More than 1.5 million people in the United States use anabolic steroids today. Six percent of all seniors in high school and 90% of professional bodybuilders use steroids each and every year. Athletes who take steroids take the risk of acquiring physical and physiological problems for a chance of greatness. I will discuss what anabolic steroids are, there affects and usage in sports, types of steroids, and their effects on the body. Anabolic steroids are a synthetic form of testosterone that enhance and promote tissue growth, increase size, strength, and improve endurance. Anabolic steroids have many positive and negative effects on the body therefor athletes will risk taking these illegal substances to gain a physical edge to become more competitive in the sport they compete in. All athletes young and old know the consequences of being caught using steroids. Although Iowa does not allow teens to be tested for anabolic steroids do to legal obstacles other states can test student athletes for performance enhancing drugs. Many high school athletes do not know the severe down sides to taking steroids they only look at the positive sides. Penalty’s include loss of playtime and suspensions and depending on how many offenses you have you may get banned or released from your team. These also come along with hefty fines. Steroids are also running rapid through professional level sports; baseball is the guiltiest. It is estimated that anywhere between 50 to 85% of professional
Anabolic steroids are taken by tablet, injection, and also by pads on the skin. Even with the possible benefits that steroids could possibly have there are many many more dangers. Some of these include deep depression, aggression, and bad nervousness. Some physical dangers include high blood pressure, liver disorders, and even going bald. The athlete that makes the poor decision to use steroids, also faces the danger of getting caught and being suspended or even banned from the professional sport of which they
The competitive drive to win at all cost is fierce among athletes. Winning at all cost often includes using one of many performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids. Many athletes use performance enhancing drugs, like steroids, to achieve higher goals and set higher records than other drug-free successful athletes. Although athletes are performing at higher levels when using such drugs, what is the cost? Finally anabolic steroids should remain banned from sports because their use results in many harmful side effects; because their use violates sports regulations, and because their use can cause death.
After doing research on the use of steroids and their effects I have came to the conclusion that steroids is only bad thing if it is abused. Just like any other drug. A lot of people don't know what to do with the good things in life. While all the negative effects of steroids are told to us we are ignoring how steroids can actually help us. Especially in Athletes. Many people believe that athletes that “juice” are cheating. In reality they are not cheating because they are doing just what they think will help them improve and make them the best at what they love to do. There is always room for im-provement and creating all those negative side effects such as irritable and dangerous behavior is right and okay for athletes to
athletes, professional cyclists, American baseball players, and even racehorses have tested positive for AAS. However, AAS are no longer the exclusive province of elite athletes. Among school seniors in the United States (18 years of age), the lifetime incidence for steroid use (4.0%) is comparable to that for crack cocaine (3.6%) or heroin (1.8%). Today, it is estimated that over 3million people may have used AAS” (Wood 227). Athletes have used Anabolic Steroids for years in bodybuilding as well as recently in baseball. Anabolic steroids affect the body by making it easier to build muscle mass, but by doing so also affect items like ones heart and reproductive system. “Abuse of anabolic steroids to induce skeletal muscle hypertrophy is widespread amongst
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
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
Gym Candy, ‘roids, juice, pumpers, weight trainers, clear, beans and hype (Steroids and their). All of these words are slang for the illegal substance known more commonly as anabolic steroids and HGH (human growth hormone). The controversy surrounding anabolic steroids and HGH in sports has stormed to the forefront of the many problems that plague America today. Anabolic steroids are synthetic chemicals that mimic the effects of the male sex hormone testosterone. Some athletes seeking increased muscular strength and size abuse anabolic steroids (Ricki Lewis). According to Fox News, ¬¬¬5% of middle school and high school aged- children have or currently use anabolic steroids. 30 to 40% of college and professional athletes use steroids, as well as 10-20% of high school athletes (Ricki Lewis). Despite their illegality, law enforcement officials cannot devote more resources to policing steroid use and trafficking because they are still fighting the abuse of other illegal drugs that affect many more young people (McCloskey and Bailes). Many athletes looking to gain a competitive edge on all levels use anabolic steroids because of their muscle growth and muscle building benefits, but overlook the extensive list of sometimes life-threatening side effects that steroids may bring. I believe that athletes should not believe they have the right to take steroids to gain an even slight competitive advantage because it leads to a larger ethical problem
Anabolic steroids are a synthetic version of male testosterone that are used to form defined muscles. Steroids increase protein in cells causing larger, more defined muscles. Although they do good on the outside, they are incredibly bad for you and have many side effects. Most anabolic steroids are illegal, how ever there are some forms of steroids that escape the law, such as human growth hormones.
Although steroids improve a person’s skill level at their particular sport, these drugs can also have many negative everlasting effects that might not materialize until it’s too late. Anabolic steroid use has been associated with a wide variety of side effects and they range from physically unattractive, such as acne and breast development in men, to serious and life threatening such as heart attacks and liver cancer. Most are reversible if the abuser stops taking the drugs, but others can be permanent (DrugFacts). Long-term use of Anabolic steroids can also have devastating effects on the brain. They can affect some of the same brain
Anabolic steroids are drugs that enhance an athlete’s physical strength to inhumane proportions. Many have spoken against the drug, such as the president, doctors and members of congress, but unfortunately not everyone believes them because of their “personal experiences.” The PEDs users claimed there were no solid proof the anabolic steroids harm their health, but working wonderfully to their bodies. Despite of all the oppose of the dangerous effect of these drugs, Dr Wadner strongly emphasized the reason for having no negative proof because there were no autopsy procedures had been specifically done to indicate for the real cost of the drug abuses. He debated with the testify users that they are playing with the game of “Russian roulette”,
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
In today’s society in athletics, muscle mass and strength seem more important than in years past. It is believed that many athletes use anabolic steroids to increase their muscle mass and also their strength. Anabolic steroids are a group of synthetic hormones that promote the storage of proteins and the growth of tissue, sometimes used by athletes to increase muscle size and strength. Before the mid 1970’s the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) was used mainly by highly trained athletes especially those involved in weight training. Since then other athletes including those involved in recreational sports and non-competitive sports have started using the steroids. Steroids are also being used by many school age children
Primarily, steroids are a kind of medical aid that have turned into a problem in professional sports. “In the professional ranks these drugs are often abused in order to gain a competitive edge on other athletes, and to help recover more quickly from training sessions and injury” (steroidabuse.com). These add muscle and, as an example for baseball players, assist in hitting the long ball. Performance-enhancing steroids are used normally by men at the middle age and younger. To elaborate, “Males between the ages of 19 and 40 are the most common abusers of AAS” (steroidabuse.com). This age of adults are the common users because from the age of 19 to 40, they are still able to compete at their best. To add, “In another study NIDA found that 1,084,000 Americans, or 0.5% of the adult population, admitted to using AAS” (steroidabuse.com). This use has quickly increased in the last couple decades especially.
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.
There are many strategies the anti-doping committee have put in place to minimise the use of anabolic steroids, but there are still many things that need to be done to minimise the use of anabolic steroids in sport.