Performance enhancing drugs a sports epidemic

Kristen King // Staff Writer

Whenever I watch sports, I expect each player or team to perform at their healthiest and strongest abilities. What I don’t expect, however, is some of these players using a shortcut to enhance their abilities in the game.

While it has been fairly moderated in the past, the use of performance enhancing drugs has started to rise again in many sports. From football to mixed martial arts, many athletes use these drugs to ensure their body is at 110 percent for every competition.

It’s understandable that these men and women would like to perform in an elite level, but that could be achieved if they simply trained with diligence and repetition. There is no need to take a supplement or pill that unfairly increases their ability to perform, which could also have detrimental effects on the body.

“From research that I’ve seen, PEDs are horrible for the body in general,” said FIU Health Services nurse Rachel Gozun. “It comes with a number of risks for both men and women like liver and heart disease.”

While the majority of performance enhancing situations seem to come from the professional stage of sports, we can’t forget that it affects multiple stages, even the collegiate stage. College athletes partake in performance enhancing drugs in their specific field to “get ahead of the game.”

According to the FIU Student Athlete Handbook, the sports medicine staff discourages the use of these drugs and instead prefers an optimal diet and continuous workout sessions. For those who engage in this behavior, there are stern consequences handed down to them from the sports department.

“There is no substitute for hard work and sound nutritional habits,” states the handbook.

It is unbelievably important for schools like FIU to take this stance against these drugs. We need to ensure that our athletes are performing at their best, but honest, abilities for the sake of sports.

Hopefully, in the near future, we can put an end to the use of these performance enhancers and go back to performing in sports the right way.

Kristen’s Korner is a column focusing on issues that affect students interested in sports. For questions, commentary or suggestions, email Kristen at Kristen.king@fiusm.com.

Photo by Jamie, retrieved via Flickr.