The Steroids Epidemic Essay

Background: Although people have been using steroids over 50 years, it wasn't until we started seeing headlines about athletes using steroids that it started receiving attention.

One of the most-treasured items a person can have is their health. Consequently, a great deal of money is spent on healthcare on account of people want to be healthy to do the things they enjoy in life. In the article “Steroid Abuse in Today’s Society,” states “There is increasing concern regarding possible serious health problems that are associated with the abuse of steroids, including both short-term and long-term side effects.” ("Steroid Abuse in Today's Society" 3). Unfortunately, there are side effects that will accompany someone who takes steroids. For women and men, steroids can cause masculinizing effects. These symptoms can cause fertility problems in both genders. Fortunately, by stopping the use of drugs can cause a shift in changing men’s health for the better, but for women the symptoms may never go away. Studies have not concluded the long-term effects of steroids, but in the worst cases, death can occur. Performance enhancement drugs are dangerous to an athlete’s

The negative effects of these drugs range far and many. For men the effects are much worse. For instance there is increased irritability and aggressiveness also called "roid rages". Then comes the Acne, due to the stimulation of the oil glands in the skin. You can also start developing premature hair loss and a bloated appearance from excess salt and water being retained by the body. The last effect is due to the effect of steroids on the testicles. The brain monitors the amount of testosterone in the body, if it detects a large amount (due to steroids) it will stop the testicles producing more and so less sperm is produced and impotence may occur, which also may result in a decreased sex drive. Apart from the hair loss, the above effects are generally reversible upon stopping steroid use. Adolescent steroid use may lead to a premature fusion of the epiphyses (the end of growing bones) which can lead to stunted growth.(Paterson pg 102)

Steroids is abused by a range of athletes and students. “In a 2002 National Institute of Drug Abuse study, 2.5% of 8th graders, 2.5% of 10th graders, and 4% of 12th graders admitted to using steroids at some time.” (Steroid Abuse Moves Into the Scholastic Arena, 2008) Steroids abuse is not only found in athletes but also those who struggle with body image.

A lot of people associate steroids with body builders. I made the same assumption that is until I researched this paper. In the 18-34 age group, about 1 percent had ever used steroids, for ages 35 and older, that figure went down to .2 percent. More men than women had used the drugs: 0.9 percent of men and 0.2 percent of women said they had ever taken steroids. NIDA’s Monitoring the Future study has tracked anabolic steroid use among middle school and high school students in the United States since 1989. From 1989 to 1996, there was a slight, gradual decline in the number of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders who had ever used steroids or uses them in the past year. In 1996, 1.8 percent to 2.4 percent of these students had ever use steroids, and 0.9 percent to 1.5 percent had used them in the last year (NIDA September 1997).

Steroids can cause serious harm to the human body. They're really bad for the mental health of a person. Steroids are addictive if abused in the body. Gaining muscle can occur through using steroids but medical use should be the only reason for their intake because of the harmful effects on the human body, the mental health of the user and the fact that they are addictive. Steroids should be used with precaution since they so easily cause so much damage to

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

When the Russian weightlifting team thanks, in part, to synthetic testosterone-walked off with a pile of medals at the 1952 Olympics, an American physician determined that U.S. competitors should have the same advantage. By the 1958 a U.S. pharmaceutical firm had developed anabolic steroids. Although the physician soon realized the drug had unwanted side effects, it was too late to halt its spread into the sports world. The first users of anabolic steroids were mainly bodybuilders, weightlifters, football players, and track and field athletes who relied heavily on bulk and strength. In the 1970's and 80's other sports sought the competitive edge that these steroid were thought to have and later the black market flourished for the illegal production of this harmful and even deadly drug. The assumptions of these users were that they heard it would make them more aggressive and also give them that extra power they need to win

Steroids come with serious physical side effects as well as medical effects. However it is difficult to fully understand the major side effects of high doses in athletes due to fact of testing at high doses would be wrong and unethical to the athlete. Athletes are also at risk because a specific dangerous class of anabolic steroid called designer drugs; they are made only for athletes and are fake steroids that have been created to be undetectable by drug test. These fake steroids have not been tested by the FDA and show a large health risk to athletes. Also, due to the Black Market steroids produce high health risk because of the production in other countries and brought in by smugglers or made in hidden labs in the United States. Scott Lukas wrote in his book, Steroids, and explained, “It is interesting that most of the steroids used by pro athletes are meant to be used in animals, such as horses, cats, and dogs…” (Lukas 20). Scott Lukas helps his readers understand the dangers of taking steroids and what steroids are originally made for. Health risk in steroids may not appear for months, years, and even decades. Physical side effects in men include: Reduced sperm count, impotence, development of breast, shrinking of the testicles. Physical side effects in women include: Facial hair growth, deepened voice,

People who abuse the use of steroids cause more harm to their body than good. When adolescents see their favorite role models who are athletes and body builders they think “I want to look like them,” they will try desperate measures not understanding the side effects. 60 percent of people who use steroids believe that taking steroids is a right of the modern professional athlete (“Steroid Use in Sports”). Whether professional athletes know it or not, they influence younger children and the choices they make. Professional athletes that take steroids risk their career and can face jail time along with fines from their league. The use of steroids may build the body strength and give you muscle gain, but the effects it has on other parts of the body are not worth it. If steroids ever became legal the health of athletes and people who use them will be in bad health. Steroids being illegal is for safety of the human

The very first steroids were developed in the late 1930s, to treat hypogonadism. Hypogonadism is a condition in which the testes do not produce enough testosterone for normal growth and development. Later on, around the 1940s, people starting to learn that steroids can help them build up their body and improve performance. Anabolic steroids are a major detriment, yet have become one of the most widely abused drugs by weightlifters, bodybuilders, and athletes. The use of these steroids is a major hazard to one’s health; they cause a variety of dangerous side effects that negatively impact physical and psychological behavior.

Steroids can make a person stronger, but the long and short term effects are not worth the risk. Steroids are becoming more of a problem in the United States. There are over 100 varieties of steroids in the U. S. and black market. The oral steroids are Anadrol, Oxandrin, Dianabol, and Winstrol. Injectable steroids are Deca- Durabolin, Durabolin, Depo- Testosterone, and Equipoise (Steroid Abuse in Today’s Society). Steroids can be helpful if people use them the right way, such as in the medical field. The people that abuse them have given steroids the bad background. People look at steroids as if it has caused so many deaths, but it’s actually the people who take big doses of the drug. If people would not abuse steroids, they would be a big help in a medical field. Steroids can change a nice caring person into a roid raging monster that can cause harm to you and your family. For the people abusing steroids, is that what you want to possibly harm yourself or your family? People need to realize that steroids are becoming an uprising drug to not just bodybuilders and pro athletes; it’s become more and more used by teens in high

First lets talk about the physical effects which target the internal and external of the body. According to an article by the Center of Substance Abuse Research(CESAR), “There are two major ways that steroids can affect a person's body. Steroids can have androgenic effects, which include masculinizing effects like deepening of the voice, increased facial hair, and initial enlargement of some male sex glands. Steroids can also have anabolic effects that include increases in muscle mass, the size of some internal organs, and calcium in the bones”. To clarify, The way steroids affect the body is very complex and the androgenic effect can lead to many important physical effects that may help or harm the body function. Even though these effects seem positive they can also be negative effects. For men, the effects steroids have are, it may reduced sperm count, damage the heart,shrink the testicoles, and also it might cause the development of breast. As for women, the negative effects include: shrinking of the breast, iregular menstrual cycles, the increase of acne and hair growth. Steroids have not only a physical effect but also a psychological effect that is more harmful. Have you every heard the term “Roid Rage”?, well this is a real thing. Steroids have been known to cause users to become more aggressive and violent, change the behavior of that person dramastly. What Steroids

Anabolic steroids are a complex molecule used to trick the mind into thinking that testosterone is being produced. An American doctor in the 1930s developed anabolic steroids for the use of “building body tissue and preventing the breakdown of tissue” (“Athletes and Steroids”). An FDA review later failed to find evidence that these anabolic steroids had positive effects for those purposes. As time went on people found that steroids increase muscle mass significantly, and they began to abuse that power. Many athletes began to join in, creating a dilemma not only for their health issues but for the game itself. Many athletes have broken records, won awards, and achieved goals they would not have achieved if they didn 't

Anabolic steroids abuse side effects in men and women different. Men can develop breasts and woman may stop menstruating which can cause major damage to the human body. These side effects are permanent even when the steroid use is discontinued. All parts of the body can be affected including your behavior studies on steroids abuse reported that anabolic steroids taken in high doses increase irritability and aggression. Many former abusers have reported that they are more aggressive and physical then before the use of anabolic steroids. The most toxic drugs of all steroids that’s athletes are using man made drugs are very sneaky and can’t not be traced by present day drug test also these designer steroids have not being approve by FDA (Food and Drugs Administration). According to Jim Sensenbrenner Several professional athletes have wrongly taught many young Americans by example that the only way to succeed in sports is to take steroids. Designer steroids are anabolic steroids or other steroid-like performance-enhancing drugs designed to be undetectable in drug testing. So when you take a drug test you might get away with it. Banned in most athletic organizations and contests worldwide, some athletes have nevertheless sought ways around the bans just like any other steroids. There are so many thing you can get away with using this drug I think there are some players that got away and never got caught like Alex Rodriguez. Lance Armstrong he has won medals in the