Performance Enhancing Drugs

Drug use among athletes has become a common action. Many athletes have or still use performance-enhancing drugs. Not all of these drugs are illegal. In fact, many of these products are available at nutrition stores or on the Internet. Performance-enhancing drugs are used to give athletes an edge. Whether this edge is in competition or in self-esteem, consequences play no part. Why would any athlete disregard consequences and consider using performance-enhancing drugs? For many, the possibility of unlimited gains is enough reason to justify disregard to consequences and use of drugs.
Since the 1950's athletes have been using steroids. In the past two decades more drugs have become available. These new drugs produce similar results to those of
As performance enhancing substances became more available, their use spread to college athletes. More recently, high school and junior high athletes have admitted taking performance-enhancing substances. Two studies have shown the rate of use of anabolic steroids by high school athletes to be approximately 10 percent. 5·6 A study published in 1998 found a 3.5 percent rate of use of anabolic steroids in the junior high population. Clearly, the issue of performance enhancing drugs, once confined to elite athletes, has trickled down to the youth sports world.
The first part of the solution is recognition. Most young athletes will not volunteer to their pediatrician that they use performance-enhancing drugs, offering this information only when asked. This is most easily and naturally addressed during the pre participation physical examination by asking, "Are you using any substance to improve your sports performance?" This often leads to a broader discussion with the athlete and his or her
According to a well-known sports adage, "The best defense is a good offense." This point is especially true concerning the prevention of performance-enhancing drug use among young athletes. As previously mentioned, the increasingly competitive climate of youth sports encourages the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Whereas athletes on higher levels are routinely tested for performance-enhancing drug use, the only effective means of discouraging children and adolescents is aggressive intervention through education on a personal and global level. When the pediatrician is faced with a young athlete who asks about performance-enhancing drugs, discussing the most recent research and case reports regarding the side effects of these products and mentioning the lack of any significant information regarding product safety is helpful. On a more general level, the pediatrician can make a significant difference by speaking to the athletic director or the local school administrator and recommending that the school adopt a policy against product