The sports world was shocked when Canadian Ben Johnson was denied his gold medal at the 1988 Olympics after tests showed he had taken anabolic steroids. The incident called international attention to the use of anabolic steroids among world-class athletes to gain competitive advantage. Still, athletes and nonathletes persist in taking them. Teenagers are taking anabolic steroids not just to succeed in sports but to enhance their self-images by perfecting their physiques.
The nonmedical use of anabolic steroids raises more ethical and moral issues. Steroids use is illegal. Users acquire these drugs through illicit and expensive ways. Athletes who use these drugs are cheating. They gain an unfair advantage over opponents and violate the ban on steroids imposed by most major sports organizations.
What are anabolic steroids ?
Steroids are drugs derived from hormones. Anabolic steroids include one group of these hormonal drugs. In certain cases, some may have therapeutic value. Anabolic steroids - or more precisely, anabolic/androgenic steroids - belong to a group known as ergogenic, or so-called "performance-enhancing," drugs. The medical ones are synthetic derivatives of testosterone, a natural male hormone. "Anabolic" means growing or building. "Androgenic" means "masculinizing" or generating male sexual characteristics.
Most healthy males produce between 2 and 10 milligrams of testosterone a day. (Females do produce some testosterone, but in rare amounts.) The hormone's anabolic effects help the body retain dietary protein, thus aiding growth of muscles, bones, and skin. The androgenic characteristics of testosterone are associated with masculinity. They foster the maturing of the male reproductive system in puberty, the growth of body hair and the deepening of the voice. They can affect aggressiveness and sex drive.
Do They Really Work?
Anabolic steroids are designed to mimic the body building traits of testosterone while minimizing its "masculinizing" effects. There are several types, with various combinations of anabolic and androgenic properties. The International Olympics Committee to date has placed 17 anabolic steroids and related compounds on its banned list.
Athletes who have used anabolic steroids-as well as some coaches, trainers, and pysicians do report significant increases in lean muscle mass, strength, and endurance. But no studies show that the substances enhance performance. Anabolic steroids do not improve agility, skill or cardiovascular capacity.Some athletes insist that these substances aid in recovery from injuries, but no hard data exists to support the claim.
"There is little compelling scientific evidence to support the concept that steroids enhance athletic performance."
Theodore J. Cicero, Ph.D., and Lynn H. O'Connor, Ph.D., 1990
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