Drugs in sports have been around for centuries, and just recently it has grown out of control. They have been found in highly paid professionals to high school and junior school performers. A drug is anything other than food that is taken to change the way a body looks and works. There are new drugs being created and old drugs being changed so that the tests of today cannot detect them. There are many different types of drugs in sports these days and they are found in almost all athletes. What are some of the drugs that are found in today's sports and why do athletes use them? The misuse of these drugs can result in lives being ruined, either by their careers and reputations being doubted or serious health risks that can lead to death. Do these athletes know what they are doing, or are they just content on winning so much that they don't know the consequences. The use of these drugs can result in many side effects which can be spotted by the naked eye, so what are some of these drugs side effects, and are they harmful to the athlete?.
There are five classes of performance enhancing aids, nutritional aids that include amino acid supplements, carbohydrate loading, and water. These are used primarily to increase muscle tissue, energy supply, and the rate at energy produced in the muscle. The second class physiological aids are sued to increase rate of energy in the muscle and to counter act the accumulation of fatigue. They include alkaline salts, blood doping, and water. Mechanical and biomechanical aids are the third class and they are used to improve the efficiency of human movement. They include clothing, equipment, and body composition. Psychological aid is the fourth class and they include hypnosis, imagery, and stress management. The uses of these help to improve mental condition to help reduce mental factors that impair performance. The final and most dangerous class is the pharmacological aids.