An introduction to human enhancement drugs

Abstract

Human enhancement drugs (HEDs) have become incorporated into the everyday life activities of large sections of the population. While their use has been synonymous with sport and doping, use now transcends all aspects of society and is emerging as a global public health issue. This introductory chapters aims to clarify the various terms and categories related to human enhancement drugs (HEDs). It defines what we mean by HEDs and gives a brief description of the six HED categories: muscle drugs, weight loss drugs, skin and hair enhancers, sexual enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and mood and behaviour enhancers. While we recognise that the different HED categories are fluid and can overlap, classifying them is a useful exercise when attempting to describe a broad phenomenon like enhancement drugs.