Steroids and Enhancement Drugs: Distortion of Reality — Part 1
By Dexter Tenison

There is a lot of research on the topic of steroids and enhancement drugs. It seems that steroid use is increasing year by year. This intrigues me since I am a completely natural person who uses nothing to enhance my body. There is a growing trend of steroid use among student athletes and people who want to improve their physical physiques. It is important for all of the people dealing with athletes and fitness enthusiasts to realize that there is a problem with steroid use, know the potential problems of taking steroids, and how to encourage drug free sports. Also, it is important to know the warning signs of steroid use in order to respond accordingly.

Overview of Steroids and Performance Enhancement Drugs

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic drugs that imitate the effects of testosterone (Bradley-Popovich, 2003). The word anabolic means promoting growth. The word ster-oids comes for the word sterol, which means a compound chemically related to choles-terol (Whitney & Rolfes, 2005). The main reasons why people choose to take these drugs are to improve their performance in their sport, and/or to improve their physique. Some athletes and fitness enthusiasts just do not have the genetics to become superior in their chosen sport or with their given physique, therefore they use the help of steroids to try and obtain their goals (Whitney & Rolfes, 2005).

Steroids have to be used in conjunction with resistance training and a proper diet that promotes muscle and fat loss (Bradley-Popovich, 2003). Some of the most popular anabolic steroids are D-Bol, Winni-V, Liquid Anodrol, Test Suspension, Somatroph HGH, Deca Nor 50, Equidren, Mesterbolan (“Hard to obtain,” 2006). An oversimplified way of thinking adapted by steroid users is: if a person wants size, take anadrol or susanon. If you want minimal side effects, take primibolan. If you want hardness, then take Winstrol and clenbuterol. If you want to avoid side effects, take clomid or nolvadex (Kaplan, Another Steroids Question, n.d.).

The first documentation of injecting performance enhancing drugs into a human is given by Charles Edouard Brown-Sequard who experienced strength and energy increases while injecting himself with dog testicle extract in 1889 (Jarvi, 2004). Actual anabolic steroids were first discovered in the 1930s (“Anabolic steroids,” 2007). In the 1940s Germany experimented with injecting steroids into their troops during World War II to try and create super-soldiers, but their experiments received limited results (“About steroids,” n.d.). Shortly after this period, steroid use became a part of the bodybuilding world, although in the early days steroids were administered by doctors. There are three ways that one can administer steroids: orally through pills, injected from a needle into a muscle, or transdermally through a patch, cream, or gel (“Anabolic steroids,” 2007).

Possible Side Effects of Taking Anabolic Steroids

Taking steroids can cause side effects. There are positive and negative side effects when taking steroids. A person should not assume that simply taking steroids will make you stronger and have more muscles. One also has to weight train, do aerobic exercise, and eat in a way that supports muscle growth (Kaplan, n.d., Phil Kaplan, Bradley-Popovich, 2003). Without proper training and nutrition, the best that a steroid user can expect is a temporary bloat (Kaplan, n.d., Phil Kaplan). Some of the negative side effects of steroids includes physiological dependency, blood lipid profile, liver disease, elevated blood pressure, increased body hair, baldness, decreased libido, increased acne, testicular atrophy, breast enlargement (males), aggressiveness, and delayed healing after injury (Jarvi, 2004, “Look out,” 2006). Also, it should be considered that injecting steroids and using needles can increase a person’s risk of contracting or transmitting diseases such as HIV/AIDS or hepatitis (NIDA, 2007). Of these effects, some signs of use that family, coaches, and others can look for include baldness, acne on the back, depression, female breasts in males, and muscle weakness (“Look out,” 2006). A popular myth is that taking steroids could shrink a male’s penis. This is false and could have started from a real possible side effect called testicular atrophy that can occur (Anabolic steroids, 2007).

When combined with proper nutrition and exercise, a person can achieve the desired effects of taking steroids such as increased muscle mass, increased body weight, reduced body fat, and increased strength (Javi, 2003, Kaplan, n.d. Phil Kaplan). However, a person who chooses to take steroids will have some or all of the negative effects of steroids. Unfortunately, steroid users rarely think about the long term effects these drugs can cause (Kaplan, n.d. Phil Kaplan).

Phil Kaplan mentions in his online article "Another Steroids Question" that several bodybuilders who took steroids at some point in their careers have unfortunately passed (n.d.). He doesn’t claim that these people died solely by taking steroids, but he does believe the steroid usage contributed to their untimely deaths. The following bodybuilders have been suspected of using steroids:

• In 1999 Sonny Schmidt, 46 years old, was a competitor who placed third in the Master’s Olympia. On January 25, 2004, he passed.
• In 2003 Scott Klein, a thirty year old, 285-pound bodybuilder, died of heart failure.
• In 2002, Ron Teufel, a 45 year old former Mr. America passed away (n.d.).

There are several other cases of deaths that may have been related to steroid usage. However, it is difficult to conclude that the actual death occurred solely by taking steroids. A combination of several factors may have resulted in these people’s deaths, but the harmful side effects of steroid use should be considered as a contributing factor.

Referring back the oversimplified categories of steroids, they do not take into account the simple fact that humans are biologically unique, and that these drugs are used to compensate for testosterone levels when there is no idea that there is even a need for this compensation (Kaplan, n.d., Another Steroids Question). Therefore, people are messing with a complex hormonal chain that they know little about. When someone takes steroids to increase testosterone for the short term, it may decrease production of hormones, such as testosterone, over the long term (Kaplan, n.d., Another Steroids Question).

Reasons for Taking These Drugs

In 2003, an estimated million middle and high school students admitted to experimenting with steroids. Within that report, some of those students were sixth graders (Svare, 2006). These numbers seem to be increasing each year. There are several reasons why students are deciding to use steroids. One of the reasons that student athletes take these drugs is because they feel pressure to stay competitive with other students athletes on the team and students on opposing teams (Svare, 2006, Price, 2006). Peer pressure can cause students to forget about the long term effects of taking these drugs (Hall, 2000). Also, they want to try to get an advantage over the other athletes in order to have a shot at making a college team, or even at becoming a professional athlete. (Svare, 2006, Price, 2006).

Another reason why males in particular take steroids is because they have insecurities and psychological body image problems (Hall, 2000). There is good reason for males to have these image problems. The toys that males play with when growing up display muscular army men, ninjas, and wrestlers, which can have a negative effect on the way they view their own bodies (Hall, 2000). In the last ten years, there has been a trend in movies to have perfect male bodies play roles, which further contributes to these image problems. (Hall, 2000). Recent movies such as "300" display Spartan warriors who have extreme muscles, very little body fat, and have the ability to fight against unmeasurable odds. Men also know that women like the look of a perfect male body. So, males want to achieve those looks in order to be seen as more attractive and have the ability to date more attractive girls. (Hall, 2000).

When someone has been on steroids for a while and has cycled them a few times, they can develop a dependency to take steroids, physiologically. Steroid usage can cause an addiction to the drug (Draper, 2007). The reason for this may be because when a person gets off of steroids, they do lose some size in their muscles and can lose strength in the ability to lift given amounts of weight. Due to these reasons and possible tampering with hormones, steroids can also cause people to go through bouts of depression (Draper, 2007). Depression from ceasing steroids caused Dave Draper, a famous bodybuilder with accomplishments such as Mr. America in 1965, Mr. World in 1966, and Mr. Universe in 1970, to stop training altogether. This further deepened his depressed state (Draper, 2007). Another documented case of depression from steroid use is a 17 year old student athlete from Plano, TX (Price, 2006). In 2003, Taylor Hooten, a baseball player, took steroids to increase his athletic ability. However, when he got off of them they may have been the cause of his depression, which ultimately led to him taking his own life while he was on vacation in England with his family.

The depressed state can cause a vicious cycle of people returning to steroid use in order to continue their training routines and to feel good again. Steroids, for people who are dependent on them, are a part of their exercise and eating routine. This can cause people to stay on steroids even if their intention was to only take steroids for a short while.

To be continued in Part 2:

• What Can We Do About Steroid Usage?
• Creation of Unobtainable Goals
• How Can Fitness Professionals Deal With Steroid Usage?
• Summary and Conclusions

References:

1. About steroids. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://www.steroidtips.com/about_steroids.htm
2. Anabolic steroids. (2007, March). Retrieved March 31, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabolic_steroid
3. Bradley-Popovich, G. E. & Frounfelter, G. (2003) Ethical considerations regarding ana-bolic-androgenic steroid use [Electronic Version]. Professionalization of Exercise Physiology, 20031001, Vol. 6, Issue 10, 1p. Accessed February 16, 2007 from EBSCO Host Research Databases.
4. Draper, Dave (2007) Dave’s thought’s about steroid use. Retrieved February 16, 2007 from Dave Draper’s Official Website Web site: http://www.davedraper.com/ ster-oids.html
5. Hall, Stephen S. (2000, February 14) The quest for physical perfection, obsession for men: boys are learning what girls have long known-it isn’t easy living in a Baywatch world [Electronic Version]. The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2007 from EBSCO Host Research Databases.
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7. Jarvi, Jeffery F. (2004, December) Stay alert for performance-enhancing substance use: Anabolic Steroids. Testosterone precursors. Nutraceuticals. Designer drugs. The list of substances athletes may take to enhance performance is long, and growing longer. Be-fore you can educate patients about the dangers of such use, you must educate your-self. JAAPA-Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants, 17.12, p36(4). Accessed January 12, 2007, from Thomson Gale Power Search.
8. Kaplan, Phil (n.d.) Another steroids question? Ok here’s my answer. Retrieved March 23, 2007 from Phil Kaplan’s Fitness and Weight Loss Solutions Web site: http:// www.philkaplan.com/thefitnesstruth/steroidquestion.htm
9. Kaplan, Phil (n.d.) Phil Kaplan’s the fitness truth-steroids. Retrieved March 23, 2007 from Phil Kaplan’s Fitness and Weight Loss Solutions Web site: http://www.philkaplan.com/thefitnesstruth/steroids.htm
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12. NIDA, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health. (2007, March). NIDA infofacts: steroids (anabolic-androgenic). Retrieved March 30, 2007, from the NIDA Web site: http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/Steroids.html
13. Price, Sean (2006, January) ‘Roid rage: the steroids Taylor Hooten took made his body bigger but their side effects drove him to take his own life [Electronic Version]. Choices. Retrieved February 16, 2007 from from EBSCO Host Research Databases.
14. Stallone tried to import HGH, court told. (2007, March 13) Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://au.news.yahoo.com/070217/2/12gfj.html
15. Svare, Bruce B. (2006, April) What athletic directors can do about the steroid abuse cri-sis [Electronic Version]. Coach and Athletic Director. Accessed February 16, 2007 from EBSCO Host Research Databases.
16. Whitney E. & Rolfes S.R. (2005) Understanding Nutrition (10th ed.) California: Thomas Wadsworth. pg. 499, 502-03.

Dexter Tenison (www.dextertenisonfitness.com) is an ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer and a master’s candidate for sports studies at The United States Sports Academy. He is the owner and a trainer at Body Transformations in Memphis, TN.