In America, sports stars found to be using steroids are facing tough times. Fat billion bucks endorsement contracts some expected from successful sports careers are being tossed in the nearest dumpsters as ad agencies and sponsors are taking a second look at not so squeaky clean athletes and Just Saying No.
The scientific name for this class of drugs is anabolic-androgenic steroids. Anabolic refers to muscle-building. Androgenic refers to increased male characteristics. But even scientists shorten it to anabolic steroids.
Steroids are synthetic substances similar to the male sex hormone testosterone. The primary medical use of anabolic steroids is to treat delayed puberty, some types of impotence, and wasting of the body caused by HIV infection or other diseases. But doctors never prescribe anabolic steroids to young, healthy people to help build muscles. Without a prescription from a doctor, steroids are illegal.
Street slang terms for steroids include “arnolds”, “gym candy”, “juice’, “pumpers”, “stackers”, and “weight trainers”. Some steroid users pop pills. Others use hypodermic needles to inject steroids directly into muscles. Abusers have been known to take doses 10 to 100 times higher than the amount prescribed for medical reasons by a doctor.
The Good News is most teens are smart and stay away from steroids.
The Bad News according to the most comprehensive survey of students in eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades, 17.1 percent of eighth graders, 30.2 percent of tenth graders, and 41.1 percent of twelfth graders said that steroids were "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain. Furthermore, 60.2 percent of twelfth graders surveyed reported that using steroids had a great risk [of happening] during 2006. I don’t know about you but these percentages get translated to kids in danger pretty fast for me.
Three reasons youngsters use steroids is because they want to build muscles, reduce body fat or become a more powerful athlete. They either take it orally or inject it into their stomachs (yes, it hurts just thinking of that torturous act) or rub a cream form of steroids on themselves.
Ironically, they might be suffering from muscle dysmorphia, a condition in which a person has a distorted image of his or her body. Men with this condition think that they look small and weak, even if they are large and muscular. It’s the equivalent of anorexic young girls who literally starve themselves when they are already painfully and dangerously undernourished.
Health consequences associated with anabolic steroid abuse include:
Hormonal system disruptions. Reduced sperm production, shrinking of the testicles, impotence, and irreversible breast enlargement in boys and men. Decreased body fat and breast size, voice deepening, excessive body hair, loss of scalp hair, and genital changes in girls and women
Musculoskeletal system effects
Premature and permanent growth termination among adolescents
Cardiovascular diseases
Heart attacks and strokes
Liver diseases
Potentially fatal cysts and cancer
Skin diseases
Acne and cysts
Infections including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and infective endocarditis, a potentially fatal inflammation of the heart’s lining.
Increased aggressive behavior, particularly when high doses are taken. Depression, mood swings, fatigue, restlessness, loss of appetite, and reduced sex drive when steroid abuse is stopped.
These facts courtesy of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse
Research has shown that simply teaching students about steroids' adverse effects does not convince adolescents that they can be adversely affected. Nor does such instruction discourage young people from taking steroids in the future. Presenting both the risks and benefits of anabolic steroid use is more effective in convincing adolescents about steroids' negative effects, apparently because students find a balanced approach more credible.
Current knowledge is based largely on the experiences of a small number of physicians who have worked with patients undergoing steroid withdrawal. The physicians have found that supportive therapy is sufficient in some cases. Patients are educated about what they may experience during withdrawal and are evaluated for suicidal thoughts. If symptoms are severe or prolonged, medications or hospitalization may be needed. Some patients require assistance beyond pharmacological treatment of withdrawal symptoms and are treated with behavioral therapies.
Myths and Facts About Steroids
Most youths share information about the drugs they use. Unfortunately, most is locker room trash talk, also called myths. Take a look at some of them.
MYTH: Forget working out. Just pop some steroids and you’ll bulk up fast with no problem.
FACT: Not exactly. Steroids can make pimples pop up and hair fall out. They can make guys grow breasts and girls grow beards. Steroids can cause livers to grow tumors and hearts to clog up. They can even send users on violent, angry rampages. In other words, steroids throw a body way out of whack and then, it’s anybody’s guess what happens.
MYTH: There are no long-lasting harmful results.
FACT: Wrong. Some long-lasting health consequences for males and females include liver cancer, heart attacks, and elevated cholesterol levels. In addition to this, steroid use among adolescents may prematurely stop the lengthening of bones resulting in stunted growth.
MYTH: If I don’t like them, I’ll just stop taking them.
FACT: Some steroid abusers experience withdrawal symptoms that include mood swings, fatigue, loss of appetite, insomnia, reduced sex drive, and depression. This depression, if left untreated, can persist for a year or more after the abuser stops taking the drugs and can lead to suicide attempts.
MYTH: Using supplements that have steroids in them is not as dangerous as regular steroids.
FACT: In 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration was so concerned that these products, marketed as dietary supplements and promoted for building muscle and increasing strength, may cause serious long-term adverse health consequences in men, women, and children that many were warned to stop selling them or face seizure and injunction.
If you are a young athlete with a wish to shape your body, please check your local gym for a trainer who will design a program for you. One or two visits are usually inexpensive and you can then follow his or her training program on your own.
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