Doping of young athletes: bioethico-medical aspects

Abstract

Introduction. Nowadays cruel conditions of survival in modern sports force athletes to work nearly behind the limits of organism’s physiological potentials. Necessary condition of sportsmen’s successful functioning at present shall be nearly constant very high level their fitness and results. High price of a victory in modern sport results in a number of negative outcomes, among which doping or taking prohibited in sports preparations or methods is especially troubling. In modern sports lethal cases, resulted from athlete’s using prohibited substances, are often. Thus, one of the heaviest problems of modern Olympic sports is fight with doping. Aim of the study. This review was undertaken to analyze the problem of doping in sports from the bioethical perspective. Materials and methods. This research is based on analysis of scientific and methodic literature in the field of ethics, medicine, biology, psychology and social sciences related to the sports doping. Results. Pharmacological world market is so large that it is rather difficult to select maximally effective and necessary for an optimal physical status of an athlete. It should be noted that use of some preparations as well as physical methods and manipulations, prohibited in sports first of all from medical point of view, often is not grounded and uncontrolled. These causes substantial danger for health, resulting in disablement and even death. In this connection, during several decades, international sports and medical organizations have been conducting active struggle with doping. Authors of various studies note that taking of a number of preparations results in changing of sportsmen’s behavior (especially increasing aggressiveness) and it can lead to socially dangerous situations. In youth sports, penetration of doping preparations causes anxiety. Negative effects of prohibited preparations taking by junior sportsmen is even more dangerous than in adults. Beginner athlete, through doping, actually deprives himself of further strategic perspectives in sports, because usual training methods after taking doping will not give proper results. Also, such facts extremely strongly influence on image of sports in public opinion. Conclusions. Among problems of modern sports, problem of doping is significantly complex, as far as it includes interconnected medical, jurisdictional, political, moral, organizational, social and pedagogical aspects, thus falling into the bioethical field of study. Medical aspects are conditioned by the fact that using of doping by sportsmen results in negative and in a number of lethal cases. From moral aspect, using of doping preparations contradicts to essence of sport, creates unequal conditions for achieving of sport result, is harmful for image of country and team, for international sports in general.