Anabolic Steroids Essay, Research Paper

Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids are synthetic coumpounds 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.

The testosterone has two main functions androgenic and anabolic. Androgenic is

the development of male sex characteristics. Anabolic is the development of

muscle tissue.

To treat patients who suffer from a natural lack of testosterone

pharmacoligists alter one form of testosterone slightly, increasing th length of

time the drug is active. Testosterone was first isolated in 1935, soon forms of

testosterone such as dianabol, durabolin, deca-durabolin, and winstrol were

produced.

One of the main effects of anabolic steroids is to increase the number

of red blood cells and muscle tissue without producing much of the androgenic

effects of testosterone. There are only four legal uses for steroids treatment

for certain forms of cancer, pituatary dwarfism, and serious hormone

disturbances.

There are two forms of anabolic steroids those taken orally and those

injected. The immediate effects of both are mood swings of many different kinds.

In one study, physicians Ian Wilson, Arthur Prang, Jr., and Patricio Lara found

that four out of five men suffering from dippresion when given a steroid

suffered from dillusions. A research team from Great Britian Found that a

patient given steroids became dizzy, dissoriented, and incoherent. Physicians

William Layman and William Annitto have had a case of a young man who was

diagnosed as schizophrenic took steriods to help with his wieghtlifting. After

taking these drugs he suffered severe deppresion and anxiety and had trouble

sleeping.

Most people who use steroids do not have side affects this severe.

Steroids make changes in the electroencephalogram (an image of brain ellectrical

activity). Researchers believe that these changes are responsible for some of

the behavior changes in users of steroids like increased hostility and

aggressivness.

Even though there not supposed to some of the masculinizing effects of

testosterone still show on users of anabolic steroid . People who use them

sometimes develop acne, deepend voice, abnormal hair growth. Some of these side

effects can not be reveresed. Men who use steroids may become more or less

interested in sex.

The most severe effect of anabolic steroids is on the liver they call it

peliosis hepatis or blood filled cysts in the liver. If the cysts rupture they

can cause liver failure which can kill a person. After stoping the use of

steroids though these cysts may become smaller and dissapear. Steroids can also

cause cancerous tumors in the liver that can also kill they can also dissapear

if the drugs are not used anymore. Steroids are also increase the risk of

getting gallstones.

Use of steroids also effects your cardiovascular system. There are two

kinds of cholesterol in your body high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and

low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. HDL is good for the body but LDL is very

hazardous to your health. Using steroids lowers the number of HDL in the body in

most of the users. The lowering of the amount of HDL in the body puts the person

at a higher risk of developing high blood pressure and blood-clotting problems.

Some of the physicians also think that steroids also cause abnormal fat deposits

in the body and changes the way the body processes carbohydrates.

Men who use steroids also can develop serious reproductive system

problems. Steroids lower the amount of sperm in the semen which makes conception

difficult or even impossible. A mans testes will decrease in size, and the

amount of natural testosterone and the hormones that nourish them also decrease.

In some users the prostate gland will get larger. Most of the symptoms of the

drug use goes away after the drug is not used anymore but some of them stay such

as abnormal tissue in the liver, testes, and prostate gland.

There are also serious effects that take place in women as well. besides

the masculinizing effects the steroids lower the amount of female hormones for

example estrogen and progestrogen which are essential to the function of a

womens menstrual cycle. Some women claim to stop menstruating completely.

Steroids are prohibited in any competion wether it be international or

national. Even though this is true many top athletes as well as amateur

athletes use steroids. Athletes first used drugs in compettition in 1954 when

the team physician for the world weight lifting team, John Ziegler, went with

the team to the world championships in Vienna, Austria. Ziegler then met the

Russian team doctor that told him that the Russians where using testosterone.

Ziegler brough the news back to the united states and soon every weight lifter

was using steroids. Thirty years later it was said that four out of five weight

lifters where using steroids.

I told you earlier that there is only four legal uses for steroids but

in a recent report it was said that only 20-30% of the steroids produced where

used for those purposes. Another study taken of where the athletes got these

drugs said that 36% of them got them from a physcian, 10% got them from trainers,

9% from pharmacists, and 45% said that they bought them illegally.

Now the big question. Why do atheletes use this drug? Well its because

of the false information that steroids will get you bigger and stronger than a

person that is dieting and training hard. Researchers have concluded though that

using steroids does not get the user any bigger or stronger but only increases

hostility and aggresiveness. Some researchers say that the added aggresivness

and hostility may make a person train and work harder.

Part of the body size contraversy is about the type of tissue growth

that drugs promote. Now, every researcher agrees that steroids do make the users

gain weight, but some researchers think it’s in real muscle tissue and others

think that it’s in abnormal muscle tissue and that the weight gained is due to

water retained in the body. The ASCM states that steroids gain weight only in

the lean mass compartment of the body.

In May of 1986 the federal government set up a task force with the U.S

Department of Justice, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Federal Bureau

of Investigation to prosecute anabolic steroid users as well as dealers. The

first athlete to go to prison on steroid use charges was former british track

star David Jenkins. He was sentenced to seven years and was fined $75,000 in

1987. By 1990 there was 125 legal actions on steroid related charges in twenty

seven different federal districts. About eighty five people recieved charges

totaling up to eighty years in jail time on steroid related charges. They were

fined $1.2 million and the government has siezed about $18 million dollars worth

of anabolic steroids that includes counterfeit, diverted and smuggled supplies.

The Food Drug Administration has limited the number of anabolic steroids that

can be sold and because of this it is estimated that the black market makes

about $400 million a year on anabolic steroids alone.

Most pharmacies that manufacture anabolic steroids have improved their

security efforts. Some of the steroids have actually been taken off the market

which makes it even more difficult for the black market dealers to obtain legal

manufactured drugs. New ways for the dealers to make and buy the drug have been

created to serve the demand for them. The government now believes that most of

the steroids now produced and being sold are more of a health risk.

A spokesman for the Justice Department anabolic steroid offenses are “a

high priority item” for the government. One of the highest concerns is steroids

and there attraction to younger people because they are exposed to drug dealers

so much. Many of these kids buy drugs that are unsterile and have been

manufactured under filthy conditions.

So far in this report all I have been talking about is the bad things

that anabolic steroids have been asssociated with well now its time to talk

about some of the good things that they are good for. Anabolic Steroids are used

for some medical applications such as chronically ill patients during

nutritional support, patients with cronic anemias, patients undergoing kidney

dialysis, patients with osteporosis, patients with a defiiciency of testosterone.

Following trauma or major surgery patients usually respond to the stress

with a catabolic response which is attributed to increased body demands for

proteins and calories for wound healing and energy production. If these demands

by the body are not met a significant wasting of body tissues will occur. The

wasting of body tissue is vital to the patient. So doctors give patients

anabolic steroids in this stage till the patient gets back to his or her normal

stage.

Throughout my research of this topic I read alot of diffferent stories

about anabolic steroids. I read from the researchers that anabolic steroids show

few if any effects at all and I read from athletes that there is a very large

effect on muscle gain and endurance. I came across only one book though that

addressed this issue between researchers and atheletes. The book sayed that The

American College of Sports Medicine stated a report on the use and abuse of

anabolic steroids. It stated that for many people any benefits of anabolic

steroids are small and not worth the health risk. Yet almost all the athletes

who use anabolic steroids feel that the steroids had a great effect and that

they would not have been successful without them. The big gap between

researchers and athletes has caused a big contraversy athletes say one thing and

researchers say another. The researchers have found a reason that maybe is the

cause that anabolic steroid users see efects that researchers say are not

possible they call it the “placebo effect”.

The placebo effect works by the power of suggestion athletes believe

that the steroids will improve there performance so they do. The placebo effect

is real the performance is improved and the gains are not imagi

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