Why Steriods and Kids Don't Mix - Essay Example

Steroids Introduction Steroids are a group of powerful drugs. Steroids are hormones that are made in the laboratory, and they have the same muscle- and tissue-building effects as the male sex hormone testosterone. During World War II, German soldiers took them before battle to make them more aggressive, and after the war, survivors of the Nazi death camps took them to build up their wasted bodies. It wasn't long afterward that athletes began to use steroids illegally. Weight lifters took them to make them more muscular, runners to strengthen their legs. Soon, steroids were being used by nonprofessionals. Today, according to some drug experts, perhaps a million Americans, including some 250,000 high school seniors who want to make themselves look (Galas, 1997) like Mr. or Miss Body Beautiful, spend millions of dollars a year on the illegal hormones. Like most drugs, steroids can be prescribed by doctors for other than what abusers want them for. They may, for example, be used to treat some forms of anemia, a blood disorder; osteoporosis (a bone-thinning disease); serious burns; and to replace male hormones in people who need them. But while they may increase body weight and strength, the jury is still out on whether they improve performance -- and that is what those who use them illegally think they will do. There is, of course, a difference between performing well on the ball-field or the track and looking like you could. People who take steroids regularly probably know that already. Some studies have shown that there is no real difference in performance between athletes who took steroids and those who took fake steroid pills. The steroid-takers might have been better off taking a multivitamin pill once a day. But there is more to steroids than whether they're valuable as a performance builder. They are not aspirin, though some kids take them as though they were. Doctors know that young boys who use steroids actually stop growing before their time. The drugs can also stop young bodies from producing the hormone testosterone, which is responsible for a boy's deep voice, hair growth, and the development of sexual organs. Not only kids are affected by steroids. They cause changes in liver function in all age groups, can bring on acne, and when used by women are responsible for male traits and smaller breasts. The emotions are also affected. Many people become aggressive or violent after taking steroids (the condition is known as "roid rage"), or depressed. Of more concern, though, is the recent finding that when steroids are taken regularly in large doses they can be addictive, just like other drugs. One reason is that besides fattening muscles they seem to produce a high and also make people with low self-esteem feel better about themselves. The problem is that steroid users generally load up on hormones for four to eighteen weeks, and then take a "drug holiday" for a month or a year. After the "holiday" they go back on the drugs until the next "holiday." As happens in cocaine dependence, for example, intense craving for the hormones may develop during the "holiday" period. Not only that; hormone users also often crave other drugs, including cocaine, during their off-time. After a while, the steroid user may be no better than a heroin junkie who needs a fix. Anabolic steroids have some medical uses. They are used for treating specific types of anemia, some breast cancers, and testosterone deficiency, but they are more commonly known to young people for their body-building and performance-enhancing characteristics. Steroids include the male hormone testosterone and its artificial derivatives. Non-medical use by athletes to improve their athletic ability, as well as non-athletes who use them to look better, is illegal. Anabolic steroids haven't been tested for use beyond their legal clinical purpose, their use as athletic enhancers are at best murky, and at worst a mystery -- for adults. What's not a mystery is their effect on children. It can put them at risk of permanent damage (Eugene, 1999). Steroids have some unpleasant side effects. Users can suffer from paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability, and impaired judgment which might be caused by the feeling of invincibility evoked by steroids. Researchers are also concerned that there might be lasting psychiatric effects from long-term steroid use. Some of the known major side effects include liver tumors, jaundice, fluid retention, high blood pressure, and severe acne. Because steroids are derived from a natural or synthetic male hormone, they can mix up the signals to the body. Males using steroids can experience testicular shrinkage, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, and the development of breasts. Female users report these side effects: facial hair, irregular menstrual cycles, and a deepened voice. Of particular concern to adolescents is the side effect of stunted growth. Steroids can be taken orally or injected. If young people are injecting steroids with shared needles, they are also risking exposure to hepatitis and AIDS (Freed, Banks, Longson, Burley, 1975). According to a new study, a disturbing number of middle school boys and girls as young as 10 are using illegal anabolic steroids to do better in sport. The study found that about 3 percent of fifth- to eighth-graders, this is the kids we're talking about, had used steroids at least once. And 9 percent of kids who used steroids participated in sports like gymnastics and weight lifting (Simon, 1991). A growing number of adolescents are using or have used steroids, which are synthetic derivatives of the male sex hormone testosterone. Steroids are also popular among athletes for their growth-promoting effects such as increased skeletal muscle mass, nitrogen retention and protein synthesis. Coaches should watch out for signs of steroid use in athletes, including physical signs such as scar tissue and calluses, yellowish eyes or skin and severe acne, and psychological signs such as extreme depression. Adolescents on anabolic steroids may experience a pre-mature fusing of the epiphyseal growth plates located in the ends of the long bones. A premature closure of the epiphyseal plates before completion of the normal growth cycle will result in stunted growth - which is not reversible. Steroids' popularity surprised even the experts. "They have permeated everywhere, whether a school is urban or rural, whether a user is an athlete or just wants to look good," said William Buckley, the health educator at Pennsylvania State University who directed the study. Buckley said steroid use probably is even more common than the level admitted by 3,400 high-school seniors who answered a survey. Analysts put part of the blame on pressure from home. "Parents are pushing kids into athletics at younger ages," said pediatrician Wayne Moore of the University of Kansas. The questionnaire showed that users start early. Nearly 4 in 10 said they began popping pills or injecting themselves when they were 15 or younger. The drugs are prescribed by doctors for problems such as delayed puberty, but most young abusers obtain them through a thriving black market (Sheler, 1988). Steroids are closely related to the male hormone testosterone. They are best known for stimulating muscle growth and have a special appeal to youths who want to preen and parade with bulging biceps as well as excel at sports. Their side effects have yet to be documented conclusively, but the hormones have been linked to temporary sterility and breast enlargement in men and to heart problems and liver cancer. They also can deepen the female voice. Youths act more aggressively when they are under the influence of the hormones, and they tend to become depressed, even suicidal, when they stop taking them (Sheler, 1988). Large doses of steroids have a clear effect on young people (those who have not stopped growing) by telling their bodies that they are in a different stage of growth than they are. So certain body parts -- especially muscles and skeletons -- take off in a new direction of growth. Along with stunted growth in young people, the use of steroids in adults has been proven to cause aggression, heart disease, liver damage, joint damage and even depression deep enough to result in suicide. "There is a lot of harm being done, because kids are taking large doses of things, and they have no idea what they're taking," Griffing said. "Someone comes into the locker room with a needle full of stuff, and you have no idea what's in that needle and where it comes from" (Jackson, 2005). One witness testified during recent congressional hearings that he found athletes using a veterinary form of steroids; the sort used to fatten up animals for slaughter. In the same hearings, two families testified that their sons committed suicide after using illegal steroids. "What I get concerned about is professionals using it and kids idolizing the professionals, and that's where you get into trouble," says Dr. Cameron Olson, associate professor of family medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield (Jackson, 2005). Finding out how many youngsters use steroids is difficult, because the kids must admit to illegal drug use. The best statistics so far are from federal agencies. The head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency testified that a 2003 study of 48,500 students in three grades showed that 2.5 percent of eighth-graders have used steroids, 3 percent of 10th-graders and 3.5 percent of 12th-graders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 20 percent jump in use among boys and 300 percent among girls between 2001 and 2003 (Jackson, 2005). So while there is an argument that an adult who wants to risk 20 years of life for a multimillion-dollar sports contract has a right to do so, doctors who are on the front line of medicine stress that such cheating can distort kids' perceptions of athletes. Side effects of Steroids As with any drug, steroids have side effects. The side effects are manageable when steroids are prescribed in legal doses for legal reasons. But the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates illegal doses run from 10 to 100 times the usual prescribed doses, and with that much, the side effects may become dangerous. For young people who haven't finished growing -- sometimes into their 20s -- the side effects can be catastrophic. The institute on drug abuse says the side effects of illegal use are: Liver disease -- Massive doses of the pill form can wreck the liver. "That's true of a lot of medications," Griffing says. "When you take a pill orally, that entire dose goes through your liver. The liver converts compounds, metabolizing them to inactive products. So you have to take larger doses." This can result in liver damage, liver failure or tumors. Psychological effects -- Aggression can become steroid rage and result in violence; depression can be severe enough to bring about suicidal thoughts. Heart disease and stroke -- Steroid use in larger doses increases the amount of bad cholesterol and decreases the amount of good cholesterol in the bloodstream, putting a user at risk for heart attack and stroke. Infection -- Steroids can weaken the immune system and put a user at risk of contagious diseases. With injectable steroids, sharing dirty needles puts users in danger of contracting hepatitis B and C and HIV. Some steroids increase libido, and aggression increases risky behavior, leading to a dangerous combination. Cancer -- Steroids can increase the risk of cancer later in life (Jackson, 2005). Conclusion The problem of steroids can be lightened in society today. We ought to teach children concerning steroids just like we do any other drug. We should persuade learning regarding the effects of steroids and how there are numerous more cons than pros. We can assist with this problem it is a mere matter of trying. Reference: Sheler, Jeffrey L., 1988. A scary mix of kids and steroids. (Drug-use survey) U.S. News & World Report. Harry Jackson JR, 2005; Out of bounds Illegal steroid use holds serious health risks for kids. St. Louis of the Post-Dispatch Robert L. Simon, 1991. Fair Play: Sports, Values, and Society, Westview Press. Johnson Jr., Eugene, 1999. "Steroid", World Book. Galas, Judith, 1997. Drugs and Sports, San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. Freed, D.L.J., Banks, A.J., Longson, D., Burley, D.M., 1975. Anabolic steroids in athletics, crossover double-blind trial on weightlifters. Read More