Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41214681›Full record

ArticleHarm reduction journal2025

Bigger than sport: the enhanced games and the commodification of telehealth, testosterone, and dependency.

Luke Cox, Imran Khan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Harm reduction journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Luke CoxSchool of Sport and Exercise Science, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK. l.t.j.cox@swansea.ac.uk.
Imran KhanSchool of Sport and Exercise Science, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMuch of the existing discourse surrounding the Enhanced Games has focused on its potential to undermine traditional sporting values by permitting and promoting the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), thereby challenging established anti-doping frameworks. However, as the Enhanced Games continues to expand its brand, a broader agenda has emerged, specifically, the incorporation of telehealth services into its platform.

aimThis study aims to critically examine the Enhanced Games' role in facilitating access to testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) through its emerging telehealth services.

methodA qualitative content analysis was conducted of the Enhanced Games' official website, with a specific focus on its telehealth offerings. Drawing on Cooper and Waldby's (2014) concept of the bioeconomy, in which human bodies become sites for pharmaceutical accumulation and capital generation, we examine how the Enhanced Game's seek to exploit this notion.

resultsFindings indicate that the Enhanced Games leverages sport as a vehicle to market TRT. This underscores its ambitions to extend beyond the sporting arena, positioning the organisation as a commercial actor within the broader biomedical, wellness, and longevity sector. Their telehealth advertisments explicitly promote testosterone products, signalling a shift and bluring boundaries between sport (performance enhancement) and society (longevity, wellness, optimisation). DISCUSSION: In light of the over-prescription of testosterone through telehealth services, the Enhanced Games may serve as a powerful force towards expanding that market. These developments raise important concerns, particularly regarding the risk of physiological dependency resulting from prolonged use of exogenous testosterone. The commodification of TRT under the guise of sport and health optimisation calls for critical reflection on the ethical, medical, and regulatory implications of such practices.

Indexed as

Doping in SportsHormone Replacement TherapyPerformance-Enhancing SubstancesSportsTelemedicineTestosteroneHumansMalePerformance-Enhancing SubstancesTestosteroneAnabolic androgenic steroidsAutonomyDependencyTelehealthTestosterone replacment therapy

Identifiers

PMID41214681
PMCPMC12599048

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.