Types of doping in sports

             

                   MEANING AND TYPES OF DOPING IN SPORTS

                                                                                   

                                                

Doping is the use of prohibited substance or methods to improve sports performance. It can also be defined as use of drugs or sports performance. Doping methods or substances might harm the health of athletes and might be fatal.

 

Types of Doping

 

(i)               Performance enhancing substance:

A.     Stimulants – Stimulants are a class of drugs that speed up messages travelling between the brain and body. They can make a person feel more awake, alert, confident or energetic. Stimulants include caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines and cocaine. Large doses can cause over-stimulation, resulting in anxiety, panic, seizures, headaches, stomach cramps, aggression and paranoia. Long-term use of strong stimulants can have adverse effects.

 

B.     Anabolic Steroids- Anabolic steroids are synthetic hormones that help with the growth and repair of muscle tissue. They imitate the male sex hormone, testosterone. Anabolic steroids are also misused. People who illegally use anabolic steroids often do so to increase lean muscle mass, reduce fat and speed up recovery from injury.

 

C.      Peptide hormones- Peptides stimulate the release of human growth hormone, which has an important role in muscle and bone growth. Peptides have become increasingly popular among professional and amateur athletes as they are hard to detect due to how quickly they are absorbed by the body.

 

D.     Beta-2 Agonist- As potentially performance-enhancing substances, beta-2 agonists are on the list of prohibited substances. Beta-2 agonists are contained in asthma medications. They improve breathing by widening the bronchi in the lungs. They can be administered orally or by inhalation. In high doses, they also stimulate muscle growth.

 

E.      Narcotics- Narcotic analgesics are a class of medicines that are used to provide relief from moderate-to-severe acute or chronic pain. They may also be called opiates, opioid analgesics, or narcotics. Analgesic is another name for a medicine that relieves pain. Narcotic analgesics are one of the most widely used analgesics for pain relief; however, they have been overused, overprescribed, and misused which has resulted in more than two million people in the U.S.

 

F.      Diuretics- Diuretics, sometimes called water pills, help rid your body of salt (sodium) and water. Most of these medicines help your kidneys release more sodium into your urine. The sodium helps remove water from your blood, decreasing the amount of fluid flowing through your veins and arteries. This reduces blood pressure.

 

G.     Cannabinoids- The word “cannabis” refers to all products derived from the plant Cannabis sativa. The word “marijuana” refers to parts of or products from the plant Cannabis sativa that contain substantial amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the substance that’s primarily responsible for the effects of marijuana on a person’s mental state. Drugs containing cannabinoids may be helpful in treating certain rare forms of epilepsy, nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, and loss of appetite and weight loss

 

(ii)              Physical methods

1.      Blood doping: It is the process of increasing the red blood cells by blood transfusion. Blood doping increases hemoglobin allows higher amount of energy to fuel an athlete’s muscles. This can improve stamina and performance, particularly in long distance events.

2.      Gene doping: It is the non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements or of the modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to improve athletic performance.

 

 Written by:-

Heeral Devpura