Anabolic Steroids Effect on the Body

The drive to win among athletes is pushing them to take risks to their health by using anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs (Kowalski, 2003, 6-11). Motivation ranges from college scholarships to high-paying spots on professional teams to Olympic gold medals. No level of sports is immune to this problem. The taking of performance enhancing drugs, or doping, as it is referred to, is banned by most sports regulatory bodies, yet it is rampant. Three athletes lost their gold medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City when they tested positive for drugs. Athletes are willing to take the risk of being caught, even though it may mean they are barred from competition for life, just to edge out the competition.

The Centers for Disease Control note that roughly five percent of high school athletes take performance-enhancing drugs; the National Collegiate Athletic Association says nearly 60 percent of athletes take supplements which may contain banned substances (Kowalski, 2003, 7). Athletes use the drugs for several reasons, but mainly to build body mass and strengthen muscles, and to increase endurance.

Anabolic steroids are chemicals similar to sex hormones which are derived from cholesterol, e.g. testosterone in the male, and estrogen and progesterone in the female (Freudenrich, 2004; Kowalski, 2003, 7). They help the body build muscle and bone mass by stimulating the formation of new proteins used in muscle and bone formation. They help

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hepatitis, and other potentially fatal diseases. Anabolic steroids are taken orally or injected, and the injected forms can be short- or long-lasting (Anabolic). Injectable forms have less side effects than the oral forms. Oral steroids are fat-soluble and are detectable in the body for several weeks or months after being taken (NCAA). Injectable steroids are injected into the muscle tissue and released slowly into the rest of the body, and may be detectable for months after their use. The body tolerates injectable steroids better than oral ones. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the structure of testosterone was altered by scientists so that the synthetic forms would increase muscle and body protein metabolism at doses which would not alter secondary sexual characteristics. Examples of anabolic steroids are: dihydrotestosterone, testosterone, dromostanolone, DHEA, epitestosterone, methandienone, oxymesterone, androstenedione, dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone, and norethandrolone. A study by Hartgens et al (2001) looked at the effects of androgenic-anabolic steroid-induced body changes in strength athletes. Some strength athletes use androgenic-anabolic steroids(AAS) to improve their body dimensions, and this study was desig

Category: Medical - A