Terry Alan Wilver Jr
December 14, 2012
Kines141
Thematic Essay 3
Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic steroids, definitely one of the most controversial topics discussed in sport. Are
anabolic steroids cheating, are they unfair, do they give a competitor an advantage? Do steroids
cause heart attack, stroke, testicular atrophy, kidney damage, liver damage, or even the infamous
“roid rage”? Clearly anabolic steroids make you bigger, faster, and stronger. However are these
developments really giving a person an advantage? I see a huge controversy, not in the
traditional way, but in a sense that anabolic steroids don’t give side effects of heart attack, stroke,
and all the regular beliefs that most people have.
Anabolic steroids are drugs that copy the hormonal effects of dihydrotestosterone and
testosterone which is referred to as the steroid (1). The anabolic part comes from the ability of
these “copy hormones” to increase protein synthesis (Cells create new proteins) these extra
proteins are used to build up the surrounding tissues, such as muscle (1). There are a lot of
steroids available, like birth control, cortisol, and prednisone, which are all steroids, but not
anabolic steroids.
I’m not going to sit here are write that there are no serious adverse effects from using
anabolic steroids; we are just unable to study them. Sure we know some short term effects of
anabolic steroids, but there are no long term studies to say what can or cannot happen. It’s very
hard to perform a long term research study on anabolic steroids because of the ethical side, and
because of the anabolic steroid control act which was passed in 1990. The acute changes to your
body like hair growth, muscle growth, and acne, are some of the side effects we can observe with
certainty (3). According to the CDC only 3 people die each year as a result of anabolic steroids,
45,000 die each year from tobacco, and is placed in 142 for emergency room visits even after
multi vitamins (2). The power lifter who has a heart attack, or a stroke after years of taking
steroids, has many risk factors not just steroids, if steroids are even a risk factor. The infamous
roid rage does exist, but does not happen to every person that uses anabolic steroids. It only
happens in about a 5% of the population (2). Anabolic steroids have many medical uses as well,
such as treatment for HIV and AIDS, also stimulates bone marrow growth, and uses in hormone
replacement (1). It seems as if anabolic steroids will cure you if you’re sick, and kill you if
you’re healthy.
Let’s discuss steroids out of sport for a moment. The majority of steroid users are just the
typical gym rats that are not athletes, around 85%, while athletes that ever used anabolic steroids
are about 15% (2). Perhaps such the difference is the percentage of users is contributed to the
rules and regulations of that athletes sport, or because there is a lot more gym rats then athletes. I
see that 85% as failed athletes that are trying to get on the same level as a participating major
league athlete. However they will never achieve such success with anabolic steroids. Not
because they are not big, fast, or strong, because they lack the skills required in order to compete
in sport. You can’t give a gym that is faster and stronger then Michael Jordan a basketball and
expect him to play as if he where Michael.
Most major league sport has some type of rules and regulations about the use of anabolic
steroids. In the NFL there rules and regulations against the use of anabolic steroids, yet there is
nothing in the manual about the potential to become paralyzed, or have increased risk for
Alzheimer’s because of the continuous impact. Let’s take cycling into account there are 4 ways
to increase you red blood cell count. To increase your red blood cell count you could blood dope,
take a pill called EPO (Erythropoietin, produced by the kidneys, and stimulates bone marrow to
make more red blood cells (4)), train at high altitudes, or sleep in a pressure chamber. Now
remember all of these methods are to increase red blood cell count, however only 2 of them are
legal, while the other 2 are illegal and are considered cheating. Training at high altitudes and
sleeping in a pressure chamber are legal, while blood doping and taking EPO are illegal. There
are other varieties of performance enhancement as well. Pilots in the Air Force use pills similar
to speed to be able to focus after being in flight for long durations, musicians in orchestra take
Beta-Blockers to prevent them from getting stage fright, adult film actors use things like liquid
Viagra and inject directly into their penis. All these things are enhancing their performance, but
people are not pointing the finger at these guys, and telling them they are playing unfair or
cheating.
When an athlete uses a steroid, they don’t intend to cheat, they want to get bigger faster,
and stronger. They want to be the best they can be; everyone is trying to be the best in sport. You
can’t go out and give a guy on steroids a Steelers jersey and helmet, and expect him to play
better or even as good as the player on the roster of the Pittsburg Steelers; it’s not going to
happen. The players in sport that have the skill, learned that skill, and practiced that skill, taking
anabolic steroids does not automatically make them great(5). The only unfairness I see is if an
athlete takes anabolic steroids over another athlete with the same skill set. Their skills will be the
same, however the guy using will be bigger stronger and faster, allowing him to put his talent to
better use. However, in a professional league, any athlete can get ahold of anabolic steroids, and
be on the same level as someone they knew was on them.
America is one of the best counties on the face of the earth. We push and push and push
to be the greatest at everything we do. Not only do we push ourselves, other people and society
push us more than anything. American loves a winner and will not tolerate a loser. There is a
clash in America between doing the right thing and being the best, where second place is the first
loser (6).
(1) Anabolic steroid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved December 12, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabolic_steroid
(2) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Retrieved December 14, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/
(3) Journal of Clinical Endocrineology and Metabolism. (2004, August 8). Anabolic Steroids and
Young Adults. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Retrieved December 12,
2012, from jcem.endojournals.org/content/89/8/0.1.full
(4) widespread, 1. E., & affair, t. F. (n.d.). Erythropoietin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythropoietin
(5) To cheat or not to cheat. (n.d.). SI Vault. Retrieved December 12, 2012, from
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1199041/index.htm
(6) Bell, M. (Director). (2009). Bigger, stronger, faster [Documentary]. United States of America:
Magnolia Pictures.