Athletes Turn to Strange Drugs in Search of an Advantage

Many athletes have begun to use a strange and alarming array of legal drugs to keep themselves competitive.

Viagra works by relaxing muscles and increasing blood flow through the body, so some athletes take it to help their game, believing that it will improve lung function by increasing oxygenation of the blood to the lungs.

Other athletes take Human Growth Hormone, which can increase metabolism and protein synthesis during exercise, or even ingest baking soda, a practice called “soda doping”, to improve performance.


Sources:

* ABC News June 12, 2008