Christiana Richardson Moe 1st Period AP Lang 11 November, 2015 The Abuse of Steroids Steroids are synthetic materials of the male sex chromosome, testosterone, that lead to addiction, mental abuse and physical harm. They are banned by many sports leagues, but some athletes do not take that into consideration. Many athletes use steroids illegally, for a multiple of reasons. Athletes use steroids in order to gain better physical body shape and game play. In reality they are only cheating the game and themselves, slowly breaking their bodies down. The steroid use has greatly increased from the past. An M.D named Dan Gwartney announces, “Currently, body builders are using much higher doses of anabolic steroids…” and “…body builders do not go ‘off-cycle’ at all.”(Gwartney), which adds even more risk to the human body because of the higher and more frequent use rate. Our bodies are not made to take in that much extra testosterone, but the increased want of money in America has now taken over a multiple of people to choose the looks and money over their own personal health. There are different types of steroids, all having negative effects, but the most commonly used and known steroid is an anabolic androgenic steroid. The effects of steroids vary from a man to a woman. For example, men begin to have the reduction of sperm, damage to the heart and the liver, pain while urinating, breast development, and a reduction to their testicles. Women begin to lose their breast, grow
Steroids are a hormone like substance made by the body. Steroids are closely related to the male prime hormone, testosterone which is the main development of male characteristics such as facial hair, deeper voice and larger muscles. It is bad to use steroids because they cause heart problems, hormonal issues, and you can also become addicted very easily.
This week’s National Geographic video examine steroids, specifically anabolic steroids, drugs patterned after testosterone that promote masculine changes in the body and increase muscle development (Levinthal, 2013, p. 295). The video looked at steriods and examined important topic such as steroids use in sports, it’s impact negative impact on the body, legality issues with anabolic steroids (it has been illegal and requires prescription since 1990s), it’s medicinal purposes (it is use by doctors to treatment men who loses the ability to make their own testosterone), and the benefits that it does offer to those who use it. It conveys this utilizing example of former athletes, scientists who are examining steroids, and stories of of those steroids have impacted personally by this substance.
Users have different reasons for doping and, subsequently, steroids have different health consequences. Some common side effects from steroid use are the following: acne, genital changes, water retention, yellowing of the eyes and skin; women may experience: male-pattern baldness, decreased breast size, deeper voices, hairy bodies, and menstrual irregularities; men may experience: reduced sperm production, shrinking of the testicles, impotence, difficulty or pain in urinating, baldness, and irreversible breast enlargement. But these are just minor setbacks right? One could say that, like those aren’t bad, but researchers have also linked steroid abuse to much more serious risks such as: fatal liver cysts, liver cancer, blood clotting, cholesterol changes, hypertension, stroke, and even heart attack. Despite all these potential problems, many still choose to take steroids.
The use of steroids suppresses the naturally occurring testosterone produced by your testes. This happens because your brain is sending messages to your testes saying that you already have plenty of testosterone in your body and to stop producing it. In males, this may lead to a decrease in testicle size, decreased sperm production, fertility issues, baldness, and not only that, the excess steroids can be converted into estrogen in males; which may lead to enlarged breasts. Another serious side effect is that anabolic steroids weaken the heart by causing it to swell up; which prevents the heart from pumping blood out of the heart at the healthy rate. The part of the heart that pumps out blood is called the left ventricle. A healthy left ventricle pumps out around 55% to 70% of the blood that fills the heart. This measurement is known as the ejection fraction. During a study, 10 of 12 steroid users had ejection fractions of less than 55% (taylorhooton.org). With ejection fractions this low, these bodybuilders are at an increased risk for heart failure and sudden cardiac
Anabolic Steroids are taken by athletes to increase muscle mass while decreasing fat rapidly and efficiently. They can push the physiological limits of the muscle, making it bigger, faster and stronger than it can get naturally. Steroids achieve this affect on the body by enhancing the natural process of muscle building. The use of steroids has had a negative impact on the lives and careers of many athletes, causing suspensions, bans, and even the loss of medals and other awards and records earned in international events. A few of the high profile athletes whose lives and careers by their anabolic steroid use include: Barry Bonds, Lyle Alzada, Jose Canseco, Ben Johnson, Chris Benoit, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, Alex Rodriguez and Lance Armstrong.
Steroid abusers subject themselves to more than 70 side effects ranging in severity from many differnt types of cancer including lung and liver to acnee. Steroids are body enhancing drugs that use natural and synthetic substances that copy body functions (Thomas, Santel 18). There are many different kinds of steroids. Some increase muscle mass or oxygen delivery. Others are stimulants, relaxants, weight and pain control and nutritional supplements. There are steroids that mask drug use to avoid detection in drug tests ( Thomas et al. 19). Steroids are very dangerous and should never be used unless for medical reasons. People use steroids for many different reasons, yet there effects can be damaging.
Steroids are known to have many negative effects on the body. The body has over 50 major hormones. One hormone group is anabolic steroids effect muscle growth and a male or females characteristics; this hormone is produced naturally; the hormones in the body helps the body gain protein. (1c: SV; SV; SV.) One of the major hormones in a male also is found in females is called testosterone. Testosterone causes maturing in the males reproductive system in puberty the male user grows more body hair, deeper voice, muscle growth and could make a user more aggressive. Steroids improve endurance, strength, muscle mass, but it hasn’t shown that it improves skill, agility, or athletic performance. Athletes take steroids for the testosterone effects. Steroids that you could find at a food store or gyms are now illegal and now require a prescription to have.
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
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 are hormones that have long lasting side effects on our bodies. Steroids increase cholesterol, blood clots and strokes. Steroids can also cause baldness, and the shrinking of testicles. There have also been cases where steroids have taken the lives of athletes through suicide.
Steroids have a long-term, negative effect on the human body. These effects range from cardiovascular problems to mental and psychological issues such as rage and anger problems. Steroid use has been linked to increased alcohol consumption, marijuana use, cigarette smoking, and narcotic use (Buckman, Farris & Yusko, 2013). Many athletes may not be aware of the lasting effects steroids can have because all they are worried about is their performance, not their health.
Abusing anabolic steroids can become responsible for life-threatening liver and heart conditions, such as liver cancer or liver disease and high blood pressure, swelling of the heart, and elevated cholesterol. Even though steroids affect everyone somehow, their effects on men and women are widely opposite. The risks men take by using steroids are shrinkage of the testicles, breast development, risks of prostate cancer, and lower sperm count. On the other hand, women will experience shrinkage of breasts, male type body hair, deepened voice, and abnormal menstrual cycles. Adolescents can also be affected by this steroid, resulting is permanent stunt growth. Lastly, steroids can become a gateway for sexually transmitted diseases, such as HIV or AIDS, to become exposed to the user from the needles used to eject the drug into the
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
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
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.