DRUGS (STEROIDS IN SPORTS)
There has been a lot of Controversy about steroids in sports. The pressure has caused some sport stars to admit to their use of steroids. Some of these people are Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi. Steroids though seem very helpful to professional athletes, it can very dangerous and can help people get advantage over other people.
Steroids have been around for a long time. “The first people to use anabolic steroids for athletic enhancement were the Russians who discovered the drug and had great success.” They stared to use the steroids in the 1950’s. The steroids they used had many side effects. When they started to use them, they had a high chance to die of heart disease and many other things. During the Olympics in 1950 and a little beyond the Russians were know as the best weight lifters in the world. No one knew that they used steroids. After a while, their secret was out and the Bulgarians started to use them.
Steroids can help but they do have very severe side effects. “Overall the usage of steroids is very damaging to the human body.” In men, the steroids can cause shrinkage to the testicles, decrease sperm count, sterility, impotence, prostate enlargement, and growth of breasts. Most of the side effects cannot be reversed. The most severe side effect of steroids is on the liver. It is called Peliosis Hepatis, which is a blood-filled cyst in the liver. If the cysts rupture, they can cause liver failure. That would most likely kill the person. In women, it can sue the growth of facial hair, shrinkage of the uterus, sterility, deepening of the voice, decrease in breast size, and irregularity in the menstrual cycle. In both men and women, jaundice, edema of feet and ankles (water retention), headaches, aching joints, reduction in HDL, high blood pressure, stroke, hair loss, liver ailments, acne, atherosierosis and cancer. When injected some of the risks are developing hematons and getting AIDS and HIV. Taking steroids shortens the life span up to twenty years and a chance of getting diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension. The side effects are reactions from using steroids are endless.
There are many different kinds of steroids and the side effects are getting less severe but more people are taking them because of their immediate effect. “But, there are a host of new bodybuilding drugs such as GH, Insulin, IGF, PGF, TGF, DNP, beta agonists, etc., etc., etc … Not to mention a new science on how to take everything, cycling on and off while increasing the effectiveness of each cycle and drug … and decreasing side effects at the same time.” Creatine has become very popular over the last couple of years. The annual sales of this product brought in over 200 million dollars. The producers of this product say that it is a natural product that will provide larger, more powerful muscles. Most doctors do not think this it is healthy because it increases muscle mass, due to the retention of fluid. Some athletes who are undergoing intense exercise and training are taking creatine because it may increase their power for short-term sports action, such as sprinting and playing football. Because of that, it is very popular with high school football players and track athletes. Ephedrine is one of the most dangerous of the dietary supplements. Ephedrine-containing products are marketed to improve athletic performance and enhance weight loss. There is no evidence that substances containing ephedrine help an athlete. DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is another chemical that is related to testosterone and it is promoted widely in nutrition stores. It is advertised as a drug that will improve muscle size and strength, lessen depression, and prevent heart disease among other unproved claims. Because it is believed to help get athletes younger, most adult athletes take this steroid. It is said to be a safe alternative to anabolic steroids, it is found not to be safe and is linked to many anabolic steroid like side effects.
Not only are adults taking drugs to help their performance but now some teens are.” According to the 1999 Monitoring the Future Study, the percentage of eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders who reported using steroids at least once in their lives has increased steadily over the past four years (an average of 1.8 percent in 1996,2.1 percent in 1997,2.3 percent in 1998, and 2.8 percent in 1999).” Some of the reasons they are taking steroids is because they were not making sport teams, peer pressure, not looking as good as you could, not getting girls, and they think that everyone else is taking steroids so they compete with others who are using steroids. Many same teens also they are able to live without any fear of getting any serious side effects. They also do not want to believe any warnings about steroids.