Imagine a world where athletic greatness comes from the bottle, not from the heart. Should this be the future of sports? The use of steroids in sports bridges the gap between natural talent and artificially enhanced abilities, often with consequences. The impact of steroid use in competition has been a major debate among athletes for many years. While athletes should be free to improve their performance through performance enhancement drugs, performance enhancement drugs give an unfair advantage over others, are bad for the health of the human body, and diminishes the integrity of athletic achievements. Performance enhancement drugs give an unfair advantage over others. …show more content…
For example, Lance Armstrong used erythropoietin for many years and won multiple road cycling races. Reggie Jackson said, "You can't break records hitting 200 home runs in three or four seasons. The greatest hitters in the history of the game didn't do that," (Allen). Performance enhancement drugs boost an athletes performance so much they are beating the best players in history in a shorter amount of time. The increase of red blood cells has negative effects on your body. Performance enhancement drugs are bad for your health and have severe effects on your body. Performance enhancement drugs have long-term health effects. Overuse of HGH can increase risk of cancer and diabetes and can also cause joint pain, vision problems, and an enlarged heart (Allen). These effects not only affect you while you're taking the drugs, but also your entire life after you stop. “steroid abusers can experience changes in brain pathways and chemicals much like those associated with addiction”(Allen). Performance enhancement drugs don't only affect your muscles and blood cells, it also affects the way your brain works. PEDs affect the body’s