Steroids

Steroids are banned by all major sports, yet so many athletes out there seem to have extraordinary bodies and one would think that they have to be on steroids to get that muscular. But very few athletes have been caught using steroids, and a minute number have been banned from sports completely. Is it because the policies are too lenient? Is it because the drug test isn't sufficient? Is it because the players know how to get around the drug test? This has been an ongoing issue that is complicated and controversial, and has many different answers. There isn't one correct answer to this problem, but the main reason is a combination of policies not being strict enough and drug testing not being sufficient enough.

First of all, what are steroids? According to www.dictionary.com, steroids are any of a large class of organic compounds having as a basis 17 carbon atoms arranged in four rings fused together. But that's not what we think of when we hear the word ?steroids is it? The type of steroid that most of us think about are anabolic steroids. Www.dictionary.com defines anabolic steroids as a group of synthetic hormones that promote the storage of protein and the growth of tissue, sometimes used by athletes to increase muscle size and strength. The word ?anabolic refers to a ?process by which living cells convert simple substances into more complex compounds, especially into living matter (Carroll 10).

Anabolic steroids were first isolated, identified, and synthesized in the 1930s. ?In 1931, Adolf F.J. Butenandt isolated testosterone from male urine and thus was able to determine the exact chemical formula of the hormone. This hormone was synthesized in 1935 by Leopold Ruzika, a chemist in Zurich, and in 1939, Butenandt and Ruzika shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry (Carroll 33). Now, anabolic steroids are used therapeutically in medicine to stimulate bone growth and appetite, induce male puberty, and treat chronic wasting conditions, such as cancer and AIDS.

Anabolic steroids also produce increases in muscle mass and physical strength, and are consequently used in sport and bodybuilding to enhance strength or physique. But serious health risks can be produced by long-term use or excessive doses of anabolic steroids. ?One of the most serious possible side effects of anabolic steroids is hepatic peliosis. This is the development of bleeding, swelling, and cysts in the liver, a malignant disease with symptoms that include loss of appetite, weakness, bloating, jaundice, and upper abdominal discomfort (Carroll 51). Another serious risk factor of the use of steroids has to do with the heart. ?Four main cardiac risk factors are out of our control: heredity, ethnicity, gender, and age. But the seven cardiac risk factors that are controllable?tobacco use, cholesterol, blood pressure, physical condition, obesity, stress, and substance abuse?may be complicated by steroid use (Carroll 53).

Because of the serious risks of using anabolic steroids and the unfair advantage it gives its users, steroids are banned by all major sports, including the International Olympic Committee, Major League Baseball, the National Football ...