Final answer:
Anti-doping is the effort to prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports, due to health risks and ethical concerns. Strict regulations and testing by international sports organizations ensure fairness, with doping considered not only harmful but also a form of cheating. Use of such drugs carries severe health risks, including heart disease and aggression.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anti-doping refers to the set of policies and practices implemented in sports to prevent and combat the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Due to the health risks associated with PEDs like anabolic steroids, the equality of opportunity for athletes, and the integrity of sport, organizations like the International Olympic Committee have enacted strict regulations against doping. These organizations consider doping not only a health concern but also an ethical violation, tantamount to cheating, which undermines the fairness and spirit of competitive sports.
The first drug tests for athletes were introduced in the 1960s, and the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999 significantly improved the detection of doping in sports. The use of PEDs carries not only the risk of severe and sometimes irreversible health effects but also imposes physiological stress on the body, which can result in detrimental and unpredictable outcomes, including infertility, aggressive behavior, cardiovascular disease, and brain cancer.
While substances like anabolic steroids might enhance muscle mass and performance, they also pose serious health risks, such as increased aggression, altered cholesterol levels, heart damage, and other severe side effects. Consequently, major collegiate and professional sports organizations, including the U.S. Olympic Committee and Major League Baseball, have banned their use and imposed strict penalties for violations.