Steroids In Sports

Steroids are a hot topic of debate and controversy in the world of athletes and sports. Steroids fall under the umbrella of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and are a dark cloud that have been hovering over the sports world for a long time. In the world today, steroids are the most relevant in major league baseball. Many baseball players, such as Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, and Mark McGwire, just to name a few, have ruined their reputations because of steroids. There are repercussions for PED use in major league baseball, which have cut down on the substance abuse by players but have nowhere near eliminated the problem.

President George W. Bush says “Steroids are dangerous in sports and steroids send the wrong message: There are shortcuts to accomplishments and performance is more important than character.”

Steroid abuse has become a huge problem in professional sports today. Athletes are now using steroids to gain a competitive edge over their opponents. Also, the athletes are using the steroids to recover quickly from major injuries or surgeries. Many former superstar athletes have been caught taking steroids during the season and offseason.

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 issues that surround the use of steroids among athletes raises much controversy and debate.  What most users tend to overlook are the dangers and risks of steroids.  One of the biggest problems with steroids is the fact that athletes only look at the immediate results, muscle and strength, and not at the long-term results that will damage their health.

No parent should have to bury their teenage son or daughter before them, especially because of a drug overdose. Sadly, this has happened to many families including the parents of Taylor Hooton, 17-year old high school athlete who lived in Plato, Texas. Hooton was a very popular student-athlete who was in his senior year of high school. In the spring Taylor would leave his mark during the baseball season. Sadly, his life ended shortly, Taylor hung himself a month after his birthday because he was dealing with depression from his excessive steroid use. Brian reports not long after Taylor’s death NIDA noticed a sharp increase in the use of steroids among male teens in the late 1990s (Monitoring the Future Survey 2008). This story is an example of how extreme situations like this can be. A story such as this one is more shocking to hear than one of a professional getting caught up in a publicized drug scandal. Even though these drugs may be helpful for the time being, enhancing the entertainment, it also weakens the values of sportsmanship and the love for the game.

In todays sports world, kids and athletes alike will do anything to get ahead in the particular sport the are in. There are many different ways that athletes will try, to better them selves in these games. One of the ways is by doing illegal steroids, to help grow muscles. Most people begin to judge the coach on their player’s actions, but can the coach really do anything about what happens away from the locker room? Coaches do not truly have control over their player, when it comes to illegal drugs used to help them enhance their athletic ability’s. What can coaches do to overcome this problem facing them everyday?

My major is kinesiology. The topic I chose to commit to is whether steroids should be legalized or stay illegal. I chose this topic because it is an ongoing issue happening today with athletes and it has been an issue for a long time. The topic of steroids in sport has had much controversy as said by a couple of my kinesiology professors during their

Success comes from humbleness and dedication to achieve a goal or a dream. Drug use is not beneath some athletes who have seen no other way to become successful in their career. The organization that oversees professional sports should be in the business of testing athletes for drug use at least every month at random.

Many professional athletes in this era rely on performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids, to take their athletic abilities to the next level. Over the years, steroid abuse in sports has only gotten worse. This is where the controversy occurs because some people think that the usage of steroids should be legalized in sports, while others do not like that idea. The National Institute on Drug Abuse stated that, “Anabolic steroids are related to the male sex hormones such as testosterone. They promote the growth of skeletal muscle and the development of male sexual characteristics in both males and females” (NIDA). This is a brief definition explaining what anabolic steroids are and what they do. Anabolic steroids were first developed in the 1930’s in order to treat a condition in which the testes produced an insufficient amount of testosterone for normal growth and development. Shortly after, lab tests revealed that steroids were very helpful in the growth of muscle tissue. This lead bodybuilders and athletes to use steroids. Steroids are used by athletes in order to improve performance, build lean muscle mass, and increase strength and speed. There are many opinions on whether steroids should be legalized in sports or not. Some people argue that they provide an unfair advantage between athletes, stating that they should be banned. Others argue that steroids don’t provide athletes with skills, emphasizing that athletes achieve them on their own and not with the help of

According to a new study in Minnesota, about 20% of middle school and high school students have used an antibiotic steroid. A student who played football went to the pharmacy to get a refill on his prescription of steroids, the night of the last football game of the season. He asked if they upped the prescription, and they did. As he was taking the steroids his coach walks in the locker room, and saw him swallow them. He knew the coach had to tell the board to the college of his dreams, The University of Alabama. They took away his full ride scholarship, and he later on had health issues. High school athletes should be tested for performance enhancing drugs because it's illegal, it is considered cheating, and it can causes health issues. The

Sports medicine is always going to be apart of the drug industry the reason for that is because a

Most high school students are using drugs to help enhance themselves for sports or any athletic school team.There has been human experimentation with human growth hormones by America’s teens more than doubled in the past year, as more young people look to drugs for help with their athletic purposes and to improve their appearances according to a new, high-scale national survey. In a secret survey of 2013 3,705 high school students, were released on Wednesday by the Crew for Drug-Free Kids, 11% reported using synthetic HGH at least once — up from about 5 percent in the four preceding annual surveys. Teens use of steroids has increased from 5% to 7% over the same period of time the the survey has found. Since drug use can cause horrible physical

By the end of the 21st century steroids will be permitted in every professional sport. Professional sports can put as many limitations on what athletes can take but it will never be enough. Many athletes will have enough money to overcome these limitations. They may still get caught with the drugs but they have enough money to control the media so people won’t see what they did.

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.