[en] BACKGROUND: In the pursuit of sporting success, some elite athletes prioritise peak performance over long-term health, frequently resulting in significant and enduring health consequences. The Enhanced Games (TEG) position themselves as a bold experiment in transhumanism, advocating for the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), including methods banned by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to push the boundaries of human athletic potential. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to explore the perspectives of sport physicians, sport scientists, physiotherapists and other allied healthcare professionals on treating and supporting "enhanced athletes", with the view of informing future guidelines. METHODS: Participants were invited via email and personal contacts within sport medicine communities to complete a brief anonymous survey via QuestionPro™. Descriptive statistics were performed using Excel™ and RStudio™. RESULTS: A total of 323 healthcare professionals responded (82% were sport physicians), among whom 74% expressed a willingness to treat acute lesions and/or chronic diseases in "enhanced athletes". In comparison, a considerable minority (30%) expressed support for assisting athletes in their use of PEDs and methods under medically supervised conditions, with high consistency across professional roles. A relatively high readiness was observed in sport physicians treating acute (77% versus 58%; p < 0.01) and chronic (75% versus 63%; p = 0.11) diseases for "enhanced athletes". As far as WADA rules and/or national anti-doping laws apply, this support presupposes compliance with the code and the respective national laws to protect physicians from serious professional, legal and personal consequences. CONCLUSION: The preliminary findings align with the broader goal of fostering a sport culture that values both peak performance and the short- and long-term health of all participants. These results emphasise the necessity of implementing professional guidelines and comprehensive support systems designed to safeguard the long-term well-being of all athletes and underscore the urgent need for further research into the impact of TEG on sport and its community.
Disciplines :
Orthopedics, rehabilitation & sports medicine
Author, co-author :
Hu, Ke; Department of Sports and Health Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Schneider, Christian; Orthopaedic Centre Theresie, Munich, Germany.
Hutchinson, Mark R; Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA.
Ergen, Emin; Gloria Sports Arena, Sports Medicine Unit, Belek, Antalya, Turkey.
Geistlinger, Michael; Department of International and European Law and Fundaments of Law, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
Killoughery, Iain; Department of Sports and Health Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Braumann, Klaus-Michael; Department of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Lazzoli, José Kawazoe; Biomedical Institute, Fluminense Federal University Medical School, Niterói, Brazil.
Seto, Jane; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Australia. ; University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
Bigard, Xavier; Union Cycliste Internationale, Aigle, Switzerland.
Debruyne, André; European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Jegier, Anna; European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), Lausanne, Switzerland. ; Department of Sports Medicine, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
Papadopoulou, Theodora; European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), Lausanne, Switzerland. ; Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC), Loughborough, United Kingdom.
Manonelles, Pedro; European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), Lausanne, Switzerland. ; Department of Sports Medicine, San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
Arroyo, Francisco; Sport Med, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Medical Centre of Excellence, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.
Ghrairi, Mourad; Department of Sports Medicine, FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Cintrón, Ana V; European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), Lausanne, Switzerland. ; Puerto Rico Sports Medicine Federation, San Juan, Puerto Rico. ; Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Zupet, Petra; Institute for Medicine and Sports (IMŠ), Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Leitão, Marcelo Bichels; Instituto de Endocrinologia E Medicina Do Exercico, Curitiba, Brazil.
Kayikci, Umutcan; Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. ; Antidoping, Doping Studies and Analysis of Antidoping Policies Master Programme, Paris Nanterre University, Paris, France. ; Olympic Studies Center, German Sports University, Cologne, Germany.
Kopile, Daniel Arkader; Cardiac Rehabilitation Department, National Institute of Cardiology, Health Ministry, Laranjeiras, Brazil.
Pigozzi, Fabio; Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
Fossati, Chiara; Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
Di Gianfrancesco, Alessia; Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
Di Luigi, Luigi; Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
Stafrace, Kirill Micallef; Mater Dei Hospital Malta, Triagon Academy, Marsa, Malta. ; Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sports (AIMS), Marsa, Malta.
Ionescu, Anca; European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), Lausanne, Switzerland. ; National Institute of Sports Medicine, Bucharest, Romania. ; Discipline of Sports Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania.
Wolfarth, Bernd; Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, Germany. ; German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sportmedizin und Prävention (DGSP), Frankfurt, Germany.
Ergün, Metin; Turkish Sports Medicine Association, Izmir, Türkiye.
Roberts, William O; Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States of America.
Natsis, Konstantinos; Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Tooth, Camille ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des Sciences de l'activité physique et de la réadaptation ; French-Speaking Olympic Sports Medicine Research Network (ReFORM) International Olympic Committee (IOC) Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liege, Belgium.
Rozenštoka, Sandra; Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia. ; Sports Laboratory, LLC-International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) Collaborating Centres of Sports Medicine (CCSM), Riga, Latvia. ; Latvian Sports Medicine Association, Riga, Latvia.
Casajús, José Antonio; Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain. ; Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Faculty of Health and Sport Science (FCSD), University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. ; Exercise is Medicine Spain, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. ; Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (EXER-GENUD) Research Group, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Muniz-Pardos, Borja; Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (EXER-GENUD) Research Group, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Nahon, Roberto Lohn; Titular Member of the Brazilian Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine (SBME), São Paulo, Brazil.
Shroff, Malav; World Olympians Association, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Xie, Minhao; China National Institute of Sports Medicine (NISM) Sports Medicine Hospital of NISM, Beijing, China.
Constantinou, Demitri; Department of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
van Rensburg, Dina CJanse; South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA), Pretoria, South Africa. ; Section Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Ülkar, Bülent; Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.
Jowett, Andrew; Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre, Melbourne, Australia.
Badtieva, Victoriya; Sport Medicine, I M Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia. ; Sport Medicine, Moscow Center of Research and Practice in Medical Rehabilitation, Restorative and Sports Medicine, Moscow, Russia.
Kaux, Jean-François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des Sciences de l'activité physique et de la réadaptation > Médecine physique, réadaptation et traumatologie du sport ; French-Speaking Olympic Sports Medicine Research Network (ReFORM) International Olympic Committee (IOC) Research Centre for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, Liege, Belgium.
Baumgartl, Peter; Austrian Society of Sports Medicine and Prevention, Vienna, Austria.
Papaellina, Clea Hadjistephanou; Department of Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Steinacker, Jürgen; Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine Research, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. ; European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine (EIEIM), Ulm, Germany.
Motta-Pensabene, Julio; SportsMed Clinic Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Reer, Rüdiger; Department of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. ; European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), Lausanne, Switzerland. ; German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sportmedizin und Prävention (DGSP), Frankfurt, Germany.
Bachl, Norbert; Austrian Institute of Sports Medicine, Vienna, Austria.
Migliorini, Sergio; Medical Committee, World Triathlon (WT), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Zahar, Maher; Tunisian Centre of Sports Medicine and Science, Oral Health Unit, Tunis, Tunisia.
Stuart, Mark; Centre for Metabolism and Inflammation, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Bilzon, James; Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom. ; British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Doncaster, United Kingdom.
Massazza, Giuseppe; Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Di Pietro, Bruno; Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Hassan, Khaled Massoud; Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mohandeseen, Giza, Egypt. ; Egyptian Association of Sports Medicine, Cairo, Egypt.
Drummond, Felix Albuquerque; Instituto de Medicina do Esporte (IME), Porto Alegre/Sports Medicine Institute, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Fincoeur, Bertrand; College of Humanities, Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Petróczi, Andrea; Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Győr, Hungary.
Pitsiladis, Yannis ; Department of Sports and Health Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China. ypitsiladis@hkbu.edu.hk.
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