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Steroids In Professional Sports

Decent Essays

The rush to Adrenaline: Steroids in professional sports
Infertility, tendon rupture, increased blood pressure, heart attack, tumors, cancer, aggression, and severe acne; these are just some of the side effects of using anabolic steroids (“Anabolic steroid abuse”). Why would an athlete risk all of these serious side effects just to hit a baseball a little farther or to gain muscle mass to be superior against their opponents in football? Most people know who big-name athletes like Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Lance Armstrong are; and admire them. Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in just one season. Lance Armstrong won seven “Tour de France” titles in his career; both being doped up on steroids while doing so. Could they …show more content…

Androstenedione is a hormone used to make medicine. The body makes Androstenedione naturally by the adrenal glands, ovaries, and testicles; but it comes in a pill and as a spray form as well. (“Androstendedione”). The effects of having too much Androstendedione result in its conversion in the body to estrogen and testosterone (“Androstenedione: Uses..”). It is used to increase the production of the hormone testosterone to enhance athletic performance, increase energy, keep red blood cells healthy, and enhance recovery and growth from exercise. This causes athletes to take Androstenedion through pills to staggeringly improve their athletic ability against their opponents. Androstenedione is known to increase the chance of prostate cancer, baldness, and liver disease. Since Androstenedione bumps up the levels of testosterone in the body, it can lead to enlarged breasts, even on males. The steroid can also lead to aggression and depression. (“Androstenedion”). But since Androstenedione is used for medical use, it is not illegal to use for the public; but sports have banned it from being used by …show more content…

This lead to an investigation that ended up with positive TGH urine tests from four athletes competing at the U.S National Championship. European 100m champion, Dwain Chambers, tested positive for TGH. Victor Conte, the head of BALCO was sentenced to four months in prison and then house arrest in 2005 for illegally providing athletes with an undetectable steroid. In 2007, Marion Jones, who won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, admitted to THG use. In a short few months, Jones was sentenced to six months in prison after originally lying about her steroid use in court. Jones was immediately stripped of all five medals by the International Olympic Committee (Baker). Famous Boxer, “Sugar” Shane Mosely, used THG in 2003; Mosely claimed that he thought they were legal vitamin supplements. An athlete is liable for the violations of taking steroids regardless of whether the athlete intentionally, unintentionally, or negligently took the prohibited substance (Gillespie); which happened to MLB superstar Barry Bonds whom tested positive for THG, and later claimed that his trainer gave the THG pills to him and he had no knowledge of the pills being steroids (“Barry Bonds steroid abuse”). 14 time all-star, Bonds, holds various MLB records that

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