The Pros and Cons of Steroids for Athletes Minhaj Ghayur Writing 102 Dr. Turner May 11, 2010 Abstract Steroids have become a hot topic in the media and sports these days. A lot of athletes are being caught using steroids and jeopardizing their careers. The media and other health related organizations are trying to provide people with a better knowledge of steroids and the risks of taking steroids. Almost everybody knows the benefits of taking steroids, but does not know the overall process that goes with taking steroids and living the life afterwards. This research studies the pros and cons of using steroids.
Steroids in Professional Sports Anabolic-Androgenic steroids are a synthetic steroid hormone that resembles testosterone in promoting the growth of muscle, which increases strength to help in an athlete’s sport. Attempts to increase testosterone go all the way back to the original Olympic Games. Steroids did not receive a great amount of attention until the 20th century. Since then, steroids have been prevalent in most all sports. Anabolic-Androgenic steroids have been found being used in the Olympics, FIFA, National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and some types of wrestling.
It has been not only a hobby for me; but a way of life. Steroids is a highly discussed and controversial issue that is often associated with body building; and I wanted to do an in-depth analysis to decide if the benefit would outweigh the risk- especially in regards to my own body. Anabolic steroids can be defined as synthetic hormones which boost the body’s ability to produce muscle as well as prevent muscle breakdown. Athletes therefore use them hoping to enhance their abilities. Research has shown that these steroids can harm kids who are developing.
But it also has many dangerous side effects. Anabolic steroids are made in many shapes, which can be consumed orally, injected or rubbed into the skin. Another article which involves “A Statement on steroids, but what does it say?” with the New York Times talks about how steroids mess up an athletes chance of being inducted into the hall of fame. Roger Clemens and Barry bonds were blocked at least for now in the hall of fame because of the steroids era. The public is so concerned with athletes because they have kids looking up to these guys.
I know a couple things about steroids. I already knew some of the disadvantages were harmful side effects that effect your health in a negative way. I know that the advantages were they helped you get stronger faster. Also I knew a couple kids in high school who took steroids but never asked them about it. Two things I learned from reading this article were that the penalties for steroid use can include a very high fine as well as imprisonment.
This increasing trend of cosmetic surgeries in America attribute to media and famous public figures who promote cosmetic surgery as corrective surgery. Teenagers believe that their appearance has to be flawless, similar with celebrities as a result about 326,000 teenagers had plastic surgery in 2004. The author suggests that it’s the parent’s responsibility to teach their children about the damages of cosmetic surgery, also parents should not support their children by paying the bills for unnecessary plastic surgery. Teenagers are not well informed about the damages of cosmetic surgeries consequently they put their lives are at high risk. Teenagers only focus on the cosmetic aspect of the procedures they desire, and forget that it is actually a surgery.
With the NFLPA working on a new bargaining agreement, steroids should be a main topic of discussion. If the NFL can find a more effective way to test and punish players it will help not only the game, but the overall health of the NFL players, both physically and mentally. Baseball has grown in popularity and excitement side by side with America, hence the nickname America’s past time. From the last 1800’s to modern day baseball, only one rule has ever been changed on the game field, but many have been put into place to prevent performance enhancing supplements. Steroids were the main issue back in the early 1990’s, and took a whole new level at the turn of the era.
My biggest inspiration came from watching Oscar Pistorius run in the 2012 Olympics. He had both legs amputated when he was a baby. However, he was able to compete against the runners who had two normal legs. I was amazed that his prosthetic legs did not
There have been many high profile drug cheats over many years. People who idolise these athletes say that legalisation would make sport much fairer as a whole. There are many problems with performance enhancing drugs (PED). These include: • sport would not be fairer; • athletes would compromise their health; • athletes and their fans would much less satisfaction from winning; • a drug culture could be created in sport. SAFETY The safety of athletes is usually very high on a sports agenda.
It has now become impossible for a natural bodybuilder to compete on stage in any major professional show like the Arnold Classic or Mr. Olympia. The two main reasons for this wide spread use of steroids in professional bodybuilding is that there are no drug tests done in the sport and because they are now judge mostly on size rather than symmetry and definition. This means the athletes can take as much gear as they want to pack on freakish amounts of size without worrying about being caught or carrying about looking too freakish. To put it simply, professional bodybuilding is being ruined by steroids and should switch to all natural and start implementing extensive drug testing. Despite the large use of steroids in bodybuilding today, they did not always exist in the sport of bodybuilding.