The use of anabolic steroids has increased over the years. Steroids, or “roids”, are taken to increase muscle size by increasing the synthesis of proteins in muscle usually during athletic contest. Steroids are very similar to testosterone. The large doses that are taken to produce muscle growth have devastating and damaging side effects. Some of the side effects are liver cancer, kidney damage, increased risk of heart disease, stunted growth, wide mood swings, increased acne, and increased irritability and aggressiveness. Females that take anabolic steroids could experience atrophy of the breast and uterus, menstrual irregularities, sterility, facial hair growth, and deepening of the voice. Males may experience diminished testosterone secretion, atrophy of the testes, sterility, and baldness. (Tortora, 354)
In the article, “Male College Students Believe Taking Performance- Enhancing Drugs for Sports Is More Unethical than Using Stimulants to Improve Grades”, students say that off-label prescription drug use is more effective for success than using steroids. When using steroids or performance enhancers, it is viewed unethical when used in sports, rather than academics. Around 1,200 college freshmen at Penn State University, mainly white, were given two scenarios and asked to answer a questionnaire. One scenario was about a guy named Bill, who was worried about a track meet and did not think that he would improve before the meet, so he took some steroids and actually won the championship race. The second scenario was a college student named Jeff, who had midterms coming up and did not have time to study and was worried about his grade, so he took some Adderall, a prescription stimulant, and scored higher than he thought he would. The students were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed on four statements, and this is what they replied with. They said that “Bill/Jeff were cheating because they used steroids and Adderall” and also said that “for Bill/Jeff to do well, it was necessary for them to take the drug”. Students were asked if they had ever misused prescriptions stimulants and less than 1% said they had never used steroids, while 8% said they had misused them in the last 12 months. Most of the students said that they were mostly to accept Jeff’s Adderall use over Bill’s steroid use. Knowing this could tackle future preventions for illegal stimulants in the academic world.
I feel that people, mostly high school and college kids, should know this because there are so many people in the world who misuse steroids or prescription drugs, and that is illegal. I feel that males use stimulants to get in higher rank. Even if enhancing drugs are not taken for sports, unless you have a behavioral issue diagnosed by a doctor, you should not take them. I have seen so many guys lose everything they have strived for over using enhancing drugs; it is not worth it.
American Psychological Association (APA). “Male college students believe taking performance-enhancing drugs for sports is more unethical that using stimulants to improve grades.” ScienceDaily, 8 May 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2013
Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson, 2012. Principals of Anatomy and Physiology. 13th ed., John Wiley and Sons