The Easy Way Out: Steroids in Professional Sports Today

The Easy Way Out: Steroids in Professional Sports Today

Throughout the history of athletics, accomplishments were greatly valued because of the time and effort put into achieving a goal. Whether it be catching a ball or holding a world record, accomplishments are a form of greatness. However, what we once considered an achievement, isn’t held with the same prestige today. In recent years, it has become far too easy to achieve and surpass greatness with the use of steroids. Steroids are illegal and banned from most if not all major sports organizations, because it is considered cheating and also imposes many health risks on the athletes. It gives the athletes who use them an unfair advantage over the athletes who choose not to use steroids. However, some athletes continue to take them. Rafael Palmeiro, first basemen for the Batimore Orioles, was recently suspended for taking a powerful steroid called Stanozolol. Palmeiro is just one of many professional athletes who are cheating by taking steroids. Through the use of steroids, these athletes are contributing to the devaluing of accomplishments and teaching young people that hard work isn’t necessary to succeed.

Steroids are usually used to treat conditions, such as body wasting in patients with AIDS, and other diseases that occur, when the body doesn’t produce enough testosterone. Body wasting is when an AIDS patient involuntarily looses more than 10% of their muscle mass and has more then 30 days of diarrhea, weakness, and fever. For an AIDS patient, body wasting leads to the progression of their disease and ultimately, their death. However, with the aid of steroids and exercise, an AIDS patient is able to increase their weight and replenish their muscle mass.

Steroids are beneficial for those people who use them correctly. However, professional athletes are abusing these steroids, to get stronger by taking a synthetic version called an anabolic steroids, which is 10 to 100 times stronger than the doses prescribed to treat medical conditions. These steroids are dangerous, and often have irreversible and negative health and emotional effects like high blood pressure, heart disease, liver damage, cancer, stroke, blood clots, urinary problems, nausea, acne on the face and body, anxiety and panic attacks, aggressive behavior, and severe mood swings. Males experience a reduce in sperm count, impotence, shrinking of the testicles, breast development, and an enlarged prostate gland. Females experience a reduction in breast size, enlarged clitoris, an increase in facial and body hair, deepened voice, and menstrual problems. Even with these severe side effects athletes still choose to take steroids.

Some people don’t think that using steroids is a form of cheating. They argue that using steroids isn’t cheating because it doesn’t improve an athlete’s skill, it only makes them stronger. However, taking steroids is a form of cheating which interferes with fair play. By taking steroids an athlete is able to get stronger and perform at a higher level as opposed to someone who chooses not to take steroids. An athlete who uses steroids will be able to accomplish more because of their added strength.

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