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create euphoria in the taker. With the constant pressure
faced by professional sports people, any method of stress
relief must be alluring. In the American study, it was
reported that 15% of the players who had misused drugs in
their careers were still at it after retirement.
Painkillers have also been associated with a range of health
risks to the internal organs. There is evidence that they can
damage the heart in certain people, and that they attack
the stomach lining in such a way that causes irritation and
indigestion. They also make the kidney and liver work
much harder. These side effects generally only become
pronounced when the medication is used over prolonged
periods, but they are clear dangers for addicts.
So despite the obvious dangers of this “epidemic”, as Fifa’s
chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak has labeled the use of
painkillers, why do players continue to abuse them at such
rates?
The pressure to perform and play is the obvious reason. In
an interview for the BBC, former German international Jens
Nowotny explained that players feel they are letting down
the team if they don’t play through pain.
“It’s hard when someone from the club comes and says it’s
important that you play and the team and the club needs
you - it’s your decision but the pressure from people around
- you can’t ignore it,” he said.
“And the doctors are under pressure too.”
This opinion on doctors is shared by Dr. Dvorak.
“The team doctors, most of them they are under pressure
between the diagnosis and the appropriate treatment
between the pressure to bring the player on the pitch, if
they take them too long out they might be out of a job,” said
Dr. Dvorak.
Players can also be compelled to play on because if they
miss a match, they may not get back into the side.
There is no simple answer to this problem in sport. It appears
to be endemic, and Dr. Dvorak notes that younger players
copy the older ones by taking painkillers preventatively and
without medical approval.
“Football has to wake up because the youngsters are
mimicking the older ones. We have NSAID abuse in the
under-17 age competitions by something like 16 to 19 per
cent of players. This for me is even more alarming,” he
said.
Perhaps with greater insight into the long-term
consequences of painkiller abuse the sports community
can arrest this growing trend.
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