Who abuses steroids?

Of course we all know that steroids are used by athletes. According to the National Institute they estimated that indivudals over 18 years of age who abuse steroids are in the hundreds of thousands. Its obvious that more men than women but the number of women who are abusing steroids is increasing

"Four percent of high school senirors in the United States abused steroids at least once in their life time, and 1.4 percent in the past month." Those may not seem like high numbers but you have to keep in mind that these are high school senior athletes and the number is only increasing. This may also carry over to steroid abuse after high school and into college.

http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs5/5448/index.htm#Who%20uses

Risks

Some athletes, especially teenagers in high school, think of using steroids to help improve their strength and their game but do you think they know what risks they are taking?

Steroid users can suffer from liver tumors and cancer, jaundice, high blood pressure and increases in cholesterol levels, kidney tumors, fluid retention, and severe acne. Women can experience growth of facial hair, a male-pattern baldness, changes or cessation in menstrual cycle, and deepening he voice. With men they can experience shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, breast development, and increased risk of prostate cancer.

If your young and still growing you can put yourself at risk for prematurely halting your growth because of "early skeletal maturation and acceleration of puberty."

http://www.pwc.k12.nf.ca/PROJECTS/b2201/moore/steroids/page2.htm

http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs5/5448/index.htm

Why People Take Steroids?

Some people take steroids because they are extremely competitive and want to win, like athletes such as bodybuilders, baseball players, football players and others. The think it is the only way to get stronger and they want to obtain as much strength as they can. Some athletes are so eager to win they'll do whatever they need to do and that includes performance enhancements.

Another reason why some people take steroids is because in the past they have expierenced sexual or physical abuse. They feel they need to be musculare for safety reasons, they feel they can actually protect themself. They wont be attacked or abused as much if they have strength, they feel, so that's why they take steorids.

Another reason is because "some adolescents abuse steroids as part of a pattern of high-risk behaviors. These adolescents also take risks such as drinking and driving, carrying a gun, not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, and abusing other illicit drugs."

http://www.pwc.k12.nf.ca/PROJECTS/b2201/moore/steroids/page2.htm

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/steroids/f/steroids_faq04.htm

Is It A Step Forward?

In the state of New Jersey there's a new mandatory drug test implemented for some of the high school athletes to see if they use steroids or any other performance enhancer drugs. A selected number of student athletes, specifically from football, baseball, soccer and wrestling, are tested. It is a very expensive project and some people argue that the money should be put toward educating students on steroids.

It is difficult to stop student athletes from using performance enhancement drugs especially when the people who play professionally are taking them. Some people thought this new program was affective even if it made a little dent in the use of steroids, like stopping 2 or 3 percent. A doctor, Dr. Jorge Gomez, stated “By testing a small number of athletes they have the lottery mentality and students think: ‘It is likely I am not going to be tested.’ ” Frank Rezzonico, a football coach for a very successful high school football team, agreed by saying “I am sure there will be some bumps in the road,” Rezzonico said. “It is a start, but they had to start somewhere. It is a step in the right direction, and I think other states will follow.”

They are trying to prevent the use of steroids any which way they can but we all need to help support and improve the different strategies towards doing so, instead of criticizing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/22/sports/othersports/22testing.html?ex=1176782400&en=600cd4df413f8729&ei=5070