First, I would like to emphasize that these are solely my thoughts and does not reflect anything I learned in E25 or here at Stanford. Now that is done, this is what I think about the fusion of athletics and biotech.
Whenever I watch ESPN and learn that a new star athlete has been busted with performing enhancing drugs (I guess I am talking mainly about baseball and Olympic events here), my initial reaction is that they must not be very smart to risk their positive reputation, career, and future earning potential with one injection. I also wonder, with names such as Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds added to the PED users list, how narcissistic can someone be to ruin there already legendary status.
But, I then think about my life as a student here at Stanford. Every week of the quarter, I search for ways to get my work done faster and more efficiently. Even with my pursuit for excellence, I still find myself up until 2AM Thursday morning finishing up my E25 problem set. After weeks of doing this over and over, my body feels the affect of sleep deprivation and it becomes harder and harder to work into the wee hours of the morning. My solution? Red Bull, Rockstar, Amp, and my new favorite, Bump (I swear this stuff has to be illegal. It is highly potent, extremely effective and also addictive.)
This may be an inaccurate comparison, but I compare my consumption of these energy drinks to athletes' use of steroids. First, I drink energy drinks to get an advantage over my peers, who are probably unable to stay up as late to complete their work. This advantage over peers is the same motivation held by athletes who use steroids. Second, I willingly consume energy drinks, knowing the possible health risks posed by them in the future. These risks include nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, increased urination, abnormal heart rhythms, and stomach upset. Other adverse effects include fluid absorption into the blood and energy system, increasing the possibility of dehydration. When a high level of sugar is in the blood stream the body cannot get the water into the cells that it needs because the water is busy trying to dilute concentration of sugar in the blood stream.
These risks may not be as serious as PED use, but the though process is the same: take risks now
to get the results (grades) I want later. I also understand that there is a human characteristic to excel
and go further than the competition, no matter what profession or career path one chooses to follow.
With this mind, I applaud sporting organizations and agencies in trying to clean up steroids and other
potentially dangerous substances in sports, but I think there should be a greater focus on improvement
and development of less dangerous alternatives.
Creatine and Muscle Milk are good examples of solid alternatives. They both help athletes fulfill their
exercise regimen, but they don’t nearly have as much of a long term, negative impact as steroids and
other drugs. There is still a lot of uncertainty with methods such as gene doping, but I think this is a step
in the right direction.
Whatever the case, I am basically saying that as long as human are humans, some individuals will do whatever
it takes to succeed because that is just part of human nature. For athletes, I think the focus now should be on less
harmful ways to do that.
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