Steroids Research Project
Is it worth
damaging your body and shortening your life for a mere moment of fame or just
to enhance your strength for a short period of time? Anabolic Androgenic
Steroids can cause major problems to one’s life not only physically, but
emotionally and tend to get addicting to the user as well. Anabolic Androgenic
Steroids are synthetically produced variants of the naturally occurring male
sex hormone testosterone. “Anabolic” refers to the class of drugs, “androgenic”
refers to increased male sexual characteristics, and “steroids” refers to the
class of drugs. These drugs can be helpful for diseases and can be legally
proscribed to treat conditions resulting from steroid hormone deficiency, such
as delayed puberty, as well as diseases that result in loss of lean muscle
mass, such as cancer and AIDS. However, some people, both athletes and non
athletes, abuse Anabolic Androgenic Steroids in an attempt to improve their
physical appearance or to enhance performances. Even though some believe that
steroids are good and should be taken it’s really important that they
understand that steroids aren’t all that good for you. It should be taken under
extreme consideration before taking anabolic androgenic steroids because of the
physical and mental effects, and because they are extremely addicting.
Although steroids do help the user look and get stronger and help them perform better in sports, they also, after a period of time, affect them in a negative way. According to Chris Joseph, a contributing writer of eHow, long term abuse of steroids can cause cardiovascular issues. Cardiovascular issues that come from the abuse of steroids can cause are heart palpitations, hardening of the arteries, elevated blood pressure, and enlargement of the heart. Steroids can also affect other parts of the user’s body such as the liver and the reproductive system, Steroids damage the reproductive system of both males and females. Chris Joseph says,” In males, this can occur as a loss of sex drive and reduction in testosterone production, leading to testicular atrophy. In females, the increase in testosterone can lead to the development of male characteristics, such as the deepening of the voice, breast reduction and the growth of facial and body hair.” Chris Joseph lets us know that the use of steroids can cause testicular problems in a male’s body and develop male characteristics in a female’s body. The last example of why using steroids is bad due to the physical effects that come with them, is the story of a former NFL offensive lineman with Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. According to Hank Nuwer, the author of the book,” STEROIDS” the former NFL offensive lineman admitted to Sports Illustrated that he had been abusing steroids. He later on was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. In other words a worn out heart and he would end up dying if he did not get a heart transplant soon. Luckily he was able to survive because of the heart transplant he got December 1989. This confirms the idea that steroids can harm a person physically because it is showing how this NFL offensive lineman suffered terrible heart problems just because he wanted to achieve fame the easy way.
The primary reason why performance enhancing drugs such as steroids are outlawed in professional sports is that they give users an unfair advantage over the rest of the field. Various professional sports leagues have attempted to set a level playing field by testing for drug use and suspending those found guilty. It’s a noble effort, but it’s clearly not working. Stiff punishments have done little to reduce the number of cyclists caught cheating every year as time helpfully points out, the inheritors of Lance Armstrong’s seven abandoned Tour de France titles have all been implicated in doping scandals. Major League Baseball also hands down suspensions each season to players caught using outlawed substances, and it’s
odd to think those players are the only ones guilty of taking steroids. However there are people that believe steroids should be legalized. These people claim that if we really want to level the playing field, it may be time to head in the other direction: legalize performance enhancers. Some say that, ”Not only would the playing field suddenly be even for all players, it would be at a higher level” A huge part of watching sports is witnessing the very peak of human athletic ability, and legalizing performance enhancing drugs would only help athletes climb even higher. Steroids would help pitchers to throw harder, home runs to go further, cyclists to charge for longer and sprinters to test the very limits of human speed. Some also argue that the health risk is completely on the user, and they should be aware of that.
Steroids, however, are very bad because of the mental effects the user experiences after consuming them. Clear evidence is shown by the NIDA which states," Preclinical, clinical, and anecdotal reports suggest that steroids may contribute to psychiatric dysfunction. Research shows that the abuse of anabolic steroids may lead to aggression and other adverse effects.” This quote shows that anabolic androgenic steroids affect a person’s mental health because it clearly states that these steroids can contribute to psychiatric dysfunction. While reading many articles, I found that many users report that they tend to have extreme mood swings quite often, including maniac like symptoms that could lead to violence. Another thing is that the most common symptom that occurs when using anabolic steroids is something called ‘roid rage’. For example the story of Chris Benoit helps show how using anabolic androgenic steroids is bad due to mental health issues. Chris Benoit, a former pro wrestler, had strangled his wife, Nancy Benoit, and suffocated his 7 year old son Daniel. Not only did he do that, but he committed suicide right after he had murdered his family. He hung himself on a portable weight machine inside his home outside Atlanta. When police searched his home, they had found a lot of prescription medication, including anabolic steroids. Detectives believe that Chris Benoit was experiencing a case of roid rage due to his abuse of steroids. This story of the pro wrestler Chris Benoit clearly shows that steroids greatly affect a person’s mental health and could lead to not only the consumer’s death, but the life of innocent people that surround that person as well. This evidence suggests that the use of anabolic androgenic steroids can negatively affect a person’s mental health.
Lastly, I believe that people everywhere should stop using anabolic androgenic steroids because they are very addictive. The evidence in NIDA helps show how anabolic steroids are addicting by stating,” the potential for AAS abusers to become addicted is consistent with their continued abuse despite physical problems and negative effects on social relations. Also, steroid abusers typically spend large amounts of time and money obtaining the drug: this is another indication of addiction.” This evidence shows how people, even though they suffer physical and social problems, still spend large amounts of money purchasing this drug. Other evidence from NIDA shows how people who abuse steroids can experience other symptoms when they stop taking anabolic steroids. One of the most dangerous symptoms that can be experienced by individuals who stop taking anabolic steroids after they have been abusing anabolic steroids is depression. When persistent, it can sometimes lead to suicide attempts such as the story of Mark McGwire, whose son committed suicide while using steroids. This story however doesn’t show how not getting steroids after being addicted can cause a person to commit suicide, but it does show how steroids can cause people to commit suicide after they have consumed steroids. Also, steroids are like any other illegal drugs and are hard to get over. Therefore, I believe people from all around the world should stop using steroids because they are very addicting.
It might be true that anabolic androgenic steroids help a person to look and be stronger than what they are, but that only lasts little while. When you consume steroids, you are most likely going to keep using steroids because you liked the results you got from them and because they made you feel powerful, but later on you are going to feel regret and start noticing that using steroids wasn’t a very good idea in the first place. Your body will suffer a lot of problems and you will start feeling angrier and sadder than usual. The worst part is that you are not aware of these problems until you start suffering problems in your body. Even the companies selling these steroids know the risks that come from using them, but they try to hide them as much as they can so that they can make a profit out of them. They don’t care about you. All that they care about is your wallet. That is why even though they help you for a while in a sport, they are not worth it because it’s like taking poison and not knowing it is poison till you’re on the verge of dying. Therefore, steroids are not good for you even though they might seem good at first.
All in all, anabolic androgenic steroids are drugs that are meant to enhance a person’s performance or to improve their physical appearance, but are also very harmful to a one’s life because of the physical and mental effects, and because they are very addicting. These drugs are extremely dangerous and should not be taken by anyone from all around the world because of all the side effects that the user would experience. There are people everywhere who are dying because of the use of this drug and yet people still consume and sell it. People should stop using anabolic androgenic steroids because they are dangerous and because, enhancing your performance or improving your physical appearance really isn’t worth the damage it does to your body permanently. People should also stop seeing them as just a sort of energy boost, but as the very harmful drug it is.
Work Cited
“Steroids”
http://www.drugfree.org/drug-guide/steroids
“Steroid Use”
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/steroids.html
“What is Anabolic Steroid Abuse?” 10 Jun 2012 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246373.php
"Why It's Time To Legalize Steroids In Professional Sports"
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/08/24/why-its-time-to-legalize-steroids-in-professional-sports/
essional-sports/
essional-sports/
Although steroids do help the user look and get stronger and help them perform better in sports, they also, after a period of time, affect them in a negative way. According to Chris Joseph, a contributing writer of eHow, long term abuse of steroids can cause cardiovascular issues. Cardiovascular issues that come from the abuse of steroids can cause are heart palpitations, hardening of the arteries, elevated blood pressure, and enlargement of the heart. Steroids can also affect other parts of the user’s body such as the liver and the reproductive system, Steroids damage the reproductive system of both males and females. Chris Joseph says,” In males, this can occur as a loss of sex drive and reduction in testosterone production, leading to testicular atrophy. In females, the increase in testosterone can lead to the development of male characteristics, such as the deepening of the voice, breast reduction and the growth of facial and body hair.” Chris Joseph lets us know that the use of steroids can cause testicular problems in a male’s body and develop male characteristics in a female’s body. The last example of why using steroids is bad due to the physical effects that come with them, is the story of a former NFL offensive lineman with Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. According to Hank Nuwer, the author of the book,” STEROIDS” the former NFL offensive lineman admitted to Sports Illustrated that he had been abusing steroids. He later on was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. In other words a worn out heart and he would end up dying if he did not get a heart transplant soon. Luckily he was able to survive because of the heart transplant he got December 1989. This confirms the idea that steroids can harm a person physically because it is showing how this NFL offensive lineman suffered terrible heart problems just because he wanted to achieve fame the easy way.
The primary reason why performance enhancing drugs such as steroids are outlawed in professional sports is that they give users an unfair advantage over the rest of the field. Various professional sports leagues have attempted to set a level playing field by testing for drug use and suspending those found guilty. It’s a noble effort, but it’s clearly not working. Stiff punishments have done little to reduce the number of cyclists caught cheating every year as time helpfully points out, the inheritors of Lance Armstrong’s seven abandoned Tour de France titles have all been implicated in doping scandals. Major League Baseball also hands down suspensions each season to players caught using outlawed substances, and it’s
odd to think those players are the only ones guilty of taking steroids. However there are people that believe steroids should be legalized. These people claim that if we really want to level the playing field, it may be time to head in the other direction: legalize performance enhancers. Some say that, ”Not only would the playing field suddenly be even for all players, it would be at a higher level” A huge part of watching sports is witnessing the very peak of human athletic ability, and legalizing performance enhancing drugs would only help athletes climb even higher. Steroids would help pitchers to throw harder, home runs to go further, cyclists to charge for longer and sprinters to test the very limits of human speed. Some also argue that the health risk is completely on the user, and they should be aware of that.
Steroids, however, are very bad because of the mental effects the user experiences after consuming them. Clear evidence is shown by the NIDA which states," Preclinical, clinical, and anecdotal reports suggest that steroids may contribute to psychiatric dysfunction. Research shows that the abuse of anabolic steroids may lead to aggression and other adverse effects.” This quote shows that anabolic androgenic steroids affect a person’s mental health because it clearly states that these steroids can contribute to psychiatric dysfunction. While reading many articles, I found that many users report that they tend to have extreme mood swings quite often, including maniac like symptoms that could lead to violence. Another thing is that the most common symptom that occurs when using anabolic steroids is something called ‘roid rage’. For example the story of Chris Benoit helps show how using anabolic androgenic steroids is bad due to mental health issues. Chris Benoit, a former pro wrestler, had strangled his wife, Nancy Benoit, and suffocated his 7 year old son Daniel. Not only did he do that, but he committed suicide right after he had murdered his family. He hung himself on a portable weight machine inside his home outside Atlanta. When police searched his home, they had found a lot of prescription medication, including anabolic steroids. Detectives believe that Chris Benoit was experiencing a case of roid rage due to his abuse of steroids. This story of the pro wrestler Chris Benoit clearly shows that steroids greatly affect a person’s mental health and could lead to not only the consumer’s death, but the life of innocent people that surround that person as well. This evidence suggests that the use of anabolic androgenic steroids can negatively affect a person’s mental health.
Lastly, I believe that people everywhere should stop using anabolic androgenic steroids because they are very addictive. The evidence in NIDA helps show how anabolic steroids are addicting by stating,” the potential for AAS abusers to become addicted is consistent with their continued abuse despite physical problems and negative effects on social relations. Also, steroid abusers typically spend large amounts of time and money obtaining the drug: this is another indication of addiction.” This evidence shows how people, even though they suffer physical and social problems, still spend large amounts of money purchasing this drug. Other evidence from NIDA shows how people who abuse steroids can experience other symptoms when they stop taking anabolic steroids. One of the most dangerous symptoms that can be experienced by individuals who stop taking anabolic steroids after they have been abusing anabolic steroids is depression. When persistent, it can sometimes lead to suicide attempts such as the story of Mark McGwire, whose son committed suicide while using steroids. This story however doesn’t show how not getting steroids after being addicted can cause a person to commit suicide, but it does show how steroids can cause people to commit suicide after they have consumed steroids. Also, steroids are like any other illegal drugs and are hard to get over. Therefore, I believe people from all around the world should stop using steroids because they are very addicting.
It might be true that anabolic androgenic steroids help a person to look and be stronger than what they are, but that only lasts little while. When you consume steroids, you are most likely going to keep using steroids because you liked the results you got from them and because they made you feel powerful, but later on you are going to feel regret and start noticing that using steroids wasn’t a very good idea in the first place. Your body will suffer a lot of problems and you will start feeling angrier and sadder than usual. The worst part is that you are not aware of these problems until you start suffering problems in your body. Even the companies selling these steroids know the risks that come from using them, but they try to hide them as much as they can so that they can make a profit out of them. They don’t care about you. All that they care about is your wallet. That is why even though they help you for a while in a sport, they are not worth it because it’s like taking poison and not knowing it is poison till you’re on the verge of dying. Therefore, steroids are not good for you even though they might seem good at first.
All in all, anabolic androgenic steroids are drugs that are meant to enhance a person’s performance or to improve their physical appearance, but are also very harmful to a one’s life because of the physical and mental effects, and because they are very addicting. These drugs are extremely dangerous and should not be taken by anyone from all around the world because of all the side effects that the user would experience. There are people everywhere who are dying because of the use of this drug and yet people still consume and sell it. People should stop using anabolic androgenic steroids because they are dangerous and because, enhancing your performance or improving your physical appearance really isn’t worth the damage it does to your body permanently. People should also stop seeing them as just a sort of energy boost, but as the very harmful drug it is.
Work Cited
“Steroids”
http://www.drugfree.org/drug-guide/steroids
“Steroid Use”
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/steroids.html
“What is Anabolic Steroid Abuse?” 10 Jun 2012 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246373.php
"Why It's Time To Legalize Steroids In Professional Sports"
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/08/24/why-its-time-to-legalize-steroids-in-professional-sports/
essional-sports/
essional-sports/