The invention of steroids and other drugs that promotes muscle growth and repair was originally set out to improve the lives of senior citizens with arthritis, muscle deterioration, and other similar diseases. These people who could not walk or even get out of bed in the morning would only need one pill to become more active in a matter of minutes. As the discovery of this new enhancing drug came out many competitive coaches and athletes have tried to get their hands on this to “up their game” and get an edge to perform better than others. Since then the use of steroids has changed the face of many professional sports including Olympics. The use of steroids and other dietary supplements that act as steroid precursors must be stopped. It is …show more content…
Many of them feel the pressure to perform better and improve their game to win and keep their stardom. This can become a heavy burden to bear especially to the older star athletes. Every superstar athlete still wants to be the best and hold their title. But of course many of them know that sooner or later there will always be some newbie recruit who will push them off the stage and take their place. Former cyclist Floyd Landis said “The majority of the cyclists that I knew were using drugs. It was either do it or accept the fact that I wouldn’t reach the goals I had set for myself” (qtd in Lisander). But greatness is not in some bottle, pill or vial that you can just inject or ingest like in the movie Captain America. It is greatness that requires great amount of time, skill, hard work, and determination. Yet there are still athletes who may not be as gifted and skilled as others or those who want to get famous quick and think that they can cover up their lack of skills by using steroids as a shortcut. Not only do older athletes use steroids, but young new comers too especially those who want to reach their goals and think that they cannot unless they have an edge. Such as a well known track star, Tyson Gay, was caught using a banned substance in the London Olympics. Though he did decide to dope, it was not without the help of his coach and former …show more content…
This includes harmful changes in cholesterol levels, acne, high blood pressure, liver damage (mainly with oral steroids), and dangerous physical changes in the structure of the left ventricle of the heart (Taylor 114). Conditions may also include hormonal imbalances such as lowered sperm count and testicular size reduction may also be caused by anabolic steroids. There are other common side effects among men which includes increased testosterone levels which increases aggressiveness and in some rare cases, paranoia. The excessive use of steroids can affect the health of many due to athletes’ competitiveness and the coaches (LeVert 36). Also there is significant evidence that steroids are addictive. One reason that steroids are addictive is physiological- your body requires a certain amount of steroid hormones to function correctly. The body contains feedback systems to make sure that the proper level of a hormone is present. When you overload your system with anabolic steroids, the feedback system tells the brain that you have more than enough of these hormones in your body. Therefore, your body stops producing them. At that point, it becomes physically necessary for you to keep taking steroids from a source outside the body because the body is no longer capable of producing these hormones (Freedman