Sports people may abuse different types of substances to enhance their performance in their competitive games. In order to maintain sports ethics some substances are prohibited in sports. They are:
Stimulants: Stimulants like amphetamines are the common category of drugs which are mostly abused in sports. They energize the nervous system and enhances cardiovascular activity, decreasing tiredness and muscle fatigue, and increasing aggression, stamina and competitiveness.
Narcotics: Narcotics do not have considerable performance enhancing ability, but they are used to decrease pain and make athletes to progress in spite of injury like leg aches in long distance events. Banned substances are morphine, methadone and pethidine.
Anabolic androgenic steroids: Anabolic steroids are nandrolone, oxandrolone, stanozolol, testosterone, metenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and associated substances. They improve performance by enhancing muscle size and strength, and make athletes to get trained harder and longer, with increased recovery between training sessions and boosts aggression and competitiveness.
Beta-2-agonists: Drugs like salbutamol and clenbuterol, when consumed orally, increase muscle mass enhancing muscular strength.
Diuretics: Diuretics like frusemide, bumetanide, chlorthalidone, triameterene, hydrochlorothiazide are more likely to be abused by those competing in weight classes like weight lifiting, boxing, wrestling and horse-racing, to attain quick weight loss. They are also used to improve activity of prohibited drugs to conceal their presence in the urine by creating a significant dilution.
Peptide hormones: Peptide hormones are also known as sports designer drugs and are mostly abused by athletes. Human chorinonic gonadotrophin (HCG) is taken to provoke the production of endogenous testosterone. Recent data from studies on weight lifters indicate that even though it increases lean body mass, it will not considerably increase muscular strength.