Steroid Hormones And Its Effects On The Body

They’re among the world’s most controversial drugs. Not Heroin, Ganja, Coke or Crystal Meth, but Anabolic Steroids. Steroids are medical treatments that come in two varieties: Anabolic Steroids and Corticosteroids. These are both synthetic versions of hormones produced naturally in the body but they perform two completely different tasks. Corticosteroids are used by doctors to decrease inflammation. Anabolic Steroids are the familiar term for the synthetic version of the male sex hormone testosterone. Its technical name although, is Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS). “Anabolic referring to muscle-building and Androgenic referred to increased male sexual characteristics,” defined by the National

Testosterone is a hormone in both men and women, but in greater extent in the men, testosterone is a chemical compound (C19H28O2) and is responsible for the characteristic of men such as, sexual characteristics/sexual organs, deepening of the voice, and facial and body hair. (Neil Schlager, Jayne Weisblatt, and David E. Newton 2006) Testosterone/Steroids has bodybuilding and masculinizing effect as well as treating a variety of medical conditions, like asthma, the steroid is used in a puffer, they can be used for anabolic or androgenic purposes and made for synthetic purposes making them illegal. (BROWER, K. J. 2001) Many athletes will use these to gain an advantage on competitors, with lean muscle and higher endurance, with many uses, there

Steroids (anabolic) are a drug that was discovered and made by medical scientists in the last 1930’s to help with medical problems. The drug was made to help with many medical problems such as testosterone, growth, sexual functioning, and other medical problems such as helping people with HIV to help grow musical. It also helps with many other diseases. Like any other drug on the market people learn that the drug can be used for many other ways. Steroids can enhance athlete’s performance as well as bodybuilders and is used in almost every sport out there. The use of steroids has become a widespread problem. Steroid use has caused many help problems with the misuse of the drug and has caused the drug to be illegal for people to use them in

The term steroid is newest version of what was also known as doping in the Olympic, it could be defined as synthetic hormones, which boosts the body’s ability to produce muscle as well as prevent muscle breakdown. In old Athletic events sports people have tried multiple medicines in order to push their physical abilities to the limit. As an example athletes would inject themselves before any competition; this has proven that the use of illegal methods to win in sports is not new or unusual. Though, nowadays it’s widely spread in sports only, Steroids was first developed in Germany in the 1930s, the main reason behind inventing such a drug was to intensify the force of their soldiers; Germans have noticed that their army’s endurance increased in the battlefield.

From the beginning of history, professional and amateur athletes have tempted to use legal or illegal drugs to enhance their performance (1). Athletes have used pharmacological agents, called Performance-enhancing drugs(PEDs), to enhance performance or to become leaner or more muscular (2). In sports, administration of drugs that are forbidden by international world anti-doping agency (WADA) is referred as doping (3). Anabolic androgenic agents (AASs) are the most popular agents that are abused by the athletes, especially bodybuilding athletes. Besides these agents, other classes of drugs such as stimulants and peptide hormones (growth hormone and insulin) are new PEDs that are abused by a lot of athletes in the different sports (1). Other than these compounds, athletes often use dietary supplements like creatine, protein, and vitamins to enhance strength and increase body mass (4-6).

The desire to compete — and win — is as old as history itself. From the beginnings of sport, athletes have sought out foods and potions to turn their bodies into winning machines. As early as 776 BCE, the very first Olympic games, there are records of attempts to increase testosterone levels (“Steroid Abuse in Sports”). Ancient Greek wrestlers ate vast amounts of meat to gain muscle mass, and Norse “Berserker” warriors took hallucinogenic mushrooms before battle. The first competitive athletes to be charged for doping, however, were swimmers in 1860s Amsterdam. Doping of all kinds, from caffeine to cocaine to anabolics quickly spread to other sports (“Anabolic Steroids, a Brief History”).

Throughout the history of athletics, humans have pursued new and innovative ways to construct better, faster, stronger athletes. Steroid use is one of the most popular choices among these athletes. Steroids, first created in the 1930s, are synthetic hormones that produce specific physiological effects on one's body (Center for Substance Abuse Research). Although the German scientists who discovered steroids did not intend its use for body building or creating better athletes, steroid use has developed into a controversial subject concerning the health of users and other moral issues. Overall, the use of steroids in athletics is physically and morally wrong because it essentially promotes the deterioration of the health of athletes and

Steroids can affect an athlete’s physical health. Developing breasts from steroid use is very common. Breasts develop because when high doses of steroids are used for prolonged periods, they shut down certain hormones such as testosterone. Studies show that estrogen is what causes breast tissue growth; progesterone needs to be available in order to keep breast size down. Shrunken testicles can also occur because when a person uses steroids, they introduce a new hormone from outside their body at higher levels than their body can produce. The body signals itself to slow down making its own hormones because there is already enough to make the body operate correctly. This leads to smaller testicles while on a steroid cycle. Along with testicles getting smaller, your sperm count can be dropped a long way! This is called oligospermia. “Your sperm count is considered lower than normal if you have fewer than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen.”(Myoclonic)Low sperm count lowers the chance of him being fertile enough to get a girl pregnant. Most men will recover their sperm production 3 to 12 months after they stop taking steroids. If you have taken steroids for more than two weeks, even if you then stop, your body may have a decremented ability to respond to physical stress - because your adrenal glands may not react as they should customarily. This effect can last as long as a year after steroid discontinuation. If you have a surgical procedure, develop an incipient solemn

Unfortunately, the use of steroids can easily lead to many major health problems. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse “Steroids abuse may lead to serious, even irreversible, health problems. Some of the most dangerous consequences…kidney impairment or failure; damage to the liver; and cardiovascular problems…leading to an increased risk of stroke and heart attack (even in young people)” (NIH). Steroids can affect an athlete by increasing the heart rate and decreasing the stamina, a fact that can lead to heart failure. Steroids can also affect the body with acne, abdominal pains, insomnia, and anaphylactic shock. When men use steroids the consequences are more crucial than women. For example, men may experience falling sperm count, shrinking testicles, and increased risk of fertility. On the other hand, women may show signs of masculinity (male type musculature) but also an increased risk of certain illnesses such as breast cancer. In general, steroids affect both of women and men by leading to terrible health problems. Dr. Larry Creswell, a well-known heart surgeon who studied the abuse of steroids, estimates that approximately 3 million Americans use steroids and he supports that the 70% of the athletes in the bodybuilding area, are steroid users. In addition, it is well known that steroids can also cause sudden deaths, sometimes in young athletes but most often occur within the ages of 35-50. In addition, Dr. Dickerman, a professor in the department of

Today in the athletic community, young and old, everybody is trying to trump their competitors by getting the edge over them wether its running faster, jumping higher, lifting more weight, or just simply performing better overall. However some of these athletes are after the same end goal but they are taking a different path to get there. Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are becoming more and more common among younger athletes these days. There has been much talk with doctors, coaches and parents about the controversy and misconceptions about these drugs and how more athletes are taking these performance enhancing drugs and how they can have many side affects, positive and negative. The goal of this paper is to state that the negative side affects out weigh the potential benefits of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS).

Steroids can be sourced back to the early 1930s. During that time the performance enhancing drug wasn’t called “steroids” it was simply testosterone (Anabolic Steroid/ CESAR). An American physician by the name Dr. Zeigler created a more selective form which would soon be labeled an anabolic

Athletes, whether they are young or old, professional or amateur, are always looking to gain an advantage over their opponents to come away with the win. The desire for an "edge" exists in all sports, at all levels of play, from peewee wrestling to professional football. Successful athletes rely on skill, practice, and hard work to increase their skills, speed, power, and ability. Today, high school and even middle school students are using steroids illegally. The United Institute of Health reported that 2.9% of twelve graders in high school have used anabolic steroids(Drugs In Sports, 2) These drugs may also have been called: roids, juice, gym candy, pumpers, stackers, balls or bulls, arnies, or anabolics(Anabolic Steroids, 1). Also most

    Anabolic-androgenic steroids are a group of hormones, which includes the natural male hormone, testosterone, and a number of synthetic compounds. "Anabolic" refers to muscle building, while "androgenic" refers to increased masculine characteristics. Anabolic effects are basically muscle growth. Androgenic effects produce secondary male sex characteristics like facial hair, body hair, deepening of the voice, and so on. In the 1950's scientists were trying to isolate the muscle building properties without the masculinizing effects. This lead to the development of synthetic anabolic steroids.

In the past three decades, steroids has been becoming a serious problem more than ever in the athletic field. Steroids are anabolic drug "to build" growth hormones that include the androgens (male sex hormones) principally testosterone and estrogen and progestogens (female sex hormones). Steroids were first developed for medical purposes. They're used in controlling inflammation, strengthening weakened hearts, preventing conception, and alleviating symptoms of arthritis and asthma. Unfortunately research has shown that steroids have been abused in almost every kind of sport. Although steroids contribute to a muscular body, usage should remain illegal because they physically deteriorate and mentally destroy the body.

An athlete is not an athlete until one knows that there is always room for improvement. When speaking about improvement it can range from many things. Improvement can go from a physical aspects such as extra practices, more training, putting in extra hours or it can go from a mental aspect which requires mental stableness and toughness. So doing things like meditating and yoga can go as far for that. But there is one thing that many athletes probably do come across at one point; and that is the famous product of Steroids. Steroids are recognized for en-hancing athletic performance and making them stronger, fitter, and better for the sport but unfor-tunately steroids are illegal in the U.S due to some serious issues, but just because it is illegal doesn't mean steroids can be put to good use like it once was.