The use of performance enhancing drugs is so deeply entrenched in all levels of sport that one in three GPs is likely to encounter a patient who uses anabolic steroids, claims a report published this week by the BMA.

The report states that drugs are commonly used not only by elite athletes but also at recreational level throughout British gyms. For some athletes the motivation to take drugs is media pressure to win or huge financial rewards. For others it is simply to improve their body image. Some athletes have said they would …