Restricted DrugsBeta Blockers• Lower heart rate, steady shaken hands and reduce anxiety – this allows the athlete to remain calm by slowing the heart rate and breathing and control their nerves in a competition

Corticosteroids• They help reduce pain and inflamation – helping athlete to carry on with participation in sport when they have minor injuries

Alcohol• People will use a small quantity of alcohol to calm their nerves – even though this is a legal drug it is still restricted in some sports

Local Anaesthetics• They reduce pain, might be allowed for medical purposes

Marijuana• Calm athletes down by making them more relaxed, helps athletes overcome nerves

Task:

In groups - • discuss a sport/sports where drinking alcohol could be very dangerous• think of 2 sports where beta blockers may be of use to a performer • think of 2 minor injuries where corticosteroids may be of use

Sprained AnkleStrained Back

The testing procedure

Athletes have to follow strict procedures for drugs testing and these procedures mean that athletes samples can be double checked. If they are guilty however they can be banned for life!

Athletes can be tested for ........................ at ..................... Time, they do not have to be in competition. When a urine sample is taken, it is divided into ................... bottles to give an A and a B sample. If ..................... are found in sample A, then the B sample is tested to .................... - ................. the result. If the athlete is found ........................ of taking drugs, they will be .......................... from competing. .......................... to give a sample carries the same penalties as failing a drugs test. If anyone is found to have ........................ with the sample after it has been given, this also carries serious penalties.

Drugs

any

two

drugs

double

check guilty

banned

Failure

tampered

Blood DopingBlood Doping

Blood doping is an illegal process, but is sometimes used to improve the oxygen carrying capacity of the body. As a result, it could give an advantage to those involved in sports requiring endurance.

How is it Carried Out?

A few months before an important competition, up to a pint of bloodis taken from the body.The blood is then stored. In just over a week, the

body has replaced the removed blood.

Shortly before competition,the stored blood is putback into the body.

Blood doping is extremely dangerous and likely to have the following effects:

There is a high risk of infection (blood poisoning such as AIDS), as the process is not done under medical conditions.

Capillaries can become blocked due to the extra blood which is now in the system.

The kidneys have to work harder to ‘clean’ the extra blood, and may become damaged.

The cardiovascular system may become overloaded and fail to function properly.