| Banned Substances |
Please see the dedicated website www.itftennis.com/antidoping for full information on the ITF Tennis Anti-Doping Programme, including a list of banned substances.
There are five main categories of drugs that are banned from sports:
Anabolic steroids - these help athletes build muscle, and to recover faster from training.
Peptide hormones - these are substances that occur naturally in the body. They produce similar effects to anabolic steroids.
Narcotic analgesics - these effect the central nervous system to reduce feelings of pain.
Stimulants - these raise the heart rate and may improve performance.
Diuretics - these help the body to lose fluids and are often used to mask the presence of other drugs.
In addition to the five main performance enhancing drugs classes above, local anaesthetics, cortico-steroids used to treat medical conditions such as asthma, and beta-blockers used to treat heart conditions, are subject to restrictions on their use.
Anabolic steroids are the most common performance enhancing drug in sport.
Anabolic steroids are drugs related to the male sex hormone testosterone. The word 'Anabolic' refers to muscle building and 'steroids' refers to the class of drugs.
Anabolic steroids were developed in the late 1930s with the main aim of treating a medical condition in men where the testes do not produce sufficient testosterone for normal growth, development and sexual functioning -hypogonadism. Medical uses of steroids include the treatment of delayed puberty, some types of impotence, and wasting of the body caused by HIV infection or other diseases.
During the 1930s, scientists discovered that anabolic steroids could facilitate the growth of skeletal muscle in laboratory animals, which led to use of the compounds first by bodybuilders and weightlifters and then by other athletes.
More than 100 different anabolic steroids have been developed, but they require a prescription to be used legally in most countries.
Enquiries relating to any specific substances, medications and Therapeutic Use Exemptions should be addressed to International Doping Tests and Management (IDTM):
Phone: +46 8 555 10 999
Fax: + 46 8 555 10 995
Email: tennis@idtm.se
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