The Effect Of Anabolic Steroids Research Paper

Athletes, whether they are young or old, professional or amateur, are always looking to gain an advantage over their opponents to come away with the win. The desire for an "edge" exists in all sports, at all levels of play, from peewee wrestling to professional football. Successful athletes rely on skill, practice, and hard work to increase their skills, speed, power, and ability. Today, high school and even middle school students are using steroids illegally. The United Institute of Health reported that 2.9% of twelve graders in high school have used anabolic steroids(Drugs In Sports, 2) These drugs may also have been called: roids, juice, gym candy, pumpers, stackers, balls or bulls, arnies, or anabolics(Anabolic Steroids, 1). Also most professional and amateur organizations have banned steroids use because of its unfair advantage. Steroids use is not limited to males but also more and more females putting themselves at risk by using steroids. Its is very important to know that using anabolic steroids are not only illegal, but it can also have serious side effects.

Steroids are used by a wide range of people. Athletes are at the top percentages of steroid users. Every athletic who competes in a competition wants to have some sort of advantage over his or her opponent. Also in some sports where strength is a must-have talent, athletes may think that their opponent is using them, so they must use them also (Drugs in Sports 1).

Steroids are hormones that act like the natural male hormone testosterone. Testosterone gives a person more energy and helps to rebuild muscles faster(Drugs in Sports, 1). Body builders, football players, and athletes may take steroids to help then train harder, longer, and better. Steroids give people the effects of weight lifting and

dieting but in half the effort and time. It is true that steroids make users bulk up, but the health risks are very high. Also a person may have bulging biceps; rippling abs; and quads that look like balloons, but that's just on the outside of their body. It may be very pleasing to flex in the mirror, but they may create problems on the inside. These problems may hurt them for the rest of their lives and shorten the life they live (Roberts, 2).

Women who have been raped and people who have been physically or sexually abused may be likely to use steroids also. They are scared for something to happen again and then want to ensure that it doesn't. Women may want to become intimidating or unattractive so they don't get rapped again. People who have abused by just want to be strong and more able to protect themselves(Volkow, 2).

There are also people that unfortunately have become diseased and don't know it. Some people are diagnosed with muscle dysmorphia and although they are large and muscular they thing that their muscles are too small. Women with this disease may think that their body is fat and flabby when they are tone and muscular (Volkow, 2). Another possibility of why people would be interested in taking steroids is because of their obesity. Steroids have been proven to help build muscle mass and reduce body fat (Volkow,).

Steroids also have medical purposes too. They can be used to treat people with different kinds of anemia, osteoporosis, and to help stimulate growth. Steroids were first developed to help fight against diseases and to help growth (Drugs in Sports, 1).

There is four different ways that steroids can be used. They can be taken orally,

gel, cream, or injected. For people who have been taking steroids over a long period they use needles to inject the steroid. The body tolerates it better this way (Drugs in Sports, 2). Pills can be the easiest to obtain while creams and gels may be the easiest way to keep usage a secret.

Two popular ways that steroids are used daily is by pyramiding and stacking. Pyramiding is exactly how it sounds. Users start by taking low dosages and steadily increase the amount they take. Halfway through their cycle they steadily start to decrease the amount they take until they reach none. This is believed to help build up the bodies

tolerance to the drug.

Stacking is a method of combining different steroids to take at once, like stacking the drugs on top of each other. This method is believed to make certain steroids work better when they are used together. This also is used to help build up tolerance to the steroids (Volkow, 2-3).

Steroids have many different effects, mostly negative. They cause the rapid increase of strength and power (Roberts, 2). Steroids help to heal muscles quicker after they have been used. It acts as the male hormone testosterone and gives the user more energy. This is the effect that most users are trying to obtain. They also have the effect of powering up the bodies metabolism and helps to burn body fat. This output is looked for mostly obsess people. With have the time and effort of regular diet and weight training steroids may look like a great quick body tune-up. However the negative effects may short live the positive by a long shot.

One of the most common side effects is irritability and aggression. Users may

sometimes be unable to control their emotions of mostly anger. This is called "roid rage". After use of steroids some users may have to go through behavioral therapy to keep their anger under control.

Steroids are illegal in most countries and may be hard to manufacture. If there are made in a country that is illegal they may not have been made in a sterile envirernment. This can cause multiple reactions if taken by either pill or injection. When injected into the body it can cause infections and give diseases such as: HIV, AID's, hepatitis B or C. Also inflammation of the heart, pains and abscess where the injection was are symptoms

of contaminated drugs.

Many internal problems can result from usage of uncontaminated drugs. Cysts can form in the live. They are filled with blood and if they explode they can cause internal bleeding. Blood clots can develop from over usage. The heart can be severely damaged because of the increased blood pressure. Having heart attaches or strokes is highly more to happen. The levels of low and high density lipoproteins can be changed and result in atherosolesis which can disrupt blood flow.

Puberty is triggered when large amounts of testosterone are released into the body. Average males make between two to ten milligrams of Testosterone a day(Drugs in Sports, 1). Then it is stopped when the testosterone is gone, telling the bones to stop growing. Steroids act like hormones and under heavy usage it can trick the body and tell the bones to stop growing, which can result in stunted growth.