Therapeutic Use and Chronic Abuse of CNS Stimulants and Anabolic Drugs

Abstract

The available evidence suggests that affective disorders, such as depression and anxiety, increase risk for accelerated cognitive decline and late-life dementia in aging individuals. Behavioral neuropsychology studies also showed that cognitive decline is a central feature of aging impacting the quality of life. Motor deficits are common after traumatic brain injuries and stroke, affect subjective well-being, and are linked with reduced quality of life. Currently, restorative therapies that target the brain directly to restore cognitive and motor tasks in aging and disease are available. However, the very same drugs used for therapeutic purposes are employed by athletes as stimulants either to increase performance for fame and financial rewards or as recreational drugs. Unfortunately, most of these drugs have severe side effects and pose a serious threat to the health of athletes. The use of performance-enhancing drugs by children and teenagers has increased tremendously due to the decrease in the age of players in competitive sports and the availability of various stimulants in many forms and shapes. Thus, doping may cause serious health-threatening conditions including, infertility, subdural hematomas, liver and kidney dysfunction, peripheral edema, cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial ischemia, thrombosis, and cardiovascular disease. In this review, we focus on the impact of doping on psychopathological disorders, cognition, and depression. Occasionally, we also refer to chronic use of therapeutic drugs to increase physical performance and highlight the underlying mechanisms. We conclude that raising awareness on the health risks of doping in sport for all shall promote an increased awareness for healthy lifestyles across all generations.

Annual banned‐substance review 16th edition—Analytical approaches in human sports drug testing 2022/2023

“…The health risks and, occasionally, potentially also performancelimiting aspects 147 associated with the misuse of diuretics or masking agents, stimulants, and/or narcotics are well established, and yet both attitude towards their use and proven misuse exist among elite athletes and recreational sportspersons. [148][149][150] of-concept approach for analyzing 13 stimulants with urine and sweat as matrices. 151 Following cation-exchange SPE and derivatization, the amphetamine-like target analytes were derivatized and subjected to GC-MS in selected ion monitoring mode, enabling the detection of substances at LODs between 1.5 and 2.5 ng/mL in urine and 1.5-5 ng/mL in sweat, thus demonstrating appropriate sensitivity of the assay for the selected compounds.…”

“…The health risks and, occasionally, potentially also performance‐limiting aspects 147 associated with the misuse of diuretics or masking agents, stimulants, and/or narcotics are well established, and yet both attitude towards their use and proven misuse exist among elite athletes and recreational sportspersons 148–150 . Consequently, comprehensive routine ITP procedures covering the enormous breadth of compounds subsumed under these drug classes at required performance levels are essential for modern anti‐doping laboratories.…”

Competence in Sports Pharmacy among Pharmacy Students in Norway

“…Acquiring higher physical and mental capacity for better performance, and overcoming physical and mental challenges, such as injury and stress, could lead athletes to proper and improper use of medications [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Many drugs [ 11 , 12 ] and dietary supplements [ 13 , 14 ] have been recognized to have performance-enhancing effects and are misused intentionally or unintentionally by athletes [ 15 ].…”