Are Anabolic Steroids Worth It?
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008
by Donovan Baldwin
No Diet 4 Me
With all the stories and claims in the news over the last few years about the use of steroids by many highly-paid, and highly-respected, professional athletes, people have become more aware of these drugs. Unfortunately, not so many of us actually realize the danger inherent in using anabolic steroids to increase strength and power.
First of all, we have to realize that anabolic steroids are prescription drugs.
Usually, substances that are only available through a prescription are so designeated because they are potentially dangerous in some way.
For us to fully understand the dangers of anabolic steroid use, we should first understand what they are, as well as what they do.
Very simply, anabolic steroids are a synthetic reproduction of the basic male hormone, testosterone. Among other things, testosterone is responsible for the physical strength and power, and muscle size, which tend to be more common to the male than to the female.
This artificial concoction is legitimately used by doctors to treat many diverse conditions such as muscle diseases, kidney disease, burns, breast cancer, and certain rare types of anemia. In this practice, however, competent doctors use them cautiously and in minimal doses because of the potentially dangerous side effects. The list of side effects is a long one, and I will not recreate it here, but they can range from the inconvenient to the very dangerous.
Most doctors will not prescribe steroids for bodybuilders and other athletes, and even some non-athletes, who simply want to increase their performance, and/or physique.
Those who do wish to make use of anabolic steroids for such purposes will generally obtain them from a black market source or with the compliance of unethical physicians. Even though this is an intentional choice on the part of the parties involved to break the law and endanger their health and the safety of others around them, one estimate which was made a couple of years ago put the number of people illegally using steroids at around two million!
In their normal medical use as healing agents, steroids are taken orally or injected in small, relatively safe, doses. When they are used illegally by bodybuilders and other athletes, and even some police officers and criminals who see them as a way to get the upper hand, they are generally taken in massive doses far above the normal dosage used for therapeutic purposes.
When these excessively large doses are combined with resistance training programs, they DO cause an increase in strength and muscle mass. However, both research and reality have demonstrated that the adverse side effects, and, even worse, danger inherent in their use, vastly outweighs the desired benefits.
While men are going to be the primary users of anabolic steroids, some women also choose to use them. Men and women both are susceptible to many side effects of anabolic steroids, but, in women, some of these effects may be irreversible. Fortunately, at least from the perspective of health, most of the irreversible effects are primarily cosmetic, such as the appearance of dark facial hair, a deeper voice, and a loss of scalp hair.
If only cosmetic effects were the results, the illegal use of anabolic steroids might be a simpler problem to deal with. However, many results, both of direct and indirect type, range from just "not worth i"t to downright dangerous. The murder/suicide case of pro wrestler Chris Benoit, and the sometimes tumultuous events in the life of professional foot ball player Lyle Alzado before his death are just two well publicized instances of the destructive potential of the side effects of anabolic steroid use.
Through the use of these subsatnces, an athlete can become more prone to certain types of injuries and may actually experience decreased performance in some areas of health and fitness. For example, while muscles will become stronger, tendons and ligaments will not. Not only does this make the athlete more prone to injury when the muscle exerts more force than the tendons and ligaments can withstand, but also, another side effect of steroid use is a slowing of the healing process.
Yet one more example is that the growing muscle must have somewhere to grow. When muscles begin to increase vastly in size at a rapid rate, they may actually grow around bones and joints, subjecting them to stresses which may cause the bone to break more easily or joints to become damaged...perhaps permanently.
All of this may seem insignificant beside the serious injuries and even death which sometimes occur as a result of the illegal use of anabolic steroids by many. The form of violent behavior occasionally referred to as "roid rage" has resulted in injury and even death for family members, friends, teammates, opponents, and even innocent bystanders. Many users suffer their own fates, having died from cancers, tumors, heart disease, and other conditions attributed to illegal steroid use.
Non-athletes hoping to find a quick and easy way to achieve fitness, weight loss, and health, will often turn to anabolic steroids in hopes of achieving these goals. While muscles may indeed grow larger and strength may increase, the overall fitness of the individual is dependent on the regular performance of a regular exercise program which does more than simply make big muscles. For example, cardiovascular function, which is an incredibly important part of health, is usually not directly affected by the type of training that generally accompanies the illegal use of anabolic steroids, and the steroids may actually adversely affect the cardiovascular capabilities of the individual who is wishing to improve their health and fitness.
When one considers the dangers and illegality of the use of steroids for improving fitness and performance, whether by a professional athlete in pursuit of a trophy, fame, or more money; or by an individual seeking better health and a higher level of fitness, it appears that anabolic steroids are something to be avoided.
About the Author
Donovan Baldwin is a freelance health and fitness writer presently living in Stone Mountain, Georgia He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, weight lifting, yoga, weight loss, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, and life.
Find a wide range of health and fitness products at http://nodiet4me.com/health_products .
---------------------------------------------
NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)
---
This Article has been viewed 1,231 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Great article, Donovan. Although I am far from being an athlete---at 62 I have enough trouble just getting out of bed, but I have had my share of steroids. It seems that every time I go to the doctor with joint pain, the first thing he wants to do is drag out the 3-inch-long needle (and that's just the point he puts in) and give me a very painful shot. I fear what so many shots will do to me in the long run, so I have decided to bear with the pain for as long as I can before going through the painful shots. Good article. Keep up the good work. SEGHello Sandra, Thank you for the kind comments. I am 63 with osteoarthritis, but so far have managed to avoid any major medical intervention and even work out regularly...weight training and lots of walking. As stated in the article, and as you point out, steroids are used by real practiotioners for real problems and do serve a purpose. However, even then, some dangers do exist with their use. Thanks again. Don
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.