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The best-known PEDS are anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), which are close chemical cousins of testosterone, the chief male sex hormone. Athletes take them to increase the size and strength of their muscles, and for their purported ability to enhance recovery after exercise, which allows people to train harder than would otherwise be possible. Though ethical issues make studies tricky to do, steroids' strength-enhancing effects have been confirmed by several research projects.
最著名的兴奋剂是雄性甾体激素(AAS)，它是主要的雄性激素睾酮的化学表亲。运动员服用这种药物是为了增加肌肉的尺寸和力量，并增强他们在运动后的恢复能力，使得他们能够比平时更加努力地训练。尽管伦理问题使研究变得棘手，但类固醇增强力量的效果已经得到了几个研究项目的证实。
The most thorough trials on their effects on sport were conducted in East Germany, which ran a state-sponsored doping programme that began in the 1960s. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, data collected by this project became available to independent scientists, and were written up in1997 in a paper published in Clinical Chemistry. One early test subject, a female shot-putter known only as "1/68", improved her best performance from 18 metres to almost 20 metres—close to the world record at the time—within 11 weeks of beginning a cycle of Turinabol, a synthetic AAS developed in 1961. AAS proved particularly potent in women, presumably because they start with lower levels of testosterone than men and therefore have more scope for enhancement. A report delivered in 1977 to the Stasi, East Germany's secret police, reported improvements in female athletes' performances of up to five metres in the shot put, 20 metres in the discus, five seconds in the 400-metre sprint and ten seconds in the 1,500 metres.
关于兴奋剂对体育的影响，最全面的试验是在东德进行的。东德从上世纪60年代开始实施了一个由国家支持的兴奋剂项目。在柏林墙倒塌后，这个项目收集到的数据被独立科学家获得，并于1997年发表在了《临床化学》上的一篇论文中。早期的试验对象是一名女子铅球运动员，人称“1/68”，在开始服用特力补(1961年开发的一种合成AAS)一个疗程的11周内，她的最好成绩从18米提升到了20米，接近当时的世界纪录。AAS被证明对女性特别有效，大概是因为女性的睾丸素水平比男性低，因此有更大的增强空间。1977年，东德的秘密警察斯塔西收到一份报告，报告称，女运动员在铅球5米、铁饼20米、400米短跑5秒和1500米短跑10秒的成绩都有所提高。
After anabolic steroids, the best-known doping drug is probably EPO, a natural substance which stimulates production of red blood cells. An artificial version was developed in the late 1980s to treat anaemia. It (and its chemical cousins) quickly became rampant in endurance sports such as running and cycling. Red blood cells transport oxygen around the body, and the supply of oxygen to an athlete's muscles is an important limiting factor in endurance exercise. So boosting red-blood-cell counts can allow superhuman efforts.
在合成代谢类固醇之后，最著名的兴奋剂可能是促红细胞生成素(EPO)，这是一种刺激红细胞生成的天然物质。20世纪80年代晚期科学家曾发明一种人工促红细胞生成素用于治疗贫血症。它(以及它的化学兄弟)很快就在跑步和骑自行车等耐力运动中猖獗起来。红细胞能够将氧气输送到全身各处，而对运动员肌肉的氧气供应是耐力运动中一个重要的限制因素。因此，提高红细胞数量可以实现超人般的努力。
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