Attitude and practice of substance misuse and dietary supplements to improve performance in sport

ABSTRACT

The knowledge of using performance-enhancing drugs and supplements is caused by psychological and social dynamics. Moreover, athletes used pharmaceuticals to improve their performance, which is commonly known as doping. Doping in sports is the “use of prohibited techniques and/or the assumption of prohibited substances by athletes in order to increase physical performances”. If an individual believes that capacity is not related to commitment, then they are more exposed to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This misuse is ethically and legally incorrect. We will agree that sport is essentially under the current anti-doping campaign executed by a coordinated alliance between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), law enforcement authorities and sports organizers. Doping is a public health issue and not simply a problem inside the professional sports community. Opinions are spreading in support of liberalization of doping. Some are based on the circumstances that currently the values of equality and health are not protected and, therefore, the liberalization of doping doesn’t result in a change in the current situation. Indeed, the prohibitionist attitude involves the search for substances and methods of administration increasingly dangerous. This review is a portrait of this issue and explores some arguments concerning various aspects of the problem.

KEYWORDS:

• Performance-enhancing substances
• supplements
• sport
• education
• health

Acknowledgments

No sources of funding were used to assist this study. The author have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study. Author would like to thank Elena Ascione, English teacher, graduated in foreign languages for proofreading the article.