Why Do Professional Athletes Use Steroid?

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.

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.

Steroids and PED’s are used today in sports to help athletes gain muscle mass and strength. Other athletes use them to boost their athletic performance. Today, about 30 percent of college and professional athletes still use anabolic steroids, 10 to 20 percent of high school athletes use them (Lewis). There are many reasons why steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs shouldn’t be allowed in sports.

Abstract:  With the increase of competition has also come the need to become bigger and stronger than the opponent.  The use of steroids among athletes has caused the focus of the game to change.  No longer does an athlete want to win by doing their best, but they want to become bigger and have an advantage over the opponent.  Ultimately, all athletes feel that they need to use performance-enhancing drugs to compete at the same level. Despite all of the warnings and information on performance-enhancing drugs, athletes continue to use them and overlook the potential health risks associated with steroids.

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

Anabolic Steroids are commonly viewed as a miracle drug in order to increase muscle growth and definition, but what most users of the drug don’t know are the life altering effects that prolonged use can cause. When the drug was released in the late 50’s by scientists working for the Soviet Union, they had no idea what the lasting effects were going to be. At first the drug seemed to be almost a miracle, it helped the Soviet weightlifting team beat the American team by a long shot, but then the lifters began to experience certain bodily changes that were actually the onsets of horrendous life changing side effects that could have been prevented with further studies. Since that time, most states in North America and around have banned the distribution and use of the drug completely due to its adverse effects on the body, if caught using such drugs in professional sporting communities, it could land the athlete thousands of dollars’ worth of fines and they can even face up to five years in jail if they are found with the drug in their possession. On top of this, the risks involved can potentially alter the normal way of life for that athlete for the rest of his life, such risks include hormonal changes, cardiovascular problems, behavioral issues, and even problems with the reproductive system.

“…medical researchers believe that between 1 and 3 million youths and adults have taken anabolic steroids in one form or another specifically to enhance their looks or athletic performances,” stated Nuwer (Nuwer, 61). As astounding as these figures are, the number of performance drug users is steadily increasing. With this progressively increasing numbers, it is projected that millions more will use steroids in the immediate future (Newer, 61). Athletes have always sought an advantage in competition even if ignoring the law and their health if necessary. Using drugs of any sort to facilitate an athlete’s athletic ability should be illegal. The use of performance enhancing drugs is not only detrimental to the user but it also creates an

Today in the athletic community, young and old, everybody is trying to trump their competitors by getting the edge over them wether its running faster, jumping higher, lifting more weight, or just simply performing better overall. However some of these athletes are after the same end goal but they are taking a different path to get there. Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are becoming more and more common among younger athletes these days. There has been much talk with doctors, coaches and parents about the controversy and misconceptions about these drugs and how more athletes are taking these performance enhancing drugs and how they can have many side affects, positive and negative. The goal of this paper is to state that the negative side affects out weigh the potential benefits of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS).

“CRACK” and there goes his third home run for the game. This has never happened in his baseball career until today and many people are asking questions. Is this natural? Or is there something going on behind the scenes? As it turns out, he had actually been using performance enhancing drugs (PED) for the past seven months leading up to the game. PEDs have become very common in today’s time. Athletes around the world use these products to push the boundaries and to strive for greatness. When people think of PEDs they think it has to do with professional or college students but it has found its way onto high school campuses. High school student want to improve their skill so they can make it to the next level. PED’s among high school students and athletes is becoming more prevalent and has serious consequences in how the drugs affect their bodies.

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

“Professional athletes get paid on average from $16000- $500 million (Schwartz).” Many professional athletes go to extra activities outside of practice or games because of how much money they produce. Professional athletes shouldn’t have to take a drug test because it improves skills, there will be more fans in the stadiums, and fairness will be balanced because they couldn’t find a way to cheat. Stopping drug tests will bring in more money for each sport, and this would generate the player's safety better. The organizations can afford better equipment which will generate fewer injuries. If athletes get better equipment, it will make injuries go down tremendously. Hopefully, they stop drug tests in professional sports.

Are you aware of 52 German athletes given anabolic steroids during the 1970's and 1980's who were examined in a 2007 study, one quarter got some form of cancer, one third reported thoughts or attempts of suicide, and the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth was 32 times higher than in the normal German population. Drug use in sports should not be allowed such as it already isn’t. Drugs use in sports such as steroids, can be good for the moment of the game, but after it could affect your body. But like all hormones, which regulate the body's most basic functions, throwing one's testosterone out of balance can have wide-ranging consequences. It is true that steroids build up your muscle although they are powerful hormones and affect the whole body. Side effects may include abnormally high levels of testosterone in the body and may include high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, liver damage, heart failure, acne, baldness, as well as aggressive and violent behavior. The use of drugs such as steroids, should not come into play when it comes to athletes, to play a sport you must have natural talent and not use steroids to make you even better, you gain an unfair advantage.

At the heart of sports is the tradition of competition, rivalry, excellence, winning. But where does "doing whatever it takes to win" to cross the line? In recent years, performance enhancing drugs have been no stranger to professional athletes. Although they make the sport more fun, professional athletes should not be allowed to take steroids because steroids are damaging to the body and steroid users receive an unfair athletic advantage.

Over the course of history, there have been a plethora of performance-enhancing substances and other types of drugs that have swept their way through the sports world. Many athletes have been caught in the act of using these kinds of drugs, and others have been ‘lucky’ enough to get off with little to no punishment. Steroids have taken over sports by storm, specifically baseball, where they seem to be used the most.

Sports is one of the most popular forms of entertainment we have today. Whether it’s football, basketball, soccer, baseball, etc., fans are willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money in order to watch sports. There are few issues in the world of sports. But there is one issue that stands out, steroids. Although steroids may increase strength, stamina and athleticism, they are incredibly harmful to your body and should never be used. Still, some athletes persist in taking them, knowing that these substances provide a physical advantage. Although this is true, steroids can cause serious physical and psychological side effects.