Steroids and Society - Essay Example

Steroids and Society Table of Contents Introduction 1 The Case of Lance Armstrong 2 History overview of anabolic steroids 3 Steroids in Sports 4 Scientific View on Steroids 5 Steroids for Fame 5 Social View on Steroids    6 Health effects of steroids 8 The case of Marion Jones 9 Conclusion                9 References 10 Introduction Anabolic Steroids or simply put, “Steroids”, is a medicine which has become increasingly popular in the last few decades, specifically in the world of professional sports and body building. In a literal term, the word anabolic means building of the body muscle and by using anabolic steroids, the potential user becomes stronger, sharper, larger and tougher than he would normally be. The consequences of these steroids could be much bigger to a human body and the usage of such illegal products could put an individual’s body at great risk (Haupt & Rovere, 1983). Over the last few years, the use of anabolic steroids has gained the utmost prominence and has been appearing in the media much more frequently as compared to the last few years. However, the main cause for concern in today’s society is that there is a huge increase in the usage of such harmful medicines and has become utterly common in today's society. With an increase in the hormone testosterone, any individual would certainly be more aggressive and his/her personality would change by obtaining the particular medicine. Although the use of steroids can certainly improve an individual’s endurance, muscle mass, stamina and strength but they can’t improve the natural ability of an individual and can increase his skill-set (Hartgens & Kuipers, 2004). The Case of Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong, who was the winner of the Tour de France for an unsurpassable 7 straight times, was alleged for one of the most controversial doping scandals ever in the history of Sports. In January 2012, it was claimed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, that Armstrong had doped and was also one of the highest ranking leaders of doping. As a result he was unstoppable at the Tour-winning teams. Armstrong had constantly denied allegations on doping and had stated the anti-doping agency’s case on him as “an unconstitutional witch hunt”. However in August 2012, Armstrong had admitted that all the allegations made by World Anti-Doping Agency against him were true and he committed that he had taken the drugs. That meant he would be stripped of all of his seven Tour de France titles and also of the bronze medal he had won at the 2000 Olympics and all the other awards and price money he was awarded during his cycling career. That had also meant that he would be banned from competing and coaching in any cycling event or Olympics or any other professional event related to Cycling. Along with other high profile cases of other infamous sports superstars, Armstrong’s case was based around not only on a positive drug test but it was also surrounded by other supporting evidence which further raised suspicion on the competency of Lance Armstrong (Macur,2012). History overview of anabolic steroids Haupt & Rovere (1983), state that the use of Steroids goes back to decades. In the mid twentieth century, scientists had conducted an experiment regarding anabolic steroids on the laboratory animals, and through that experiment they discovered that they anabolic steroids can help the muscles to grow quite significantly. But after this discovery, the anabolic steroids were then greatly misused by the weightlifters and the bodybuilders, and then eventually by the athletes in various sports. From the very beginningof the sports, the sportsmen have always looked to opt for search techniques, which can assist them to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors in a particular sport.  Nevertheless, the issue here is that which technique can be categorized under cheating and which can be categorized as a fair technique. The use of steroids has become one of the most renownedmeans to gain a competitive edge over the other competitions, by wrong and unjust means. And consequently, the sports commissioner s of all the sports have to ensure that the players in a particular sport are not using steroids or any other similar drugs, and for that they often have to direct the medical staff in aparticular sport to check the athletes, that whether they are using steroids or any other similar drugs. And in case, if steroids are located in their bodies, then the sports commissioners have to conduct thorough investigation, which eventually, results inunique unprecedented punishments for such athletes. Therefore, it s extremity imperative for these Professional athletes to realize the fact that they are the current role models for the future athletes, and can quite significantly influence the young athletes, all over the world, through any sort of misconduct on their part (Haupt & Rovere, 1983). Steroids in Sports According to Yesalis, (2000), intoday’ssociety all the players, sportsmen and athletesare fully aware regarding the fact that if they use steroids or any other similar performance boosting drugs, then they cannot hide that particular drug from being detected by the medical staff, in their bodies, which flow through their blood veins in the bodes.Theconsequences of using such drugs are extremely detrimental for both, that is, their careers and also their physiques as well, because, on one hand they have to face some extremelysevere punishments for using such illegal performance boosting drugs and on the other hand, there future performances are also adversely affected because of the utilization of these drugs. Moreover, in addition to facing immediate suspension by the sports commissioner of a particular sport, when such athletes return to the playing field, they often do not receive a warm welcome from their fans, as they see such athletes merely as a cheater. Besides that, if a renowned athlete, belonging to a major sport, is found involved in such cases, then not only that particular athlete’sprofessional career is adversely affected, but the overall image of that particular sport is also adversely affected by that (Schols & Wouters, 1995).Furthermore, many concerned people are of the opinion, that if it is discovered that a particular sportsperson usesasteroids or any other similar drugs, to eventually boost its performance, then any accomplishments and achievements which are earned by that particular sportsmen, throughout his whole career, should be immediately taken away from him, becauseit is probable that such sportsmen would have been using asteroids or any other similar kind of performance enhancing drugs, from the very beginning of his or her career and hence that particular person didn’t really earned such achievements a and accomplishments, but merely attained that by cheating. Scientific View on Steroids The major issue regarding the performance boosting drugs is that nowadays, scientist are discovering some new kinds of performance enhancing drugs, on regular intervals, regarding which there is very minute or relatively no awareness amongst the concerned people. Although, the sport commissioners of the major sports direct the medical stuffs to conduct dope test of the players, sportsmen and athletes, on regular intervals, however, as there is little or no awareness amongst the medical staff regarding these latest drugs, hence, it has become extremely difficult for them to find out that whether such drug which is used by the players, sportsmen or athletes are actually legal or illegal. In short, these latest drugs has made very tricky for the medical staff to properlyregulate the dope tests of such athletes (Schols & Wouters, 1995).                Steroids are basically manufactured to boost testosterone. Besides that, people generally use steroids and other similar drugs, for the purpose of, growing their muscles, to boost their performances and also to enhance their physical appearance as well. Moreover, older players, sportsmen and athletes often use steroids, when they face any injury during their respective performances, because their injuries do not heal swiftly, in comparison with the younger players, sportsmen and athletes.Schols & Wouters (1995), state that the usage of such performance enhancing drugs may be highly beneficial in the long run but the consequences can be extremely severe in the long run and could lead to fatal diseases and even mental traumas. Steroids for Fame Even tough, the major sports are trying extremely hard to prevent the athletes and sportsmen from using the performance boosting drugs. But the major obstacle which the major sports are dealing with nowadays is that some of the renowned sport personalities are being associated with the performanceboosting drugs by the media. And this can easily be associated with the number of youngsters in thevarious high schools and colleges, who are using the performance enhancing drugs.According to Hartgens & Kuipers (2004), a significant increase has been observed in the number of the young adults, who have disclosed that they have been using steroids and similar kinds of drugs.However, as almost all of the athletes and sportsmen who have been found involved in using theperformanceboosting drugs were renowned sports personalities, hence, from this, many young athletes have foundedthe performanceboosting drugs as a shortcut to achieve rapid fame, success and money in the major sports, by gaining a competitive edge over the other sportsmen and athletes, though wrong and unjust means. Various sportshave been affected by use of steroidsand they include Major League Baseball, Football, Athletics and cycling.All these global sports have been badly affected by doping and steroid allegations and they have rattled the sports world to a huge extent. There have beenrecent cases in these famous sports which have shaken the worldby storm. The case of Marion Jones, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and most notably Lance Armstrong has been highly controversial and has created havoc in the world of professional sports (Hartgens & Kuipers, 2004). Extremely severe penalties and punishmentsare in place for the involved players    Social View on Steroids    There are some fans in some specific sports, who are of the opinion that if the sportsmen or athletes would use steroids or anyother performance boosting drugs, then that would notcreate a huge difference among the performances of the sportsmen or athletes in that particular sport. Moreover, some fans are of the opinion that the use of steroids should be made legalized and subsequently, the athletes or sportsmen should be given the liberty to use the steroids at their own risk. However, the issue here would be that even if the use of steroids is legalized, the pressure regarding performance on the athletes or sportsmen is always so high and keeps mounting, that they would not be able to resist themselves from using steroids, and this would ultimately lead to the use of steroids by every other sportsmen and athletes. And the major reason behind the fact that why the use of steroids has not been legalized in sports by the respectivesports commissioners is because the use of steroids can adversely affect the mental and physical health of the athletes and sportsmen (Lamb, 1983).Moreover, the overall style of play would also change in such away that power and strength would be given more preference over skill and technique, which are the mostessentialelements to play any sport in the world effectively. Furthermore, this would also completely change the real charm of a sport as well. According to Lamb (1983), one of the core issues which remain within the society is to analyze the quantity of individuals who are taking steroids on a daily basis and it needs to be assessed on a regular basis and the use of steroids could be on a sudden rise, not only is sports but also within other social sectors . Various professional sports league and international sports bodies have tried to change the way baseball is being played today and have tried to analyze the way steroids are being used by their athletes. Though the penalties and punishments for failed drug-tests is rarely very strict and harsh on the guilty players but the overall impact created by such scenarios is severe on players. Sports superstars who are seen as heroes and idols by young individuals are considered cheaters and fraudsters for not being able to pass their drug-test and have failed to comply with the league’s standards. It is a travesty that even after so many scandals and allegation, athletes are still getting alleged in the usage of anabolic steroids and this has allowed other individuals within the society to make the use of anabolic steroids as a common medicine. However, the risks and suffering caused by using such dangerous pills could be fatal and could have potentially devastating effects on the individuals using it. It is evident that using steroids is not only an ongoing problem within society today but it is also a dangerous problem which be solved at a bigger level. Though the people who use these steroids do get their way, but when the athletes are accused of the crime, they are tarnished and everything which the athletes have worked hard for in their careers gets wasted. According to many individuals, fair play within sports is merely on paper and there is very minimum accountability for individuals competing in professional sports (Haupt & Rovere, 1983). Health effects of steroids According to Ehrlich & Hunt (1969), the use of anabolic steroids have been related with utilization of side effects of steroids which range from muscular pain in individuals and could also include life threatening diseases or illness which include heart attack and even liver cancer. The use of anabolic steroids in individuals is evident from case studies and not formal epidemiological studies. There are various health issues which are related to use of steroids. Steroids can destroy production of hormones within the human system. The consequences are reversible as well as irreversible. The consequences could be a reduction in sperm production and a possibility of testicular atrophy (testicular shrinkage). They could also include baldness or even breast development in men. For the females, anabolic steroids may result in a decrease in breast size and the skin may become rough and the voice pitch lowers and deepens. Women may also experience an increase in body hair and may decrease scalp hairs on the head. The case of Marion Jones Prior to her highly infamous steroid scandal, Marion Jones was a highly famous USA track star which was able to win numerous gold medals in domestic as well as international competition. In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Jones won 5 gold medals. However, her sports legacy was tarnished in 2007 when she was alleged for using steroids. In 2007, Jones had finally admitted that she had used anabolic steroids and various other performance enhancing drugs prior to her participation in the 2000 Olympics.  Jones was stripped out of all the medals she had won since 2000 including all her Olympic gold medals she had won at Sydney in 2000. Marion Jones was also suspended from all sports competition for more than 2 years and had to retire in October, 2007 (Armour, 2007).  Marion Jones was also arrested and had been given a six month prison term. It is travesty that Marion Jones was known to be one of the most famous and most respected sports athletes of all time and was one of the most admired American athletes. But since her infamous incident in 2007, Jones is considered to be a fraudster, who had to use drugs to win. Conclusion                The use of steroids is amongst one of the most contentious issues in the present day world, because of too many consequences which the users of steroids have to face eventually. Although, there are some drugs and medicines which have been considered as harmless for the purpose of using them in sports, and thus many athletes and sportsmen use such drugs and medicines. However, the performance boosting drugs such as steroids and other similar drugs have been prohibited to use in sports, as they are extremely harmful for the mental and physical health of all the sportsmen and athletes.Hence, it extremely imperative for all the athletes and sportsmen to realize that although by using steroids they can gain a competitive edge over their competitors, but the consequences of using steroids, which they eventually have to face, are much more unbeneficial for them, in comparison with the benefit which they can attain from the use of steroids. But unfortunately, in most of the cases, it has been seen that the users of the steroids do not reallyconsider the consequences of using steroids,until and unless they get caught through their dope test, but till then it becomes too late for them to undo what they did. References Armour, N. (2007). "Marion Jones returns her five Olympic medals, accepts 2-year ban". Pantagraph.com. Associated Press. Ehrlich, H. P., & Hunt, T. K. (1969) The effects of cortisone and anabolic steroids on the tensile strength of healing wounds, Annals of Surgery, 170(2), 203. Lamb, D. R. (1983), Anabolic steroids in athletics: How well do they work and how dangerous are they? The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 12(1), 31-38. Haupt, H. A., & Rovere, G. D. (1983), Anabolic steroids: a review of the literature. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 12(6), 469-484. Hartgens, F., & Kuipers, H. (2004), Effects of androgenic-anabolic steroids in athletes. Sports Medicine, 34(8), 513-554. Macur, J. (2012). "Armstrong drops fight against doping charges". The New York Times, Issue August 23, 2012. Schols, A. & Wouters, E. (1995), Physiologic effects of nutritional support and anabolic steroids in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, A placebo-controlled randomized trial, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 152(4), 1268-1274. Yesalis, C. E. (2000), Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise (No. Ed. 2) Human Kinetics Publishers. Read More