stigma of peds: benefits outside of sport

the conversations continue! this week, our guest post comes from an individual with a career path that blends the worlds of exercise science and clinical application, providing a unique perspective on the value of peds. enjoy!

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no athlete should take peds in order to excel in competition. unfortunately, those that do abuse peds create a stigma around these drugs and perpetuates negative connotations. drugs such as epo and hgh can provide tremendous performance boosts to those athletes who use them, but when appropriately prescribed, these drugs can improve and save the lives of terminally ill patients.

one of the most commonly used peds, as pedspective has so nicely pointed out many times before, is the exogenous form of erythropoietin (epo). as seen in previous posts, epo is a hormone secreted by the kidneys that induces the production of red blood cells. when taken exogenously, it can provide excess production of red blood cells, providing an unfair advantage to athletes via enhanced oxygen carry capacity. this use has given epo doped athletes such as tyler hamilton the ability "to suffer even more that he was before" [1]. however, epo is not just used by athletes; in fact, most peds begin with humble and legitimate origins within medicine, including epo. specific to the field of oncology, epo has been shown shown to mitigate the effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-α), which aids in tumor cell destruction while simultaneously inhibiting erythropoiesis leading to anemia [2]. it even aids in correcting the anemia that occurs when one has kidney disease due to the disease’s hindering influence on erythropoiesis.

other popular drugs abused in the world of professional athletics include human growth hormone (hgh) and anabolic steroids, primarily used to increase muscle mass and strength. those who have abused these drugs in sport, such as baseball players, will forever have tainted careers and in turn, have tainted the legitimate use of these drugs. hgh and steroids play vital roles in medicine, aiding patients from children to the elderly in combatting diseases. children with growth hormone deficiency often experience stunted growth, requiring hgh prescriptions. anabolic steroids on the other hand can be used to assist those battling diseases such as cancer and autoimmune deficiency that cause extreme loss of lean muscle mass. steroids are even used in conjunction with chemotherapy in certain types of breast cancer treatment plans.

the specifics of the physiological mechanisms in which these drugs work in a clinical setting can be left for another discussion. the issue here is that the negative connotation that surrounds peds itself may not be entirely fair. outside of athletics, the effects of these pharmaceutical aids are paramount in helping save lives. bottom line: don’t criticize the drug for simply doing its job, without consideration for the context that it’s being used.

1. Hamilton, T., & Coyle, D. (2013). The secret race: inside the hidden world of the Tour de France. Bantam Dell Publishing Group.

2. Johnson, C., Cook, C., & Furmanski, P. (1990). In vivo suppression of erythropoiesis by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha): reversal with exogenous erythropoietin (EPO). Experimental hematology, 18(2), 109-113