Drug Types
With such a long history of the use of performance-enhancing drugs, it is not surprising that there is a vast arsenal of drugs available to athletes for use.
Categories
Doping drugs are generally classified into four categories: stimulants and beta- blockers, anabolic agents, artificial oxygen carriers and masking agents.
Stimulants, such as caffeine, and beta-blockers, such as salbutamol (used in asthma inhalers), are used as a way of increasing energy levels and relaxing muscles respectively. Some athletes take drugs to increase the supply of oxygen to tissues, which include protein hormones and artificial oxygen carriers. Artificial oxygen carriers are substances that can do the work of hemoglobin, the oxygen carrier in blood. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a protein hormone produced in the body, which increases the delivery of oxygen to the kidney.