Steroids: What are Athletes Thinking?

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Ever thought about gaining more “muscle mass, strength, and resistance to fatigue,” (Agulló-Calatayud 103) but wanted to find an easier way to reach those goals, so instead you choose to try steroids. Steroids though have become a heavily debated argument throughout the world but not many people understand the background of what steroids are, the history of steroids is somewhat unknown, the effects that steroids have had on the Major League Baseball as a whole, and some certain cases where prolific athletes have managed to derail their careers with steroids.
Steroids.What are these things that many athletes threaten their careers over? According to Steroid.com, however we would have to go back to the year 1931 where “German chemist Adolf Butenandt” would extract androstenone, a hormone found in human urine, then purify the hormone, which gave the breakthrough for steroids for many years to come. Though quickly after, Leopold Ruzicka created a way for the hormone androstenone to be safely used for human use. Thereafter in the year 1939, both Adolf Butenandt and Leopold Ruzicka were awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in the field of chemistry due to their scientific achievements with steroids.
However, many question what exactly is the makeup of steroids and what effects steroids could potentially have on our human bodies that athletes everywhere have either experimented with or are currently using in their everyday workout regimes. First, steroids are a group of compounded substances “that mimic the effects of the natural male hormone testosterone.” (Agullo-Calatayud) Steroids have a chemical structure of 17-carbon, which means that steroids are given two traits, androgenic and anabolic properties . The androgenic property of s...

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...g Of Abuse: An Analysis Of The Scientific Literature And Areas Of Research.” British Journal Of Sports Medicine 42.2 (2008): 103-109. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Graham, Michael R., et al. “Anabolic Steroid Use.” Sports Medicine 38.6 (2008): 505-525. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Kersey, Robert D., et al. “National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids.” Journal Of Athletic Training 47.5 (2012): 567-588. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Quinn, T.J. “Baseball’s Steroid Era.” Men’s Fitness 23.6 (2007): 128-132. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 18 Dec. 2013
"BALCO Labs Steroids." BALCO Labs Steroids. SteroidsInBaseball.org, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
"Barry Bonds Unknowingly Used Steroids?" Barry Bonds Steroid Use And Balco Scandal. SteroidsInBaseball.org, n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.

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