Steroids

Steroids


     "I just wanted to boost my performance."  These are the words spoken by

numerous athletes who have been captured using steroids.  The continuous stress

and pressure on athletes to perform well has caused some to breakdown and take

steroids as an easy way to bulk up.  Steroids amongst athletes is not the only

problem.  Other reasons for taking steroids may be to heal injury, improve

appearance, or for various social factors.  High School is definitely tough on

self-esteem for teenagers who look to fit in.  Many simply desire to improve

their physical appearance, but they are too lazy, or do not have enough time to

work out.  What do they do?  They resort to the use of anabolic steroids.

     Everyone has heard of steroids, but many  people do not know exactly

what they are.  Natural steroids play a key role in the body processes of living

things.  They are naturally produced by plants and animals, and are used for

various reasons.  Steroids include sterols, such as cholesterol, bile acids from

the liver, adrenal hormones, sex hormones, and poisons in certain toads.  Sex

steroids in humans give men and women the characteristics that make up the sex,

such as the type of voice, and the physical build.  Adrenal steroids, produced

in the cortex of the adrenal gland in humans, regulate protein and carbohydrate

metabolism.  Aldosterone, another steroid produced in the adrenal cortex, plays

a role in the mineral and water balance of the body.

     Anabolic steroids are commercially produced by chemical methods from the

male hormone testosterone.  Artificial steroids were first developed for medical

purposes during World War II (1939-1945) by the German army.  The Germans gave

it to their soldiers to make them more aggressive in combat.  After the war,

doctors in Europe and the U.S. used steroids to treat anemia, malnutrition, and

to help patients recover faster from surgery.  Then, in the 1940s, artificial

steroids began to enter the athletic world.  Body builders in Eastern Europe

were taking testosterone in various forms.  In the 1950s, athletes used the

anabolic steroids to improve their performance in international competition.

With the government's approval, coaches in the Soviet Union gave the lab-

produced steroids to their athletes, mainly of whom were weight-lifters and

shot-putters.  When other athletes around the world noticed the Soviets' winning

records (Soviet weight-lifters won seven medals at the 1952 Olympics), athletes

in many countries began to experiment with steroid use.

     In 1956, American doctor John B. Ziegler worked with a drug company to

produce anabolic steroids in the United States.  Soon after, American athletes,

particularly football players, began using steroids as early as the 1960s.  The

health dangers of steroids were not yet recognized, and athletes obtained

steroids legally from their team doctors.  When state laws against steroid use

were passed in the 1960s, a black market for the artificial testosterone quickly

developed.  Steroids eventually found their way into school athletics, at both

the college and high school levels.  During the 1980s, steroid use spread

outside the athletic world.  Recently the use of steroids has been increasing

amongst non-athletes for various rea
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