Steroid abusers ignore danger
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Steroid abusers ignore danger
Steroid abusers ignore a long list of dangers
Steroid use might create ripped abs, bulging biceps, and rock-hard pectorals--perhaps contributing to more home runs or an unfair advantage on the gridiron. But those changes come with a host of possible side effects--some permanent and some fatal.
The type of steroids most often abused is anabolic-androgenic. “Anabolic” means muscle-building. “Androgenic” refers to hormones such as testosterone that produce male sex characteristics.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids do have legitimate medical uses. For example, these drugs can help to treat impotence and delayed puberty. Steroids are also prescribed for people who lose muscle mass due to AIDS or other diseases.
When used without a prescription, however, steroids are both illegal and dangerous. The drugs appeal to some teenagers, athletes and others who want to enhance their physical performance or physical prowess--and do it quickly. Yet over the long term, steroid use can lead to:
*
severe acne
*
trembling
*
decreases in HDL ("good" cholesterol)
*
increases in LDL ("bad" cholesterol)
*
fluid retention
*
jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids)
*
high blood pressure
*
kidney tumors
*
liver tumors
*
cancer
In adolescents, steroid abuse can trick the body into "thinking" that it has completed puberty. As a result, bones stop developing. If teenagers take steroids before their adolescent growth spurt, they may stay at a reduced height for the rest of their lives.
Steroid effects reach into the realm of thought and mood as well. Abusers sometimes report that they feel invincible. But that emotional high can swing to paranoia, irritability, depression, impaired judgment, and manic behavior that turns violent.
The list doesn’t stop there. Other side effects of continued abuse are gender-specific. Ironically, in men these include changes associated with loss of virility--baldness, shrinking of the testicles, development of breasts, reduced sperm count, and greater risk of prostate cancer.
Women who abuse steroids can grow facial hair, experience male-pattern baldness, develop a deeper voice, and undergo changes in menstruation. Their monthly cycle may even stop.
Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical officer for the Hazelden Foundation, notes that the medical literature lacks a solid consensus on whether steroids are addicting. “Yet a lot of steroid users are addicted to other things, and then everything starts to fall apart,” Seppala says. “We end up treating the addiction and having to address the steroid use as well.”
In order to escape detection through drug tests, steroid abusers might use elaborate tactics. One is called “cycling”--taking the drug for a number of weeks and then stopping for a scheduled period before starting up again. Another strategy is “stacking,” which means taking several types of steroids at the same time for maximum effect. Some abusers “pyramid” steroids, starting with low doses that gradually increase to a peak over several weeks and then slowly taper off.
Results from the annual Monitoring the Future Survey, a study of drug use among students, reveal that most users of anabolic-androgenic steroids are male. In 2004, steroid use was reported by 1.9 percent of eighth-graders, 2.4 percent of tenth-graders, and 3.4 percent of twelfth-graders. These figures represent lifetime use for both males and females.
Noting that steroid abuse violates the law and confers an unfair advantage in athletic competition, Major League Baseball and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have teamed up to take action. MLB, which is working to address the steroid issue in its game, and the Partnership launched a joint campaign during the 2005 All-Star Game with a television spot titled "Statue" that aired on the FOX network. It shows a sculpture of a Roman athlete that slowly crumbles while an announcer lists the risks of steroid abuse.
For more information on steroids, see the National Institute on Drug Abuse fact sheet on steroids at www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/steroids.html or visit http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/Stero...ideshow/2.html for information from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
--Published October 31, 2005
Steroid use might create ripped abs, bulging biceps, and rock-hard pectorals--perhaps contributing to more home runs or an unfair advantage on the gridiron. But those changes come with a host of possible side effects--some permanent and some fatal.
The type of steroids most often abused is anabolic-androgenic. “Anabolic” means muscle-building. “Androgenic” refers to hormones such as testosterone that produce male sex characteristics.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids do have legitimate medical uses. For example, these drugs can help to treat impotence and delayed puberty. Steroids are also prescribed for people who lose muscle mass due to AIDS or other diseases.
When used without a prescription, however, steroids are both illegal and dangerous. The drugs appeal to some teenagers, athletes and others who want to enhance their physical performance or physical prowess--and do it quickly. Yet over the long term, steroid use can lead to:
*
severe acne
*
trembling
*
decreases in HDL ("good" cholesterol)
*
increases in LDL ("bad" cholesterol)
*
fluid retention
*
jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids)
*
high blood pressure
*
kidney tumors
*
liver tumors
*
cancer
In adolescents, steroid abuse can trick the body into "thinking" that it has completed puberty. As a result, bones stop developing. If teenagers take steroids before their adolescent growth spurt, they may stay at a reduced height for the rest of their lives.
Steroid effects reach into the realm of thought and mood as well. Abusers sometimes report that they feel invincible. But that emotional high can swing to paranoia, irritability, depression, impaired judgment, and manic behavior that turns violent.
The list doesn’t stop there. Other side effects of continued abuse are gender-specific. Ironically, in men these include changes associated with loss of virility--baldness, shrinking of the testicles, development of breasts, reduced sperm count, and greater risk of prostate cancer.
Women who abuse steroids can grow facial hair, experience male-pattern baldness, develop a deeper voice, and undergo changes in menstruation. Their monthly cycle may even stop.
Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical officer for the Hazelden Foundation, notes that the medical literature lacks a solid consensus on whether steroids are addicting. “Yet a lot of steroid users are addicted to other things, and then everything starts to fall apart,” Seppala says. “We end up treating the addiction and having to address the steroid use as well.”
In order to escape detection through drug tests, steroid abusers might use elaborate tactics. One is called “cycling”--taking the drug for a number of weeks and then stopping for a scheduled period before starting up again. Another strategy is “stacking,” which means taking several types of steroids at the same time for maximum effect. Some abusers “pyramid” steroids, starting with low doses that gradually increase to a peak over several weeks and then slowly taper off.
Results from the annual Monitoring the Future Survey, a study of drug use among students, reveal that most users of anabolic-androgenic steroids are male. In 2004, steroid use was reported by 1.9 percent of eighth-graders, 2.4 percent of tenth-graders, and 3.4 percent of twelfth-graders. These figures represent lifetime use for both males and females.
Noting that steroid abuse violates the law and confers an unfair advantage in athletic competition, Major League Baseball and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have teamed up to take action. MLB, which is working to address the steroid issue in its game, and the Partnership launched a joint campaign during the 2005 All-Star Game with a television spot titled "Statue" that aired on the FOX network. It shows a sculpture of a Roman athlete that slowly crumbles while an announcer lists the risks of steroid abuse.
For more information on steroids, see the National Institute on Drug Abuse fact sheet on steroids at www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/steroids.html or visit http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/Stero...ideshow/2.html for information from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
--Published October 31, 2005
Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: West Texas
Posts: 12
I agree with some of the statements from your post...but...the public only sees what the media portrays about steroid "abuse". I have been around the sport of bodybuilding all my life. Dad had me at every damn bodybuilding on the west coast during contest season watching the pros and the amatuers. I soaked up a ton of knowledge from these guys and many of them are alive and well with children and loving families with NO health problems that I know of. The athletes that usually end up with the problems are the bodybuilders who combine amphetamines (adderall xr/ephedrine(eca stacks/cocaine/and other street drugs to there training regiman. I agree that steroids are abused and should be avoided by athletes at any cost but the world is extremely mislead when it comes to any anabolic steroids. If androgens are done with proper administration the side effects are slim to none. My doctor told me that a male could be on 200mg of testosterone for his entire life and never notice a side effect. Now if he trained with extremely heavy weight the heart would enlarge with time. Its all about the athlete and his training regiman. I myself have taken alot of Nubain(opiate painkiller injection) to get threw the pain of extremely heavy training sessions but I stopped that over 2 years ago. I was at an off-season weight of 285 pounds and basiclly my quads and glutes were a pin cushion. Two years of recovery from anabolics and painkillers and I am in great health for now. I go every six months to get hormone levels checked and a full round of bloodwork done each time. So far so good. I still have extremely high testestorone levels but that is to be expected from training and the high protein diet. Im still 260 pounds and compete at least twice a year but school and work have finally caught up with me at 26yrs old. Again, I dont condone anabolic steroids nor would I consider them to be a safe way of getting an edge but the media should really do the research and I guarantee you that you would be shocked at the clinical studies done with absouletly little to no side effects!
Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: MA
Posts: 67
I knew of the dangers of steroids and I ignored them completly. My friends would tell me everyday to stop using them. I of course denied use of them, but eventually it was too obvious to deny. I ended up tearing my left labrum (ligament in shoulder), then my right rotaror cuff. I continued to lift atleast 2 times daily everyday lifting heavier and heavier weights, until one day my shoulders couldnt take it anymore. I know have to have surgery on both shoulders, and to make things worse I'm a recovered addict and I will have to take pain meds. I really think more information should be out there about steroids and it should be a major issue to discuss in health education classes instead of it being a very minimized topic.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 30
Originally Posted by Doug 
Steroid abusers ignore a long list of dangers
Steroid use might create ripped abs, bulging biceps, and rock-hard pectorals--perhaps contributing to more home runs or an unfair advantage on the gridiron. But those changes come with a host of possible side effects--some permanent and some fatal.
The type of steroids most often abused is anabolic-androgenic. “Anabolic” means muscle-building. “Androgenic” refers to hormones such as testosterone that produce male sex characteristics.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids do have legitimate medical uses. For example, these drugs can help to treat impotence and delayed puberty. Steroids are also prescribed for people who lose muscle mass due to AIDS or other diseases.
When used without a prescription, however, steroids are both illegal and dangerous. The drugs appeal to some teenagers, athletes and others who want to enhance their physical performance or physical prowess--and do it quickly. Yet over the long term, steroid use can lead to:
*
severe acne
*
trembling
*
decreases in HDL ("good" cholesterol)
*
increases in LDL ("bad" cholesterol)
*
fluid retention
*
jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids)
*
high blood pressure
*
kidney tumors
*
liver tumors
*
cancer
In adolescents, steroid abuse can trick the body into "thinking" that it has completed puberty. As a result, bones stop developing. If teenagers take steroids before their adolescent growth spurt, they may stay at a reduced height for the rest of their lives.
Steroid effects reach into the realm of thought and mood as well. Abusers sometimes report that they feel invincible. But that emotional high can swing to paranoia, irritability, depression, impaired judgment, and manic behavior that turns violent.
The list doesn’t stop there. Other side effects of continued abuse are gender-specific. Ironically, in men these include changes associated with loss of virility--baldness, shrinking of the testicles, development of breasts, reduced sperm count, and greater risk of prostate cancer.
Women who abuse steroids can grow facial hair, experience male-pattern baldness, develop a deeper voice, and undergo changes in menstruation. Their monthly cycle may even stop.
Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical officer for the Hazelden Foundation, notes that the medical literature lacks a solid consensus on whether steroids are addicting. “Yet a lot of steroid users are addicted to other things, and then everything starts to fall apart,” Seppala says. “We end up treating the addiction and having to address the steroid use as well.”
In order to escape detection through drug tests, steroid abusers might use elaborate tactics. One is called “cycling”--taking the drug for a number of weeks and then stopping for a scheduled period before starting up again. Another strategy is “stacking,” which means taking several types of steroids at the same time for maximum effect. Some abusers “pyramid” steroids, starting with low doses that gradually increase to a peak over several weeks and then slowly taper off.
Results from the annual Monitoring the Future Survey, a study of drug use among students, reveal that most users of anabolic-androgenic steroids are male. In 2004, steroid use was reported by 1.9 percent of eighth-graders, 2.4 percent of tenth-graders, and 3.4 percent of twelfth-graders. These figures represent lifetime use for both males and females.
Noting that steroid abuse violates the law and confers an unfair advantage in athletic competition, Major League Baseball and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have teamed up to take action. MLB, which is working to address the steroid issue in its game, and the Partnership launched a joint campaign during the 2005 All-Star Game with a television spot titled "Statue" that aired on the FOX network. It shows a sculpture of a Roman athlete that slowly crumbles while an announcer lists the risks of steroid abuse.
For more information on steroids, see the National Institute on Drug Abuse fact sheet on steroids at www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/steroids.html or visit http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/Stero...ideshow/2.html for information from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
--Published October 31, 2005
Steroid use might create ripped abs, bulging biceps, and rock-hard pectorals--perhaps contributing to more home runs or an unfair advantage on the gridiron. But those changes come with a host of possible side effects--some permanent and some fatal.
The type of steroids most often abused is anabolic-androgenic. “Anabolic” means muscle-building. “Androgenic” refers to hormones such as testosterone that produce male sex characteristics.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids do have legitimate medical uses. For example, these drugs can help to treat impotence and delayed puberty. Steroids are also prescribed for people who lose muscle mass due to AIDS or other diseases.
When used without a prescription, however, steroids are both illegal and dangerous. The drugs appeal to some teenagers, athletes and others who want to enhance their physical performance or physical prowess--and do it quickly. Yet over the long term, steroid use can lead to:
*
severe acne
*
trembling
*
decreases in HDL ("good" cholesterol)
*
increases in LDL ("bad" cholesterol)
*
fluid retention
*
jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids)
*
high blood pressure
*
kidney tumors
*
liver tumors
*
cancer
In adolescents, steroid abuse can trick the body into "thinking" that it has completed puberty. As a result, bones stop developing. If teenagers take steroids before their adolescent growth spurt, they may stay at a reduced height for the rest of their lives.
Steroid effects reach into the realm of thought and mood as well. Abusers sometimes report that they feel invincible. But that emotional high can swing to paranoia, irritability, depression, impaired judgment, and manic behavior that turns violent.
The list doesn’t stop there. Other side effects of continued abuse are gender-specific. Ironically, in men these include changes associated with loss of virility--baldness, shrinking of the testicles, development of breasts, reduced sperm count, and greater risk of prostate cancer.
Women who abuse steroids can grow facial hair, experience male-pattern baldness, develop a deeper voice, and undergo changes in menstruation. Their monthly cycle may even stop.
Dr. Marvin Seppala, chief medical officer for the Hazelden Foundation, notes that the medical literature lacks a solid consensus on whether steroids are addicting. “Yet a lot of steroid users are addicted to other things, and then everything starts to fall apart,” Seppala says. “We end up treating the addiction and having to address the steroid use as well.”
In order to escape detection through drug tests, steroid abusers might use elaborate tactics. One is called “cycling”--taking the drug for a number of weeks and then stopping for a scheduled period before starting up again. Another strategy is “stacking,” which means taking several types of steroids at the same time for maximum effect. Some abusers “pyramid” steroids, starting with low doses that gradually increase to a peak over several weeks and then slowly taper off.
Results from the annual Monitoring the Future Survey, a study of drug use among students, reveal that most users of anabolic-androgenic steroids are male. In 2004, steroid use was reported by 1.9 percent of eighth-graders, 2.4 percent of tenth-graders, and 3.4 percent of twelfth-graders. These figures represent lifetime use for both males and females.
Noting that steroid abuse violates the law and confers an unfair advantage in athletic competition, Major League Baseball and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have teamed up to take action. MLB, which is working to address the steroid issue in its game, and the Partnership launched a joint campaign during the 2005 All-Star Game with a television spot titled "Statue" that aired on the FOX network. It shows a sculpture of a Roman athlete that slowly crumbles while an announcer lists the risks of steroid abuse.
For more information on steroids, see the National Institute on Drug Abuse fact sheet on steroids at www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/steroids.html or visit http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/Stero...ideshow/2.html for information from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
--Published October 31, 2005
Thanks for sharing all this info. Very useful to someone who lift weights. I would love to try roids, but too much negativities...
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