Steroids: Synthetic Testosterone for Muscles, Endurance & Secondary Sexual Characteristics - Research Paper

Introduction

Steroids refer to the synthetic variations of the male sex hormone known as the testosterone. The testosterone hormone is responsible for the development of the male reproductive tissues such as prostate and testes. The hormone is also responsible for promoting the secondary sexual characteristics in men such as bone mass, growth of body hair, and increased muscle. Thus, athletes who seek shortcuts to larger muscles which in turn will lead to greater endurance often turn to steroids as a performance-enhancing drug. The steroids act as chemicals in the body system. When introduced to the body system, they are transformed into testosterone and often produce results almost immediately. Despite the gains in the desirable results by the athletes, these chemicals always have serious effects on the health of the individuals who use them.

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The athletes introduce the steroids in their body system through injection into the muscles, orally, on applying them to the skin as gels or cream. Since the drugs are not taken under the prescription of a doctor to treat any specific medical condition, the athletes often misuse them. The steroids are misused through cycling, staking, pyramiding, and plateauing (Vorona and Eberhard 482). Cycling is where multiple doses are taken for a given period, stopped for a time, then resuming. In stacking, the athletes combine two or more steroids and take them orally or inject them into their muscles. In pyramiding, the athletes slowly increase their dosage until they reach their peak amount after which they gradually taper off to no use. Those who abuse the steroids through plateauing method alternate, substitute, and overlap a given steroid with another to avoid being tolerant.

Some of the major effects of the steroids on the well being of the athletes are the damages to the kidney and the liver. The use of these drugs may also lead to the alteration of the natural hormones leading to the detrimental effects on the body. The imbalance of the natural hormones on the body can often last for years after an individual has stopped using the drugs (El Osta et al. 2). In some cases, the male users have formed breasts due to the use of these drugs. The increase in the testosterone hormone in the body also leads to acne problems. In cases of the steroid usage by the teens, the users often experience stunted growth. The continuous use of steroids by the athletes can also lead to the genital changes, yellow eyes, water retention, ligament injuries, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, sterility, changes in the level of cholesterol, and liver diseases (Vorona and Eberhard 479). The female athletes who use steroids to boost their performances run the risk of experiencing male patterns such as baldness. Due its effects on the hormonal balance in the body, the use of steroids can make the user fall into coma leading to death.

Despite some advantages of using steroids such as the reduced body fats and increment of the muscle tissues, the steroids use is always harmful to the users in the long run. The use of steroids affects all the parts of the body over a long period. Steroids being supplements, can often boost the individual's performance to the extreme pumping up the muscles while shrinking the testes (El Osta et al. 2). The usage can often lead to coarser hair and thicker skin. The increase in testosterone hormone in the body also leads to aggression in men as the hormone fuels aggression.

Works Cited

El Osta, Rabih, et al. "Anabolic steroids abuse and male infertility." Basic and clinical andrology 26.1 (2016): 2.

Vorona, Elena, and Eberhard Nieschlag. "Adverse effects of doping with anabolic androgenic steroids in competitive athletics, recreational sports and bodybuilding." Minerva endocrinologica 43.4 (2018): 476-488. DOI: 10.23736/S0391-1977.18.02810-9