Anabolic Steriods Essay -- essays research papers

Amber Lee Smith Weight Lifting Mrs. Registar February 12, 2001 Anabolic Steriods Anabolic Steroids are synthetic compounds formulated to be like the male sex hormone testosterone. Many athletes use anabolic steroids male and female alike, such as body builders, weightlifters, baseball players, football players, swimmers, and runners. They do so because they mistakenly believe that they will gain strength and size. In a male, testosterone is released by the leydig cells in the testes. The testosterone has two main functions androgenic and anabolic. Androgenic is the development of male sex characteristics. Anabolic is the development of muscle tissue. To treat patients who suffer from a natural lack of testosterone pharmacoligists alter one form of testosterone slightly, increasing the length of time the drug is active. Testosterone was first isolated in 1935; soon forms of testosterone such as dianabol, durabolin, deca-durabolin, and winstrol were produced. One of the main effects of anabolic steroids is to increase the number of red blood cells and muscle tissue without producing much of the androgenic effects of testosterone. There are only four legal uses for steroid treatment for certain forms of cancer, pituitary dwarfism, and serious hormone disturbances. There are two forms of anabolic steroids those taken orally and those injected. The immediate effects of both are mood swings of many different kinds. In one study, physicians Ian Wilson, Arthur Prang , Jr., and Patricio Lara found that four out of five men suffering from depression when given a steroid suffered from delusions. A research team from Great Britain Found that a patient given steroids became dizzy, disoriented, and incoherent. It was stated that they â€Å"had a case of a young man who was diagnosed as schizophrenic, and Smith 2 took steroids to help with his weightlifting. After taking these drugs he suffered severe depression and anxiety and had trouble sleeping†(Layman and Annitto 126). Most people who use steroids do not have side affects this severe. Steroids make changes in the electroencephalogram (an image of brain el... ... steroids. I read from the researchers that anabolic steroids show few if any effects at all and I read from athletes that there is a very large effect on muscle gain and endurance. I came across only one book though that addressed this issue between researchers and athletes. The book said that The American College of Sports Medicine stated â€Å"a report on the use and abuse of anabolic steroids. It stated that for many people any benefits of anabolic steroids are small and not worth the health risk†(Hutson). Yet almost all the athletes who use anabolic steroids feel that the steroids had a great effect and that they would not have been successful without them. The big gap between researchers and athletes has caused a big controversy. Athletes say one thing and researchers say another. The researchers have found a reason that maybe is the cause that anabolic steroid users see effects that researchers say are not possible they call it the "placebo effect". The pl acebo effect works by the power of suggestion athletes believe that the steroids will improve their performance so they do. The placebo effect is real the performance is Smith 5 improved and the gains are not image