Steroids in Baseball

Anabolic and androgenic steroids come in many different forms. The most popular form is a pill and is easy to take. The draw back of the pill is it is hard on the liver and kidneys because it passes through the system in a couple of hours. Another popular form is cream. The cream's advantage is it is easy to apply and is less harmful to the body. The draw back is it is very ineffective. The last form is injection. Injecting straight into the muscle gives the best results. Most serious athletes that use enhancement drugs take pills every day of their cycle and inject three times a week.

Some of the short-term affects of steroid use include mild to severe acne. Another side affect is called virilization, this is when the skin's pores get larger. Steroids increase the risk of heart disease because they raise the cholesterol in the system, which causes thickening of the arterial walls. (Anonymous,2003,p.1) Long term affects from steroid use can cause damage to the heart, kidney, or liver. There have been documented cases where an individual has died because they did not cycle properly.

Steroids are not physically addictive, but they can be very mentally addictive. When a person sees large gains in strength or performance it can be hard for them to stop their cycle (Stocker,2004,p.3) When a person cycles their doses they typically start with small doses. As they progress in their cycle the dose get larger. In the middle of the cycle the doses are the highest and then they become less as the cycle ends.

One of the affects of high testosterone levels is aggression. Some pro athletes use this extra aggression as a tool and it can be an advantage along with the increase in strength and stamina. Many people don't believe steroids can make a mild manner person flip out in rage, but it will make a person that is borderline psychotic cross that line.

If a family member wrote an autobiography according to his personal life and decided to include the family's dirty laundry, how would you feel? Well this is exactly how Todd Jones, a reliever for the Marlins felt when he read, "The Juice", an autobiography written by former major league player Jose Canseco. Jose admits using illegal steroids during his career. "I would never been a major league caliber player without steroidsÐ'...over the years I've been diagnosed by my doctors with arthritis, scoliosis, degenerative disc diseaseÐ'... I believe I would be in a wheel chair today if wasn't for steroids, I needed steroids and growth hormone just to live." (www://web5.infotrac.galegroup.com) "Juice" is the tell-all book because it breaks the clubhouse code of silence and violates an unwritten rule of the game. Speaking out on what was known but never publicized. Jose also says baseball black-balled him when he was 38 homeruns short of 500 for his career and a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. If he had reached 500 homeruns would have still written his book?

The MLB regulations consist of testing once during the season. First time offenders are placed in treatment programs and suspended for 10 days. Even the fourth positive test is penalized by only a year. "Human growth hormone