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Effects of steroid abuse
Positive and negative effects of anabolic steroids
Effects of steroid abuse
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“At his age, you have to ask, Did he accomplish all of this by rejuvenating his strength from day to day with those substances?” baseball great Hank Aaron asked regarding anabolic substance abuser Barry Bonds. Prohormones are a relatively new supplement said to be the “legal” form of steroids. (Aaron) Though some people see huge gains while on using prohormones, they don’t know the true damage prohormones really cause. Athletes and bodybuilders taking prohormones experience terrible side effects, muscular gains that are less than expected, depleted testosterone levels and destroyed endocrine systems.
The first prohormones (adrostenedione) became available in December of 1996. Sales really took off shortly after thanks to Mark McGuire, and the ease of access everybody had to these prohormones. The past few decades the popularity of prohormones have skyrocketed and marketing for the supplement has caused concerns in how safe this product really is. With safety being such an issue agencies have since intervened with the US Anabolic Steroid Act, which started in 2004, “redefining anabolic steroids and classify prohormones as controlled substances” (Ostojic, Calleja-Gonzalez and Stojanovic). The act did a great job of putting an end to the use of the current prohormones on the market, but the production companies are smart. These companies created products with different names changing an ingredient and making the supplement more potent as ever, once again legally putting it on the market for the consumers.
With these changes in names and ingredients come many issues for the consumer, they didn’t know what exactly they were putting in their bodies. Many more “prohormone” products were now on the market which caused confusion for th...
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...Effects And Side Effects Of Today's Legal Prohormones." 12 September 2012. Mind and Muscle.com. Article. 1 December 2013.
AnimalPak. NATURAL ANABOLICS: A LEGITIMATE ALTERNATIVE TO PROHORMONES. 17 June 2003. Article. 1 December 2013.
Hamann, Bryan. Prohormones - a legitimate muscle builder or a waste of money? >2009. Article. 1 December 2013.
Klein, Keith. "Danger: Prohormones." n.d. H&FSM. Article. 1 December 2013.
Ostojic, Sergej M., Julio Calleja-Gonzalez and Marko Stojanovic. "Steroid Prohormones: Effects on Body Composition in Atheletes." 21 October 2011. INTECH. .
Prohormone.webs. Post Cycle Therapy. June 2010. Article. 1 December 2013.
"Prohormones - Don't Start Down the Road." 1 January 2011. Muscle & Strength. Article. 1 December 2013.
Tolson, David. All the info ON PROHORMONES youll ever need. 14 May 2004. Thread. 1 December 2013.
Anabolic steroids have become an epidemic amongst athletes since the 1950's when a Swiss company by the name of Ciba Pharmaceuticals introduced what was to become the most popular anabolic drug for athletes called methandrostenolone. “By this time, the era of the steroid athlete was well underway and world records were being shattered and re-shattered with remarkable regularity.” (Oklobdzija & Weyrauch, 1989, para 3) From then on, there have been many cases throughout professional sports where athletes are reported or caught using anabolic steroids.
“Drugs 2004: Steroids: Is Bulking Up Worth the Risk. “ World Book Science Year. 2009.
Yesalis, C.E. Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise. (2nd Ed.) 2000. Human Kinetics, United States.
The problems with performance enhancing drugs are that they give the user unfair advantages over other athletes and come with many health risks such as baldness. Steroid use can result in very substantial legal consequences and can ruin the user’s reputation. There are many alternatives to steroids but not all of them are safe. Different organizations have different rules on steroids, but in most cases, the user can get suspended, fined, or even both. Various types of steroids can have various short-term or long-term side effects. There are several types of steroids, the most popular ones being anabolic steroids. Historically, steroids have been around for many years, but the debate surrounding them started recently, more specifically a few decades ago. An important term to know is anabolic steroids which are made to work with the user’s muscle mass. Another term to know is clarified by Ida Walker, author of the book, Steroids: Pumped Up and Dangerous, published by Mason Crest Publishers in 2008, defines, peliosis hepatis is a rare condition in which cysts filled with blood form in the liver, if the cysts were to pop then internal bleeding would occur. A positive argument about steroids is stated by Adrianne Blue, author of the essay, “Performance Enhancing Drugs Should Be Legal,” published in the book Athletes and Drug Use, published in 2009, disputes, “Blue concludes that legalizing performance- enhancing drugs can protect athletes from dangerously abusing them.” The utilization of performance enhancing drugs has left a giant scar on sports and has compromised the achievements of many athletes; therefore, they are transforming the sports world into a drug filled world.
The 'Secondary' of the 'Secon Introduction to toxicology (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Anabolic steroids have been heavily used amongst athletes since the 1950’s; the purpose of using is to add muscle mass, speed, strength, and endurance. Anabolic steroids come in two methods, injectable forms and oral forms. Oral and injectable steroids metabolize in the body differently. Oral steroids include some different hormones than injectable steroids. Oral steroids can include, but not limited to, methyl testosterone, fluoxymestrerone, and stonazolol. Injectable steroids can contain, but not limited to, Trenbolone acetate, testosterone propionate, and stanzolol. Surveys have been taken and have shown that 80-100 of bodybuilders, weightlifters, and professional athletes have used or are using steroids. As the doses of steroids grow larger and larger, it has said to increase aggression, fatigue loss, less libido, and mood changes.
In our days, most people have set the goal and dream to have the perfect body. They believe by having this image, they will be popular and/or attractive. People want to achieve the body that they desire, like a super star, a hero in a Hollywood movie, a strong soldier, and an Olympic athlete. However, what are the extent people will go to get the perfect body? The biggest problem for those who dream to have a beautiful body today, as many people know, is the consumption of steroids. It is amazing what people and athletes will do to enhance their performance, strength and muscle size by taking steroids. Whether right or wrong people who use steroids to become the fastest and strongest will prevail, so who would turn down a substance that could turn them into a super athlete and a muscle man? The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader on the popular anabolic steroids that most people use and the positive and negative side effects of steroid use on its users and finally my personal point of view.
Anabolic steroids are a group of muscle building chemicals, which are synthetic versions of the male hormone, testosterone. Developed in the 1930’s, they were prescribed to aid in muscle tissue repair by those who had undergone surgery or had degenerative diseases. Now the patients do not only use them but also athletes. Starting in the 1940’s steroids were introduced into sports. Steroids were one of the main reasons that Russia’s 1952 Olympic weightlifting team came out with pile of medals. With these results other nations thought their competitors should have the same advantage, and the use of steroids spread like wildfire.(NIDA pg 2) But now steroids are illegal to use if not prescribed by a physician, and have been banned by nearly all-athletic organizations, both professional and amateur.
Abstract: Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always looked for some kind of edge over their competitors. They will do whatever it takes to be one of the elite, and that includes injecting supplements into their bodies to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. Steroid use is probably one of the most common drug misuses in sports competition. Athletes found that with anabolic steroids, one could become a better athlete twice as fast. Not until 1975 was the drug first banned from Olympic competition because of the health risks it produced.
Over the last few years, the use of anabolic steroids has gained the utmost prominence and has been appearing in the media much more frequently as compared to the last few years. However, the main cause for concern in today’s society is that there is a huge increase in the usage of such harmful medicines and has become utterly common in today's society. With an increase in the hormone testosterone, any individual would certainly be more aggressive and his/her personality would change by obtaining the particular medicine. Although the use of steroids can certainly improve an individual’s endurance, muscle mass, stamina and strength but they can’t improve the natural ability of an individual and can increase his skill-set (Hartgens & Kuipers, 2004).
Anabolic steroids are drugs containing, or hormone-like substances, that are used to increase strength and promote muscle growth. They were first developed in the 1930s in Europe to treat undernourished patients and to promote healing after surgery. Competitive weightlifters began using steroids in the 1950s as a way to increase their athletic performance. Use gradually spread throughout the world among athletes in other has been estimated that at least one in 15 male high school seniors in the United States--more than a half-million boys--has used steroids. Some are athletes attempting to increase their strength and size; others are simply youths attempting to speed up their growth to keep pace with their peers. In some countries, anabolic steroids are available over the counter. In the United States, a doctor's prescription is necessary.
The intent of this essay is to show that steroids have many negative effects and that steroids, and other natural supplements, should be closely studied by the FDA. This essay will also support the claim that the professional sports industry needs to eliminate steroid use and set a good example for younger athletes.
Robsin, David. "A history lesson in bodybuilding" www.bodybuilding.com. 21 march. 2005. Bodybuilding.com. 15 Feb. 2014 .
“Steroids are any type of a large group of fat-soluble organic compounds, as the sterols, bile acids, and sex hormones most of which have specific physiological action” (Dictionary.com). When our bodies are still developing, the effects of steroids can be dangerous and can also be permanent (“Above”). Steroids are made out of substances such as nandrolone, stanozolol, testosterone, fluoxymestrone, and oxandrolone. Sometimes people say when you can’t pronounce something, you probably shouldn’t use it. In the 1940’s testosterone began to be widely used in competitive sports, but the dangers of loading up on testosterone were not yet clear (“History”). Instead of using steroids for a bad reason, there is a medicinal purpose. Cortisteroids can treat arthritis, asthma, lupus and multiple sclerosis, eczema and rashes, and some types of cancer (“Steroids: Medline”). Also, steroids can be used to treat anemia, to improve weight loss due to severe illness, and to treat osteoporosis. Steroids can only be sold to you by a pharmacist f...
Steroids became an option to athletes in the Olympics and other major sporting events during the 1950’s. But this use of steroids among athletes only became widely apparent when Canadian sprint runner Ben Johnson tested positive for steroid use after winning the gold medal for the one hundred-meter dash during the 1988 Olympics (Francis, 45). Now a skinny fifteen-year-old can just walk down to the local gym and find people who either sell or know how to get in contact with those who sell the drug that will make him envious of his friends. Steroids are an attractive drug. While steroids seem harmless to the unaware user, they can have a risky effect. Most of the time whether the users are new or experienced, they do not know the dangerous consequences steroids can have on their bodies and their minds. Though steroids cause a relatively insignificant number of deaths in our society, the banning of steroids is justified because steroids have a lot of side effects not known to the uninformed user.