Examination of the Growing Popularity of Steriods in Sports
Examination of the Growing Popularity of Steriods in Sports
Steroids or anabolic-androgenic steroids are a man made synthetic substance that increase and enhance the output of mal testosterone. They promote the growth of skeletal muscle but they have many side affects. Athletes and bodybuilders often use it as a way to quickly build muscle mass although its original purpose was to cure patients with an abnormally low amount of testosterone. Steroids can be taken orally, which is the most common, or injected.
Steroids have many major side effects that can cause the body to be severely internally injured. But the effects of steroids are different for the person that is using it. For men the side effects may include the shrinking of the testicles, a reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts, and an increased risk for prostate cancer. For women the side effects may include a growth of facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes in the menstrual cycle, and a deepened voice. For children who take steroids their growth maybe stunted due to the premature aging of their skeletal muscles. This may cause the child to be forever short if they take the steroids before their growth spurt. For everyone there may be very severe consequences such as liver tumors and cancer, jaundice, fluid retention, high blood pressure, increases of LDL and decreases of HDL. The various studies suggest that using more than one type of anabolic steroid at the same time ("stacking") causes a stronger inhibition of the functions than using one single anabolic steroid. After abstention from anabolic steroids these changes in fertility usually reverse within some months. However, several cases of have been reported in which the situation of hypogonadism lasted for more than 12 weeks.
Research also indicates that some users might turn to other drugs to alleviate some of the negative effects of anabolic steroids. For example, a study of 227 men admitted in 1999 to a private treatment center for dependence on heroin or other opioids found that 9.3 percent had abused anabolic steroids before trying any other illicit drug. Of these 9.3 percent, 86 percent first used opioids to counteract insomnia and irritability resulting from the anabolic steroids.
The use of steroids in teenagers is not predominating but it does occur. In a recent NIDA study it was found that 3% of 8th graders use steroids, while 3.5% of 10th graders and 2.5% of 12th...