Ethical considerations in the use of practices employed to enhance performance.

Nutritional and dietary enhancement procedures. Ethical considerations Illegal erogenic practices Medico- legal considerations Training, performance and recovery Diet and nutrition –legal supplements and diet manipulation

Nathan Brown Before After Did H.G.H play a role?? More importantly, should it ?

Performance enhancement various substances, chemical agents, or procedures designed to provide an advantage in athletic performance. Legal Illegal (use a supportive news article here)

ERGOGENIC AIDS Practices or substances – legal or illegal – that improve performance. A search on “erogenic aids” and athletic performance will yield over 20,000 books and related articles. For years there has been a race to keep athletes breaking world records and creating new physical abilities thorough an individuals ability to train recover and perform.

The main players. Stimulants = food groups / drugs that excite the CNS. Beta Blockers = Chemicals / drugs used to slow the heart and prevent tremors. Narcotic analgesics = used for masking pain Diuretics = rapid weight loss. Anabolic agents = Protein building agents. Peptide hormones = promote muscle and bone development and mask the use of other illegal performance enhancing drugs. Blood Doping = when red blood cells and increased either by blood infusion or erythropoietin (EPO) to increase the body’s oxygen- carrying capacity.

Since the 60’s athletes have been attempting to cheat the testers and systems to improve their results and performances. Due to this he medical commission of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) did the first drug testing on Mexico (1968). The first list of banned substances was developed. The current list is expensive and can be viewed at

W.A.D.A. (world anti doping agency) Athletes continues to take illegal performance enhancers. They very quickly learnt hoe to beat the systems. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry where introduced and testing become much more valid and hard to beat. The IOC then developed comprehensive operating procedures and standards for labs to ensure uniform drug testing. There are 24 accredited labs.

Illegal performance enhancers. See Nelson page 333 Table 14.1.

Ethical definitions Ethics = Ethics offers conceptual tools to evaluate and guide moral decision making. Morality = refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons. Moral standards = Right is right and wrong is wrong! Ethical Dilemma = A situation where a course of action or behaviour is unclear and where reasonable people cannot agree on what ought to be done or not done.

Performance enhancing practices. Legal: Use of intravenous drips for rehydration. Use of local anaesthetics (pain killers). Injecting vitamin supplements. Caffeine. Illegal: Use of performance enhancing drugs (EPO, hGH, anabolic steroids). Gene therapy and manipulation. Wayne Judge 2005 ACHPER conference

Intravenous drips for rehydration. Recent high profile examples of use: 1.Justin Henin-Hardin (2003 Us open) 2.Brisbane Lions AFL Club 2001

“It was an incredible achievement considering just hours earlier she lay exhausted on a bed in the Flushing Meadows infirmary with an intravenous drip in her arm, suffering cramps and dehydration”.

Ethical and moral concerns centre on the health and hygiene risks associated with the practice, and the negative perceptions associated with the procedure. Wayne Judge 2005 ACHPER conference

Local Anaesthetics (Pain killers ) Recent high profile examples of use : Brisbane Lions 2003 AFL grand final. Wide spread use in many sports. Used to mask pain so they can continue to participate in competition or training whilst injured. Must be administered according to WADA rules. Wayne Judge 2005 ACHPER conference

Pain causes unclear Future plan for Aker Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews famously joked after the 2003 premiership about the number of painkilling injections administered before and during the game. They used 18 vials of painkillers today. Usually, they only use a couple." He claims Dr Sando gave him "three or four injections of local anaesthetic".

Pain Killers. Ethical issues of concern: –The risk of further injury and aggravation to the condition or injury of the athlete. –How does it differ from the use of performance enhancing drugs which are banned? –The issues of informed consent? –Potential abuse when stakes are higher (E.G grand finals VS round 5 game.) Wayne Judge 2005 ACHPER conference

Vitamin Injections. This practice is widespread in almost every professional sport. Used by athletes to to aid performance and assist recovery. This is not illegal and in fact endorsed by the AIS.

Vitamin Injections. Ethical issues: –The practice is unnecessary – oral vitamin supplements can be used. –The health and hygiene risks associated with injectables. –The negative perception associated with the practice of injecting substances – tarnishes the image of the sport. Wayne Judge 2005 ACHPER conference

“Lungs designed to saturate oxygen for endurance running; arms custom- built for golf, tennis, baseball-pitching, or javelin-throwing; knees constructed for skiing; sprinters, perhaps, with cells cloned from cheetahs, and rugby- players ditto. There is no end to the number of ways that genetic engineering will enhance athletic performance”.

Dick Pound WADA chairman. “ We will look back on Ben Johnson with his anabolic steroid scandal and say that’s like an ancient rock painting compared to what we face now with genetic engineering”.

Gene Therapy cont… This practice is banned under the WADA regulation BUT is virtually undetectable!!! Major ethical issues revolve around the yet unknown long term side effects and the notion of engineering an athlete.