Steroids

You've seen them, and you thought you knew what was going on. The muscle-heads at the gym, the all-star basketball player, the amazing offensive tackle, and the lightning fast swimmer. All of them used steroids, and you knew it. They were all unnaturally strong, and looked like gods. But what you could not see is the terrible side effects which come through the use of anabolic steroids. These powerful drugs have both positive and negative results from their use. Along with increased strength and size, users of steroids suffer from ailments like cancer, bad acne, hair loss, damaged organs and intense mood swings.

Anabolic steroids are a group of muscle building chemicals, which are synthetic versions of the male hormone, testosterone. Developed in 1935 they were prescribed to aid in muscle and tissue repair by those who had undergone surgery or had degenerative diseases. Now they are used by athletes and patients alike. But they are illegal to use if not prescribed by a physician, and have been banned by nearly all athletic organizations, both professional and amateur.

When you think of someone who uses steroids you typically picture someone who is massive, and whose muscle mass is very well defined. A picture comes to mind of the giant body builder, who is so big he can't touch his back because his biceps are in the way, but he can manage to bench press his car. The possible growth and development is amazing. With much less work necessary, the results can be astounding. Athletes can get bigger, stronger and faster, with less effort than previous. The limits of an athletes potential with steroids seem to be unbounded. These are the positive aspects to the use of steroids. One study showed that as much as ten pounds of lean muscle mass could be gained by a mature adult using steroids over a years period. The resulting size and strength increase would be greater more easily attained than without use of steroids.(Taylor pg 45) Also, the type of body structure that may males are looking for can be easily obtained through the use of steroids. Large pectoral muscles, as well and big biceps and a well defined stomach are what many teenage users are after. Society dictates what the current trends are, and our society has dictated that athletic looking men (and women) are in. But not everyone can be so fortunate to have a beautiful body with their given gene pool. So through the use of steroids, people can attain the wonderful body that they so desire. One ex-user commented that after he had used steroids and bulked up, he was much more popular with the females, and got much more respect from his male peers.(Deacon pg 52) Steroids are also used for therapeutic applications as well, although their use here is much less well known. Steroids can be used to promote healing in patients who have recently undergone surgery, they also improve the appetite and increase protein production. They also help protect blood for producing bone marrow after radiation therapy. Also, steroids can be used to help treat skeletal disorders such as osteoporosis broken bones because they aid in the reconstruction of the bone matrix.(Goldman pg 201) The positive effects of steroids are quite obvious, and quite powerful.

Unfortunately, the use of steroids tends to result in many damaging side effects in the users. The mournful stories of dominating athletes who used steroids, who are no longer great at their one time profession seems to dot the newspaper pages quite regularly. They always say that they realized too late the damaging effects that the drugs had on their bodies. Steroids can have many different and adverse reactions with the human body. Some effects are only