Steroids And Their Effects In The Sports World
Sunday, July 11th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
Sadly, one of the most talked about topics in professional sports today is steroids. Nearly everybody has seen the stories on the news, about Congress addressing athletes (mainly baseball players) in regards to their use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. But, use of the substances is not just in the major league of America’s favorite pastime, but in most other games as well. In fact, many semi regular gym goers will admit to knowing people who are on steroids and these people selling could be hiding out behind the fitness equipment elliptical, gym fitness equipment, or other workout equipment. The most recent controversy over performance enhancing drugs revolves around a doctor from Canada who has recently been caught and arrested selling supplements that are illegal in the United States but legal in his native Canada. As is common knowledge amongst anyone who watches sports stations on a semi regular basis; this doctor has been found to have treated big name athletes all across the country, including Tiger Woods.
Despite their being in the headlines on a fairly regular basis, lots of people still aren’t actually aware of what steroids are and exactly what they do, and the answer varies based on what type of substance is used. The most often used type of steroid is known as an anabolic steroid and works to increase testosterone in the body. This high amount of testosterone is then used to build up protein within the cells and through this increase, builds muscles. While typically mentioned in reference to athletes being caught using them, there are legitimate medical uses for anabolic steroids as they are only illegal if there isn’t a prescription from a doctor for the person using them. But, not all steroids simply aid in building muscles. For instance, without naming those for the sake of going into too much detail, there are other steroids that are used to aid in recovery and increase cardio in their users.
Baseball is the game that has been hurt the most by the steroid controversies. Many, many big time players from the past few decades have either been honest with authorities on using them, or lied about it and then gotten caught later on. Some of the more important of the players to have been caught using the substances include Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, both of the participants in the famous race to break the single season home run record from about a decade ago or so.
Another sport that has been rocked by the use of performance enhancing drugs is the game of track and field. Most recently, former Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones was found out to have used and ended up serving time in a federal prison for her troubles.
The big question for the sports world in the coming years is what to do about the controversies surrounding performance enhancing drugs. Some of the more cynical in society would suggest that most athletes at the professional level are using them anyway so they should simply be made legal. Others argue that there should be steroid user divisions and natural competitors leagues in every sport, following in the model of weightlifting competitions. Unquestionably, sport in the future near and far will be heavily influenced by steroids.
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