Steroids

Anabolic Steroids

Steroids can be portrayed as a great anabolic drug. For those who have no common knowledge of the substance, they think that it can only cause benefits. In a lot of cases the drug is used due to the individuals desire to be the best that he/she can be. Steroids cause muscles to work hard and grow fast. It is a proven fact, the substance increases performance but at the same time it effects your body on the inside. Steroids can cause stunted growth, heart disease and stroke, aggressive personality and psychological disorders, and impaired liver function (American pg. 352).

What are steroids? The steroid is nothing more than synthetic chemical that mimics the hormone testosterone (American pg.352). These anabolic drugs are only allowed to be taken legally by prescription and can be injected orally, intramuscularly, or in the form of a gel or cream and rubbed on the skin (Drug pg.1). Legally, they are used to treat skeletal and growth disorders, anemia, breast cancer, and irradiation and chemotherapy (American pg.352). Unfortunately, they are also used to create muscle mass, particularly in athletes of all levels, to enhance performance. Although steroids enhance performance, they also cause many problems in the long run. In young adults they can cause the growth plates in the bones to close prematurely causing one to stunt their growth (American pg.352) They also cause changes in cholesterol levels by increasing bad cholesterol (LDL) causing arteries to clog and leading to heart diseases and strokes (American pg.352). They also cause the inability to clear the bile in the liver which ultimately irritates the liver causing tissue damage and tumors called benign tumors (American pg.353).

Not only can anabolic substances cause physical damage, it can also cause emotional damage. Some emotional effects of steroids include "Roid rage" which is an aggressive behavior that results in violence, severe mood swings, hallucinations which is seeing or hearing things that aren't there, anxiety and panic attacks,