While preparing for the prom night, a high school senior drank a
“health formula” which he had been taking for some time to increase
muscles and reduce fat. His evening of romance was never to be. 20
minute after drinking the formula, which contained illegal drug promoted
as an anabolic steroid
alternative, he lapsed into a coma. His parents found him sprawled on
the floor and rushed him to the hospital. Doctors said if he had been
found half an hour later, he probably would have died.
Steroids are a synthetic version of the human hormone called testosterone. Testosterone stimulates and maintains the male sexual organs. It also stimulates development of bones and muscle, promotes skin and hair growth, and can influence emotion.
In males, testosterone is produced by the testes and the adrenal gland. Women have only the amount of testosterone produced by the adrenal gland, much less than men have. This is why testosterone is often called a “male” hormone.
The average adult male naturally produces 2.5 to 11 mg of testosterone daily. The average daily abuser often takes more than 100 mg a day, through combining several different brands of steroids.
Even though the side-effects of steroid abuse had become known, the demand for them increased in the athletic community.
Since then, the sale of steroids has ballooned into a million-a-year black market.
Steroids fool the body into thinking that testosterone is being produced. The body, sensing an excess of testosterone, shuts down bodily functions involving testosterone, such as bone growth. The ends of long bones fuse together and stop growing resulting in stunted growth. Steroid abuse has many dangerous side effects.
The potency, purity and strength of the steroids produced this way are not regulated, and therefore it is almost impossible for users to know how much they are taking.
Counterfeit steroids are also sold as the real thing. So, it is often impossible to tell exactly what some products contain. With so many harmful effects from steroids and similar illegal drugs, why do so many young people continue to use them?
One answer is social pressure. Many young men feel they need to look “masculine”, that is, strong and muscular. Some student athletes feel so pressured to succeed in their respective sports that they resort to steroids for help.
Another reason, say many experts, lies in the basic nature of young people not to concern themselves with long-term effects.
The desire to make the football team or to impress peers is much more immediate than the future prospects of possible damage to the liver, heart and other vital organs.
Although it may be true that in combination with intensive weight training and a high-calorie, high-protein diet, steroids can augment short term muscle gain, teens need to ask themselves: Is it worth all the short term health effects and the possibility of long-term, permanent damage? Is it worth the disgrace of being eliminated from competitions, or even of being arrested?
Steroids are a synthetic version of the human hormone called testosterone. Testosterone stimulates and maintains the male sexual organs. It also stimulates development of bones and muscle, promotes skin and hair growth, and can influence emotion.
In males, testosterone is produced by the testes and the adrenal gland. Women have only the amount of testosterone produced by the adrenal gland, much less than men have. This is why testosterone is often called a “male” hormone.
The average adult male naturally produces 2.5 to 11 mg of testosterone daily. The average daily abuser often takes more than 100 mg a day, through combining several different brands of steroids.
Even though the side-effects of steroid abuse had become known, the demand for them increased in the athletic community.
Since then, the sale of steroids has ballooned into a million-a-year black market.
Steroids fool the body into thinking that testosterone is being produced. The body, sensing an excess of testosterone, shuts down bodily functions involving testosterone, such as bone growth. The ends of long bones fuse together and stop growing resulting in stunted growth. Steroid abuse has many dangerous side effects.
The potency, purity and strength of the steroids produced this way are not regulated, and therefore it is almost impossible for users to know how much they are taking.
Counterfeit steroids are also sold as the real thing. So, it is often impossible to tell exactly what some products contain. With so many harmful effects from steroids and similar illegal drugs, why do so many young people continue to use them?
One answer is social pressure. Many young men feel they need to look “masculine”, that is, strong and muscular. Some student athletes feel so pressured to succeed in their respective sports that they resort to steroids for help.
Another reason, say many experts, lies in the basic nature of young people not to concern themselves with long-term effects.
The desire to make the football team or to impress peers is much more immediate than the future prospects of possible damage to the liver, heart and other vital organs.
Although it may be true that in combination with intensive weight training and a high-calorie, high-protein diet, steroids can augment short term muscle gain, teens need to ask themselves: Is it worth all the short term health effects and the possibility of long-term, permanent damage? Is it worth the disgrace of being eliminated from competitions, or even of being arrested?
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