Anabolic Steroids
In today’s society, athletes are revered as heroes. There is immense pressure to be the best. Athletes are willing to do whatever it takes to gain an edge, even if it means compromising their health. For almost three decades, athletes have been supplementing their strength program with anabolic steroids to enhance their performance. To be sure, anabolic steroids are effective supplements to strength training programs, but there is no doubt that the consequences can be deleterious.
What are Anabolic Steroids and how do they work?
Anabolic steroids are synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone. Most healthy males produce 2-10 milligrams per day of testosterone. Testosterone is responsible for
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Users often utilize a dangerous practice known as stacking, the combination several different types of steroids to maximize their effectiveness (http://www.nashville.net/~acarney/8html).
Protein Synthesis
Anabolic steroids cause enzymes, such as RNA polymerase, to promote two important biochemical reactions, creatine phosphate synthesis and protein synthesis. Creatine phosphate is a molecule that can be metabolized in the absence of sufficient oxygen as a short term energy source. Increased creatine phosphate synthesis enables athletes to train harder and for longer periods of time. Protein synthesis is increased as the newly formed receptor-steroid complex migrates to the nucleus and initiates transcription. The production of RNA is elevated, causing an increased rate of protein synthesis (http://www.bigsport.com/steroids/steroids/roidb11a.txt).
Nitrogen Retention
Anabolic steroids increase the body’s ability to retain nitrogen. By allowing for better utilization of the nitrogen in ingested protein, anabolic steroids help athletes to build body mass (http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hsr/hsr/winter97/steroid.html). In order for an athlete to accumulate extra muscle mass, his or her body must temporarily be in a state of positive nitrogen balance; more nitrogen must come into the body than is lost. During strenuous exercise, the release of glucocorticosteroids creates a negative nitrogen balance in the body. Anabolic steroids can reverse this
Anabolic Steroids are taken by athletes to increase muscle mass while decreasing fat rapidly and efficiently. They can push the physiological limits of the muscle, making it bigger, faster and stronger than it can get naturally. Steroids achieve this affect on the body by enhancing the natural process of muscle building. The use of steroids has had a negative impact on the lives and careers of many athletes, causing suspensions, bans, and even the loss of medals and other awards and records earned in international events. A few of the high profile athletes whose lives and careers by their anabolic steroid use include: Barry Bonds, Lyle Alzada, Jose Canseco, Ben Johnson, Chris Benoit, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, Alex Rodriguez and Lance Armstrong.
Steroids (anabolic) are a drug that was discovered and made by medical scientists in the last 1930’s to help with medical problems. The drug was made to help with many medical problems such as testosterone, growth, sexual functioning, and other medical problems such as helping people with HIV to help grow musical. It also helps with many other diseases. Like any other drug on the market people learn that the drug can be used for many other ways. Steroids can enhance athlete’s performance as well as bodybuilders and is used in almost every sport out there. The use of steroids has become a widespread problem. Steroid use has caused many help problems with the misuse of the drug and has caused the drug to be illegal for people to use them in
The increased strength occurs because the steroid promotes the synthesis of proteins that are used to build skeletal muscle tissue. (423). Anabolic steroids also can damage the hypothalamus in the brain and also increase the risk of more serious damage to muscle tissue.
Throughout the history of athletics, humans have pursued new and innovative ways to construct better, faster, stronger athletes. Steroid use is one of the most popular choices among these athletes. Steroids, first created in the 1930s, are synthetic hormones that produce specific physiological effects on one's body (Center for Substance Abuse Research). Although the German scientists who discovered steroids did not intend its use for body building or creating better athletes, steroid use has developed into a controversial subject concerning the health of users and other moral issues. Overall, the use of steroids in athletics is physically and morally wrong because it essentially promotes the deterioration of the health of athletes and
The market for top performing athletes in sports in the 21st century is a competitive one. Athletes are pushed to, be stronger, an heal from injuries faster. With the pressure to do well and get picked up by a professional team of sorts goes without saying that hard work is a must to elevate ones professional athletic career, but what if one has reached a plateau or hit a wall in a training regimen and just can not seem to push through? When some athletes hit the proverbial wall when training they turn to steroids. Ruth Wood in an article titled Anabolic Steroids: A Fatal Attraction? Writes, “Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are drugs of abuse. Despite bans on steroid use, Olympic
Anabolic steroids are a complex molecule used to trick the mind into thinking that testosterone is being produced. An American doctor in the 1930s developed anabolic steroids for the use of “building body tissue and preventing the breakdown of tissue” (“Athletes and Steroids”). An FDA review later failed to find evidence that these anabolic steroids had positive effects for those purposes. As time went on people found that steroids increase muscle mass significantly, and they began to abuse that power. Many athletes began to join in, creating a dilemma not only for their health issues but for the game itself. Many athletes have broken records, won awards, and achieved goals they would not have achieved if they didn 't
Almost every week, there is a new report of a major athlete getting caught for PED use. Throughout the history of sports, many athletes have tried gain an advantage on their competition. When done correctly, athletes improve their performance through rigorous training and hard work. As the years have progressed, athletes believe that they need an unfair advantage to succeed in a particular sport. This is what has caused the uprise in PED use. Steroids have been linked to most of the PED use in sports. Steroids are commonly known to cut body fat and increase a person's body tissue; however, they are terrible for your body. Steroids affect many parts of the human body. Most users only look at the near present when using steroids, but over time they can have a serious affect on the way a person lives. Jerry Adler, author of “Toxic Strength”, believes that “Steroids can have long-lasting and sometimes irreversible side effects on the body.” This is especially dangerous in teen users. Some programs around the world have high expectations, and sometimes athletes will turn to steroids to gain an edge in a certain sport. But the effects can be far-reaching and detrimental to a young athlete (“Global
Anabolic Steroids are synthetic compounds formulated to be like the male sex hormone testosterone. Many athletes use anabolic steroids male and female alike, such as body builders, weightlifters, baseball players, football players, swimmers, and runners. They do so because they mistakenly believe that they will gain strength and size. In a male, testosterone is released by the leydig cells in the testes.
However, the demerits outweigh the merits of the anabolic steroids. Thus, I stand to oppose the notion that anabolic steroids are important for body building. The anabolic steroids help in building the body by alternating and changing the Basal Metabolic Rate of the person by increasing it. The body muscles grow because of the anabolic steroid, but it impedes the growth rate of a person holistically.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary anabolic steroids are any of a group of usually synthetic hormones that are derivatives of testosterone, are used medically specially to promote tissue growth, and are sometimes abused by athletes to increase the size and strength of their muscles and improve endurance. The main purpose of anabolic steroids is to gain strength and muscle very quickly and faster than any other drug enhancement. There are many types of models that relate to anabolic steroids. One model is high school athletes who use anabolic steroids and would mostly fall in the performance enhancer model category. Many may ask, what exactly are performance enhancement drugs? Performance enhancement drugs are substances used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. There are many experiments done on the use of anabolic steroids within high schools. According to the Huffington Post as of 2011, 13 percent of boys who play football in high school take anabolic steroids and that is just football players. All of these young athletes who take steroids use the drug to become stronger. An average of 8.8 percent of female high school athletes have also tried or currently use anabolic steroids. The crave to have a “buffed body” is a big trend for young adults. A study from the University of Michigan showed that in 1992, 72 percent of high school seniors believed that those using steroids “risked harming themselves” (Are Student Athletes Taking Steroids?). Just
Ergogenic aids are believed to be the miracle working products that help athletes or any physically active person, to enhance their performance (Powers, p. 569). An example of an ergogenic aid is anabolic-androgenic steroids, which are known to build and strengthen the muscle. Athletes who chose to take anabolic-androgenic steroids can choose to either take it orally or inject it within their muscle, to try to enhance their performance within their respective sport. The type of performance that the anabolic-androgenic steroids would likely show improvement in are by increased muscle mass and striated muscle speed associated (Hassan et al. p.273). Also, it can be used to increase the strength of the tendons, ligaments and joints, which could help prevent injuries from occurring within athletes. Although anabolic-androgenic steroids sound like a positive steroid to take, it can have a negative effect on athletes’ heart, such as cardiovascular disease, as well as other serious health risk factors, if it is being overused.
Some athletes and bodybuilders take steroids know as anabolic androgen steroids. It increases their muscle mass and strength. The main anabolic steroid hormone produced by your body is testosterone. Some athletes take straight testosterone to boost their performance. Testosterone has two main effects on the body; the anabolic effect which promotes muscle building and strength and the other, androgen which case deep voice and is responsible for all male traits. This paper will show the negative effects of how steroids affect the body and include real life interviews.
Anabolic steroids and other sorts of steroids can assist people in physical performance and their physical appearance. Therefore, some athletes
In today’s society in athletics, muscle mass and strength seem more important than in years past. It is believed that many athletes use anabolic steroids to increase their muscle mass and also their strength. Anabolic steroids are a group of synthetic hormones that promote the storage of proteins and the growth of tissue, sometimes used by athletes to increase muscle size and strength. Before the mid 1970’s the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) was used mainly by highly trained athletes especially those involved in weight training. Since then other athletes including those involved in recreational sports and non-competitive sports have started using the steroids. Steroids are also being used by many school age children
“Some athletes take a form of steroids — known as anabolic-androgen steroids or just anabolic steroids — to increase their muscle mass and strength. The main anabolic steroid hormone produced by your body is testosterone. Testosterone has many risks some of them are Anabolic effects promote muscle building. Androgenic effects male traits, such as facial hair and a deeper voice. Men get some major risks from taking this type of drug like some are prominent breasts Baldness, Shrunken testicles, Infertility, and Impotence.”(Mayo Clinic)