Performance-enhancing drugs and supplements are substances illegally used by athletes to improve their performances in the sports in which they participate. The World Anti-Doping Agency -- whose mission is to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against doping in sport -- produces a list of substances prohibited for use by athletes in and out of competition. The 2011 list of prohibited substances includes six major categories of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as lists of banned narcotics, cannabinoids and glucocorticosteroids. The six categories are: anabolic agents; peptide hormones, growth factors and related substances; beta-2 agonists; hormone antagonists and modulators; diuretics and other masking agents; and stimulants.
Anabolic Agents
Anabolic agents, specifically anabolic steroids, are probably the best-known performance-enhancing substances. The majority of anabolic steroids are synthetic substances that mimic the male sex hormone testosterone. They can be taken orally or injected and are used to build muscle. Abuse of anabolic steroids can lead to serious health complications, such as liver damage and infertility.
Peptide Hormones, Growth Factors and Related Substances
Examples of the substances that fall under the category of peptide hormones, growth factors and related substances include erythropoietin, luteinizing hormone, growth hormone and fibroblast growth factors. These substances, together with a host of other molecules, are banned for their ability to affect muscle, tendon or ligament protein synthesis and degradation, vascularisation, energy utilization, regenerative capacity or fiber type switching.
Beta-2 Agonists
Beta-2 agonists are commonly used to treat asthma. They promote smooth muscle relaxation, resulting in relaxation of the bronchial passages and vasodilation in the muscle. Due to the performance-enhancing ability of these drugs, athletes who suffer from asthma have to apply for permission to take beta-2 agonists. The permitted forms are salbutamol and salmeterol. However, detection of especially high levels of these permitted forms also leads to disqualification from competition.
Hormone Antagonists and Modulators
The hormone antagonist and modulators that are prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency fall into four classes: aromatase inhibitors, selective estrogen receptor modulators, other anti-estrogenic substances, and agents modifying myostatin function. The prohibited substances in this category include drugs used to treat cancer, osteoporosis and infertility. Myostatin inhibitors promote the production of muscle.
Diuretics and Other Masking Agents
Diuretics and other masking agents are used to impair or conceal the detection of a banned substance in urine, according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Diuretics are also prohibited for their ability to enhance rapid weight loss. Diuretics are able to dilute the presence of a banned substance by increasing urine production, whereas other masking agents work by inhibiting the excretion of a banned substance or by making it difficult to detect prohibited substances in laboratory tests.
Stimulants
Stimulants refer to a group of drugs that increase alertness and physical activity by increasing heart rate, breathing and brain activity. Examples include amphetamine, bromantan and phenmetrazine. Traces of some stimulants are allowed, such as those used in certain medications. These include adrenaline, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
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