performance enhancing drugs (peds)

Answer: Three types: (1) Stimulants - increase alertness, aggression and reaction speed, useful for sprinters or boxers. (2) Anabolic steroids - increase muscle mass and strength, useful for weightlifters or shot putters. (3) Beta blockers - reduce heart rate and anxiety, steady the hand, useful for archers or snooker players.

Answer: Three types: (1) Stimulants - increase alertness, aggression and reaction speed, useful for sprinters or boxers. (2) Anabolic steroids - increase muscle mass and strength, useful for weightlifters or shot putters. (3) Beta blockers - reduce heart rate and anxiety, steady the hand, useful for archers or snooker players.

Answer: EPO stimulates the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells, while blood doping involves reinfusing stored blood to increase red blood cell count. Both methods increase the number of red blood cells, which means more oxygen can be transported to working muscles. This delays fatigue and improves aerobic endurance in events like cycling and long-distance running. Health risks include blood thickening (increased viscosity), which raises the risk of blood clots, stroke and heart attack. Blood doping also carries infection risk from the transfusion process.

Answer: A boxer might use diuretics to lose water weight rapidly before a weigh-in, allowing them to compete in a lower weight category. After weighing in, they rehydrate and may fight at a weight significantly above the limit, giving them a size and strength advantage. Health risks include severe dehydration, muscle cramps, kidney damage, electrolyte imbalance and heart arrhythmias from potassium loss.

Answer: Anabolic steroids appeal to a weightlifter because they increase muscle mass and strength significantly, allowing heavier lifts and faster recovery from intense training sessions. However, they are particularly dangerous for teenage athletes because they can stunt growth by causing premature closure of the epiphyseal (growth) plates in bones, meaning the teenager may never reach their full adult height. They also cause hormonal disruption during a critical developmental period.

Answer: Stimulants increase heart rate, alertness, aggression and reduce the perception of fatigue - they speed the body up. Appropriate sport: boxing or sprinting where aggression and fast reactions are needed. Beta blockers reduce heart rate, anxiety and muscle tremors - they calm the body down. Appropriate sport: archery or snooker where a steady hand and calm focus are needed. They have opposite effects on the nervous system.

Answer: Disagree: PEDs give an unfair advantage over clean competitors, breaking the contract to compete. They damage the integrity and credibility of sport, discourage young athletes from competing fairly, and pose serious health risks that performers may feel pressured to accept. Sport should be about natural ability and training effort. Agree (limited): Some argue that if all performers had access, it would level the playing field, and that adults should make their own choices. However, this ignores the health risks, coercion pressure on clean athletes, and the fundamental purpose of sport as a test of human ability without artificial enhancement. Overall, PEDs should remain banned to protect fairness, health and sporting integrity.