It's popular to fear steroids. After all, every person that uses steroids is a muscle-head, prone to violent mood swings, has shrinking testicles, and is likely to end up on the next season of Jersey Shore - right? Currently, the media has illustrated steroid use as the root of all evil in athletics. It's okay to cheat on your wife, to smoke weed, and to be intoxicated in public, as long as an athlete isn't caught using steroids.
Realistically, steroids are often prescribed by doctors. For example, cortisol is given to reduce inflammation, in cases such as eczema, hay fever, and tennis elbow. Human growth hormone and other anabolic steroids are often used in medical treatments, including bone marrow stimulation (due to hypoplastic anemia caused by cancer or kidney failure)(Basaria, 2001) and appetite stimulation in HIV and cancer patients (Grunfeld, 2006).
So the problem isn't with using steroids, is it? The problem is with abusing steroids, right? Furthermore, the problem isn't really with abusing steroids, the problem is with abusing steroids in the public eye. Sure, there are reported negative side effects to steroid use - such as hypertension and liver damage (Grace, 2003), but excessive use of many things can be harmful (excessive alcohol use, for example, can result in high blood pressure, aka hypertension, and liver damage).
Consider this question: why do we care so much about steroid use in athletics? Is it because we worry about the athletes' health? If so, we should ban alcohol, cigarettes, and unprotected sex. Furthermore, we should realize that athletes do not use steroids more than other demographics; middle-age men trying to improve their physique for aesthetic reasons were found to abuse anabolic steroids more than any other group (Yesalis, 1993).
Is it because we are worried about athletes as role models, fearing steroid use would promote young kids to use anabolic steroids? If so, we should have strict regulations over what athletes are allowed to be associated with. Considering obesity and obesity related diseases are the number one risk for death in the United States (Calle, 1999), it is inappropriate for Dwight Howard and Lebron James to appear in a McDonalds commercial, fighting over a Big Mac. After all, we wouldn't want athletes sending kids the wrong signals...
Do we care about steroid use because we want to ensure an even playing field in athletics? According to ESPN, Tom Brady was using cortisol when he was going through rehabilitation for his knee. It didn't improve his bench-press, so he wasn't aiding his performance, and wasn't considered a cheater (If by this point the sarcastic tone is not clear, I have failed you as a writer). Furthermore, genetics play an important role in athletic performance - do we place athletes in leagues based on genetic potential? Theoretically, an athlete with a greater distribution of fast-twitch fibers would be more successful in the 100 meter dash than an athlete with mostly slow-twitch fibers. Should we not allow them to race, considering one has an advantage over the other? Or, consider an athlete with especially low levels of testosterone - should they be allowed to increase their testosterone levels to ensure an even playing field?
While I certainly do not think steroid use should be allowed in athletics, it is important to understand why so much focus is placed on athletes using steroids. It is important that we understand the issue factually, rather than "knowing steroids are bad" because the media made told us so.
Basaria, S., Wahlstrom, J., & Dobs, A. (2001). Clinical review 138: Anabolic-androgenic steroid therapy in the treatment of chronic diseases. Journal of Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 86 (11): 5108-5117.
Calle, E., Thun, M., Petrelli, J., Rodriguez, C., & Heath, C. (1999). Body-mass index and mortality in a prospective cohort of U.S. adults. N. England Journal of Medicine. 341 (15): 1097-1105.
Grace, F., Sculthorpe, N., Baker, J., & Davies, B. (2003). Blood pressure and rate pressure product response in males using high-dose anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Journal of Science and Sport Medicine. 6 (3): 307-312.
Grunfeld, C., Kotler, D., Dobs, A., Glesby, M., & Bhasin, S. (2006). Oxandrolone in the treatment of HIV-associated weight loss in men: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. 41 (3): 304-314.
Yesalis, C., Kennedy, N., Kopstein, A., & Bahrke, M. (1993). Anabolic-androgenic steroid use in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association. 270 (10): 1217-1221.
You demonstrate a brilliant point in that we need to question the possible implications of steroid use among athletes because how many people can actually explain why steroids negatively impact athletics? There are numerous acknowledged physiological consequences to steroid use but the social and cultural implications of its use among athletes is poorly understood. Topics like this demonstrate the unprecedented influence of sport in our society and the common practice of blind acceptance of media information.
I agree with a lot of the points you had made in this blog. I agree that there is too much media attention on athletes who are using anabolic steroids, the consequences, and the outcomes of their career. I believe that steroids are not "bad" unless you lose control of it like any other "drug" out there. Some people may say they are "performance enhancements" but in a lot of cases that people don't see and especially understand, is that steroids are being used as well for rehabilitation and medical purposes. The important thing here is that people need to do their research on steroids and all aspects of it, in order to fully understand what the real problem, if any, is.
Great blob, their needs to be articles or blogs in the main stream media that question what we have been told through out out life's. I believe that steroid's when used the right way are safe as any other drug that doctors try shoving down our throats every time someone goes to the doctor. I recommend that anyone that thinks I'm wrong about steroid's needs to watch BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER DVD and get back to me.
I agree with your blog and you did not fail as a writer, scarcasm was read loud and clear. You made really good points and a strong argument. Every thing done in moderation. Steroids aslo saved major league baseball go figure.
Loved the blog! I completely, totally, 100% agree with you. Yes, steroids are bad. But so are so many other things you mentioned. Why is it just steroids that get so many athletes into huge trouble? There are so many "bad" things out there that people do. Athletes and non athletes, they are just bad. Who is going to control this though? Why aren't the non athletes getting criticized like the elite athletes? All people are essentially the same- we're human. Just because a select few can perform on the professional level should not make this "bad substance" issue any more severe than when the rest of us Average Joes are included.
I believe the main focus of cracking down on steroids in professional sports is because these athletes are icons in today's society. People of all ages look up to them and admire them, especially children. So yes, the educated and well informed people understand the negative effects associated with abusing steroids, but children may not always. They see their favorite player smashing 70+ home runs in a season and can't help but notice how tight his sleeves are on his bulging guns. Without being properly educated on steroids, he may think it they are a reasonable approach to getting bigger, not knowing all the negative side affects. By targeting professional athletes, we can make examples of them.
Steroids should not be used by any athlete (legite) in any type of form or way. First of all, it brings out unfair advantage and just makes that athlete look like a complete loser after he/she put in so much time in their preparation for that certain event. By using steroids they just ruin their reputation.
I agree with many points in your blog. I also enjoyed the sarcasm. I could not agree more that steroids have many legitimate medical uses. I myself have had steroid injections in my knee for pain. I think the intense scrutiny of athletes and steroids comes from the powerful influence of sports on our everyday life. My family is heavily involved in power lifting. I grew up a gym rat surrounded by big muscle bound men and women. Several of them mentored me in weightlifting to assist in my own sport participation. Not all of them used, but many used and sold steroids openly. This of course was prior to the proven negative impacts associated with the drugs. While many of them had amazing short term positive results, I also saw the long term effects of this rampant use. A couple of the guys I knew doing steroids were state and national champions year after year. Both the men and women were larger than life and appeared invincible. For a young girl into sports of her own, it was a powerful image. Fortunately, my family members involved in the sport were always very adamant to me about the negative consequences of steroid usage. As the years pass and I continue to go to lifting events, I see many of the “gods” of my youth. Several ended up in jail for buying and selling the drugs. Some users have ended up with massive medical problems that not only required them to leave the sport, but also severely limit their everyday lives. A handful of them have passed away very young due to complications of the heavy steroid uses. I was lucky to have powerful positive influences in my life to steer me away from even trying steroids. Unfortunately many kids do not have this advantage and only see the short term positive results that steroids may provide.