What are Anabolic Steroids? :: essays research papers

What ar Anabolic Steroids? Anabolic steroids - or more precisely, anabolic/androgenic steroids - belong to a groupknown as ergogenic, or so-called "performance-enhancing," drugs. They are syntheticderivatives of testosterone, a natural male hormone. "Anabolic" means growing orbuilding. "Androgenic" means "masculinizing or generating male knowledgeable characteristics.Most healthy males produce between 2 and 10 milligrams of testosterone a day. http//www2.msstate.edu/jnd2/index.htmlReasons for Steroid Use The most common reasons people use anabolic steroids are to increase muscle mass increase strength train harder reduce the recovery time needed after training Some people count the benefit from taking steroids is physiological, they make peoplefeel that they are stronger or faster. Others believe that they make people feel that theyare more aggressive and so they are able to train harder. Steroid Usage Among Teenagers Steroid usage has often been stere otyped to football players, weightlifters andbodybuilders. New research suggests that this is far from true. Instead, most with child(p) steroidusers are middle class white males, 35% of which do not intend on participating insporting events. 26% of in high spirits school age steroid users cited personal appearance as theirprimary motive for use the drug. These vernal trends in steroid use have been attributed to the "new male image" that isbeing splashed throughout advertisements and magazines. Teenage males develop adesire for the lean, mean and muscular look exemplified by Calvin Klien models andothers. The quickest room to success is through anabolic steroids. Many of these juvenilerswill risk possibility of the side effects associated with steroid usage in exchange forrespect. Despite capacious weight and muscle gains, many steroid users are never quite happy withtheir physique. This condition is being labeled as "reverse anorexia" by psychologists anddoc tors. "I have seen a kid gain 100 pounds in 14 months and still not be satisfied,"reports Neil Carolan of BryLin Hospital in Buffalo. Carolan has counseled over 200teenage steroid users. Arnold Schwarzenegger, once a steroid user himself, addresses theissue of teenage steroid use. "Teenagers should never take anabolic steroids in an attemptto build up the size and strength of their muscle structure. During the teenage years,young males are already in their most anabolic state, with testosterone flooding thesystem. Adding synthetic anabolic at this point in time is totally unnecessary." historyGreek Olympians used strychnine and hallucinogenic mushrooms to "psyche up" for anevent. In 1886 a French cyclist was the first athlete to die from using a performance enhance,called speedballs, a mixture of cocaine and heroin. In the 1920s, physicians inserted slices of monkey testicles into male athletes to help