Negative effects of blood doping in sports

For many, when the words drugs and athletes are brought up, the next word to be
thought is usually steroids. However, that isnt the only drug out there in the world of sports.
Blood doping is the use of drugs to boost the number of red blood cells within the body to
enhance the bloods ability to bring more oxygen to muscles. This can improve both an athletes
stamina and performance. This is typically used by athletes who run long distances or use cardio
intensely for long durations of time. The two genres chosen are a photo titled How Drugs Affect
Sport Performances from CQ Researchers Athletes and Drugs and an article titled ACSM
POSITION STAND: THE USE OF BLOOD DOPING AS AN ERGOGENIC AID from Medscape.
Both genres argue that blood doping is harmful to athletes and causes negative effects to their
body.
Audience and Purpose
The first genre, CQ Researchers Athletes and Drugs created the photo of How Drugs
Affect Sports Performance to provide a condensed summary of drugs that athletes use and its
effects toward their performance and their body. This informative chart has organized
information that was previously described in the article. Having this information in a chart where
its readers can get missed information or straight forward information that is informal allows the
student to save time in looking for specific details. The information is presented in an organized
manner, with paraphrased references to the information within article as a whole. The
organization of the table allows the reader to find and review the information with ease. This
article is located in CQ Researcher which is a site that condenses articles that are up-to-date
issues with resources for students.

The second genre which is an article titled ACSM POSITION STAND: THE USE OF
BLOOD DOPING AS AN ERGOGENIC AID from Medscape focuses on going more in depth
about the issue, displaying detailed descriptions of the positives and negatives of blood doping
along with the reasoning behind why blood doping is banned in sports. This article was created
to inform individuals looking for professional medical content concerning the use of blood
doping with easy to understand informal terminology. Although the terminology allows for easy
reading, this article is roughly 12 pages long which would possibly discourage the reader to read
the article as a whole and focus more on the subtitles available at the beginning. These subtitles
however, would allow the reader to skip to any section of the article they may see is more fit to
what they are searching for.
Both genres differ in the amount of time their audience will need to attain the information
that is being presented. However, being that they are both easy to read, allows for the possibility
of the reader choosing both genres as possible research methods for attaining information about
blood doping. Each article contains a different approach to informing the reader about blood
doping while still achieving its purpose.
Rhetorical Issues
In the first genre, How Drugs Affect Sports Performance, the photo attains its credibility
by citing the U.S. Olympic Committee at the bottom of the left side of the page. This genre
achieves its purpose by informing its audience of the ways the drugs listed affect an athletes
performance and their body. When trying to evoke an emotional response, the genre has used an
image of a container of pills and different kinds of pills laid out by it. When individuals think of
drugs they picture a prescription they once took or a container of pills that they, or someone they
know, has once bought. An image from experience can make them think of their loved ones, and

when combining that with the negative effects that are listed would not just shows how bad these
drugs are but can provoke the information to sink in and truly make this genre reach its full
potential of informing how harmful these drugs are.
In the second genre, the article ACSM POSITION STAND: THE USE OF BLOOD
DOPING AS AN ERGOGENIC AID attains its credibility by using in text citation after using
information from their references which is listed at the end of the article. This article does not
attempt to provoke any emotional response from the audience. Having left out any way of
provoking emotional, the genre is seen as being unbiased by only informing the audience of the
information it is providing. This allows the audience to attain information of how blood doping
can be used to benefit patients, but can be very harmful for athletes. This allows the genre to
achieve its full purpose.
Both genres attain credibility, however, only the first genre was able to evoke an emotional
response out of its audience. This difference is apparent due to both genres having a slightly
different purpose. Although they are not exactly the same, the difference in each genre work to
achieve their purpose.
Structure and Delivery
In the first genre, the information is structured into a chart where information is
categorized based off of the type of drug, sports in which the drug is used, performanceenhancing effects, and negative effects. This layout allows for the readers eyes to prioritize
exactly which information is useful to them while also saving the reader time from searching the
page to find what they need. The design allows for maximum organization between all the
information to convey their message smoothly. The visuals this genre provided was of several

different types of pills. This visual aided in succeeding at delivering the message of informing
how harmful these drugs are by combining the use of pathos.
The second genre has its information separated by sub headers. Each sub header is
available at the far left hand side of the article. This placement allows for their audience to have
easy access to different parts of the lengthy article without having to turn the pages or scroll
constantly. The layout that was applied was simple as most article are created. A main header
followed with paragraphs then a line to distinguish information that pertain to different headers.
A simple design with no visuals illustrated how this articles purpose is to mainly inform the
reader about the use of blood doping. It allows for the reader to infer the article means business
and is made to get straight to its point.
Both genres were structured significantly different. One contained a chart which limited
it on space that benefited the reader, along with a small visual. The second was simple in which
the layout was created to look structured to mainly inform. Despite the differences, they both
delivered their purpose of informing their audience.
Conclusion/Synthesis
The genre that was more effective in conveying the message of the negative effects of
blood doping in sports was the photo titled How Drugs Affect Sport Performances from CQ
Researchers Athletes and Drugs. This article provides in depth information for individuals
looking for professional medical content concerning the use of blood doping with easy to
understand informal terminology. Its simple and convenient layout also make information very
attainable which allowed for the delivery of its purpose to fill full its maximum potential. Genres
allow for an unlimited amount of discourse in which both are within a coexisting relationship.
They exist within each other.

REFFERENCES

How Drugs Affect Sport Performance [Photograph found in CQ Researcher]. (1991, July 26).
Retrieved February 2, 2016, from
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/file.php?path=/images/CQ_Researcher/cqresrre19910726
_im517.1.jpg (Originally photographed 1991, July 26)

Worsnop, R. L. (1991, July 26). Athletes and drugs. CQ Researcher, 1, 513-536. Retrieved from
http://library.cqpress.com/
Sawka, M. (2010, March 19). Medscape ACSM Position Stand: The Use of Blood Doping as an
Ergogenic Aid. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/716353