Steroid Use

Controversies of the Sports World

Tough Choices: A Book about Substance Abuse

Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids in Adolescence: Winning, Looking

Good or Being Bad?

Athletes and Steroids: Playing a Deadly Game

Anabolic Steroid Abuse

Admissions before BALCO grand jury detailed

Romanowski: I broke RB’s finger, took steroids, damaged brain

The Demonization of Anabolic Steroids I: What Makes These Hormones

So Evil?

What are Steroids?

Types of Steroids

Who Uses Steroids?

Reasons for Steroid Abuse

Performance Enhancement in Sports

Increasing Muscle Size

Problem Behavior

How Are Anabolic Steroids Used?

The Effects of Steroid Abuse

Masculinization in Women

Effect on Men

Cardiovascular Diseases

Liver and Skin

Infection

Behavior

Telltale Signs of Steroid Abuse

Use of Anabolic Steroids in Baseball and Pro-Football

Jason Giambi

Bill Romanowsi

References

Steroid Use have always been a big sports fan since my early childhood. Having played most sports with enthusiasm and some skill in school and at college, I was lucky to get the opportunity of adopting the profession of my dreams, i.e., that of a sports coach in a college. It was during my coaching days that I observed a number of sportsmen, several of them my close friends, take steroids for performance enhancement and suffer immensely as a result. The choice of my research topic on steroid use, therefore, comes naturally to me. By carrying out this research on how steroid use affects the body and minds of people, particularly sportspersons, I am not only fulfilling a part of my educational degree requirement, I am also educating myself. I intend to use this research and the knowledge gained about steroid to educate the sportsmen I coach and warn them about its dangers. Hopefully, I would be able to make a notable difference in my immediate sphere of influence by steering young sportspersons in my college clear of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids and promoting a steroid free culture in sports.

In order to carry out the requisite research on the topic of steroid use, I have utilized various print and electronic sources. These include books and journals from the library as well as a number of reports and web sites on the Internet. This research paper explores questions such as what are steroids, the types of steroids, who uses steroids, the effect it has on people body and minds, risks involved in taking steroids, and signs that people are using them. It also narrates examples of professional athletes in professional football, and baseball who have used steroids and how the drug has affected them.

The paper has been organized and formatted according to the APA style. It includes a Title Page, Table of Contents, the Introduction (the current page), a section on Review of Literature, Summary and Conclusions, and References.

Review of Literature

Controversies of the Sports World (1999)

Putnam (1999) discusses the use of steroids by sports people in chapter no. 9 (“pumping up”) of the book. He looks at the example of some athletes who have been accused of using steroids for performance enhancement such as Mary Slaney, the American long-distance runner who set several world and American records in the 1970s and 1980s. She was tested positive for using banned steroids in 1997 but vehemently denied using drugs, challenging the testing procedures; she was later cleared of the charges.

Whether or not Slaney actually used steroids to gain an unfair advantage, the positive test did put a question mark against the validity of her previous athletic achievements. Putnam then goes on to examine the questions: why does doping continue? And if the ultimate goal for athletes is to do their absolute best in competition, then why is it wrong for them to take drugs that help them achieve that goal? (p. 117). The author also reviews the history of performance enhancing drugs in sports. In ancient Greece, for example, athletic competitors consumed extracts of mushrooms and plant seeds to enhance their performance. In ancient Rome, when chariot races and gladiator fights were major sporting events, horses as well as gladiators were frequently ‘doped’ to run faster or fight more ferociously. The first recorded death from drug-use in sports was in 1886 when a cyclist died from an overdose of trimethyl. Use of drugs proliferated when steroid, a synthetic form of male hormones, was invented in the 1930s. Since then, use of steroids by athletes to boost their performance has become common. Athletes in the Soviet Union and other communist nations used steroids with impunity in the 1950s and 1960s and won startling victories. Steroid use gradually became common in other parts of the world. The most infamous case of steroid use in track and field was that of Ben Johnson, the Canadian 100-meter runner who displayed the most astonishing burst of speed ever witnessed while winning the Olympic Gold Medal at the 1988 in Seoul, only to be tested positive for using steroids and being disgraced and banned.

Putnam discusses the dangers of using steroids but also presents the alternative view of some people who argue that performance-enhancing drugs should be permitted in sports. Supporters of steroid use in sports, although small in number, argue that athletes are fully entitled to seek competitive advantages over their opponents and use of steroid is akin to using better equipment, better coaches, or better training programs. They also contend that the harmful side effects of steroids have been exaggerated. The author sees a subtle trend of leniency towards drug use by sport authorities and believes that drug use in sports would continue as long as medical science makes such performance enhancing drugs available (pp. 124-126).

Tough Choices: A Book about Substance Abuse (1995)

The author (John Langone) discusses the topic in one of the chapters titled “steroids.” The chapter contains an interesting piece of information, i.e., that German soldiers in World War II took steroids before battle to make them more aggressive and, ironically, the survivors of the Nazi death camps took them too to build up their wasted bodies after the War (Langone, 70).

Steroids have their legitimate uses too. They are sometimes prescribed for treating some forms of anemia, osteoporosis, serious burns, and to replace male hormones in people who need them. However, steroids have found more widespread use elsewhere. In the 1950s, athletes, led by weightlifters began to consume steroids to add muscle; non-professionals who just wanted to improve their physical looks followed them. It is estimated that currently more than a million Americans, including 250,000 high school seniors, take the drug in order to look beautiful (Ibid. 71).

While most experts agree that steroids increase body weight and perhaps strength too, there is still some disagreement on whether it improves performance. On the other hand, it is well-known that steroid causes a number of harmful side effects. For example, steroids hinder the natural production of the male hormone, testosterone, in young males. As a result, it may stunt their growth and the development of male sexual organs. Steroids also affect the normal liver function of young as well as older people. It promotes male traits and other physical changes such as smaller breasts in women. Its psychological effects include aggressive or violent behavior in the user (known as “roid rage”), and depression. It may also cause addiction when taken in large doses (Ibid, pp. 72-73). The information on steroids in this book is rather sketchy and far from comprehensive.

Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids in Adolescence: Winning, Looking Good or Being Bad? (2001)

Wichstrom and Pedersen (2001) have carried out a study on steroids in order to (1) determine the prevalence of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS) use among adolescents in Norway according to sports involvement and demographic factors; (2) to test sports involvement, appearance and eating concerns, and ‘problem behavior theory’ regarding prediction of AAS use; and (3) to identify predictors of AAS use vs. rejection of AAS by adolescents.

The study is important because the search for risk and protective factors for AAS use in adolescence is vital. In addition, most studies about steroids have either focused on the sports perspective, and the need or desire in young people to look and feel good. This study also looks at the third important dimension in steroid use, i.e., the ‘problem behavior theory’ (PBT) — according to which steroid abuse in adolescents is part of a larger syndrome of problem behavior in young people that includes other delinquent-type behavior such as underage drinking, problem drinking, marijuana use, use of other illicit drugs and precocious sexual behavior. PBT further suggests that young people who are heavily involved in one area of problem behavior tend also to be heavily involved in others.

The study was conducted between 1992 and 1994 in Norway. The research involved

8, 877 participants from 67 schools in Norway of grades 7-12 (ages 12-20) who were representative of the high school Norwegian population. The main categories of the participants were junior high school (31.9%), senior high school (49.6%) and there were slightly more girls (53.8%) than boys among them.

The participants were provided with questionnaires in which they were asked about their involvement in 4 major areas, i.e., their use of anabolic steroids (and whether they had ever been offered steroids), their involvement in power sports, appearance and eating problems, and problem behavior. Background information about the participants included their degree of urbanization, parental socioeconomic status and the region to which they belonged.

Analyses of the study’s results show that the prevalence of steroid use among Norwegian youth was lower (lifetime use was 0.8% and 12 months prevalence was 0.3%) than in several other Western societies such as the U.S. (2.5% to 7%) and in Australia, Canada, Sweden and South Africa (2% to 3.5%). It also showed that AAS use was first and foremost associated with problem behavior (i.e., drug [marijuana] involvement and aggressive-type conduct problems). Its relation with power sports and appearance came in at second and third place respectively.

The study is, therefore, significant in highlighting the hitherto largely ignored area of problem behavior in steroid use. A major limitation of the study is that Norwegian youth behavior may not co-relate with that of other Western countries.

Athletes and Steroids: Playing a Deadly Game (1987)

This is a general article about steroid use by Miller (1987) that gives an overview of the history of steroids, the people who use or abuse the drug, the side effects of steroid abuse, why people continue to use steroids despite being aware of their ill effects, and what measures are being taken by the authorities to curb steroid abuse. The article also goes on to explain how anabolic steroids act on the bodies of men and women to produce some of the commonly known side effects.

The author opines that the intense Cold War rivalry between the Russians and the U.S. In the 1950s was largely responsible for the widespread abuse of steroids that has proliferated into the present day problem. This was because both Cold War rivals wanted to excel each other in every field, including sports, in order to prove the superiority of their political systems. The Russian sport officials and coaches started to give steroids to their athletes and dominated many sport events. Some American doctors, coaches, and athletes followed suit. The result was massive abuse of steroids by sportsmen and sportswomen that soon spilled over among college and school students and even some law enforcement officers.

One of the measures being taken to control steroid abuse among athletes is the introduction of increasingly sophisticated testing techniques with which extremely small quantities of the drug in a performer’s body can be detected. Despite the tests and the crackdowns on illegal steroid trade, its use is not easy to control because of “the winning at all costs” culture in many modern day societies including the American society and the misplaced sense of “immortality” in the youth that prompts them into disregarding the long-term harm to their bodies for short-term gains.

Anabolic Steroid Abuse” (2000)

This is a research report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), USA on anabolic steroid abuse and is available on the Internet in both pdf and html versions. It contains useful basic information about anabolic steroids without getting too technical. The report is written in simple clear language and is aimed at the general audience. However, it can be used for getting basic, updated information and statistics by researchers on steroid abuse.

The report starts off by explaining what are anabolic steroids, why they were developed in the late 1930s, the different types of anabolic steroids that have been developed, information on steroidal supplements, and the scope of steroidal abuse in the U.S. The main focus of the NIDA Report is on the health consequences of steroid abuse and on why, who and how people abuse anabolic steroids. It also contains brief information on the effect of steroid abuse on human behavior, and what can be done to prevent such abuse.

The Anabolic Steroid Abuse Report (2000) does leave out detailed explanation of how the drug actually acts on the body to produce its harmful effects. For example, an important question that comes to mind while learning about the “feminizing” effect of anabolic steroids on the male body such as the growth of breasts and shrinking of testes, is how does a male hormone produce the opposite effect? Those interested in such detailed information on the effect of steroids would, therefore, have to look elsewhere.

Admissions before BALCO grand jury detailed” (2004)

This is an ESPN report on Jason Giambi’s admission to a federal grand jury in 2003 that he took steroids and human growth hormone from 2001 to 2003.

Although widespread use of illegal drugs has long been suspected in Major Lague Baseball, this is the first time that a high profile baseball player has admitted to taking steroids as well as other human growth hormones. The Giambi admission has prompted the need for introducing stricter laws for controlling drug (in particular steroid) abuse in the major professional sports in the U.S., including Major League Baseball. As a result, a legislative Act (the “Clean Sports Act of 2005″) for introducing uniform testing standards calls for Olympic-style drug testing and stringent penalties for drug use in professional sports is under discussion in the Congress and is expected to be passed soon. The legislation would require a 2-year ban for a first offense and a lifetime ban for a second offense regarding drug use.

The ESPN Report also contains information on how steroid use may have affected Jason Giambi and his career.

Romanowski: I broke RB’s finger, took steroids, damaged brain.” (2005)

Bill Romanowski, the former American Football player and linebacker, recently admitted to using steroids during the last three years of his NFL career, which ended in 2003. This Sportsline report quotes the recent 60 Minutes interview with Scott Pelley in which Romanowski admitted to taking drugs. It also reports on the deliberate violence committed by Romanwski (fueled by steroids?) during his playing career.

The Demonization of Anabolic Steroids I: What Makes These Hormones So Evil?”(n.d.)

This article by John M. Williams gives an alternative view about the almost universal condemnation of steroid abuse. Williams (n.d.) argues in this first part of a two-part article that the criminalization of anabolic steroids is wrong. While discussing some of the side-effects of anabolic steroids, he contends that most of them have been exaggerated and that there are some benefits of controlled steroid use that have been suppressed by the mainstream social, medical and legal forces in the United States. He questions the results of some of the medical research that reports no palpable strength or muscle gains resulting from the use of AAS and wonders “if some researchers intentionally misrepresented scientific findings in order to discourage the use of AAS for physical enhancement.” Williams questions some of the seeming “established” evils of anabolic steroids such as liver damage, cardiovascular damage and “roid rage” by stating that at best such purported effects of AAS are limited to only a few types of anabolic steroids and are mostly reversible on cessation of steroid use.

Examples of a number of prescription / legal drugs that allegedly have far more serious side effects than AAS have been given by the author who believes that the “real” reason for the criminalization of steroids is because they promote muscle growth. Williams believes that the modern society has a peculiar love-hate relationship with muscular strength in which the majority of the public expresses a distaste for women with muscle, does not look with favor at muscular older men, and even equates muscle with deviant and criminal behavior.

Summary and Conclusions

What are Steroids?

In general, a steroid could be “any of numerous naturally occurring or synthetic fat-soluble organic compounds with 17 carbon atoms arranged in four rings in its molecular structure. It includes the sterols and bile acids, adrenal and sex hormones, certain natural drugs such as digitalis compounds, and the precursors of certain vitamins.” Among these steroids are a group of synthetic derivatives of the male sex hormones (testosterone) called Anabolic-androgenic steroids that promote muscle and bone growth and male sexual characteristics (“Anabolic Steroid Abuse” 2000, p. 1)

Types of Steroids

More than 100 types of anabolic steroids have been developed. They can be broadly classified into two categories — oral steroids such as Anadrol or Winstrol and injectable steroids such as Deca-Durabbbolin and Depo-Testosterone (Ibid. p. 2).

Steroidal supplements such as dehydroepian-drosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione (Andro) can be purchased in the U.S. without a prescription. They are also believed to promote muscle growth although it is not yet clear whether these ‘supplements’ do so on their own or indirectly by being converted into testosterone in the body. Not much is known about their side effects either (Ibid.)

Who Uses Steroids?

Anabolic steroids were developed in the late 1930s to treat hypogonadism — a male condition in which the testes do not produce sufficient testosterone for normal growth, development, and sexual functioning. Later experiments in laboratory animals indicated that anabolic steroids could facilitate the growth of skeletal muscle in laboratory animals. This discovery opened up a host of possibilities about its possible uses. During the Second World War, Nazi doctors conducted experiments on prisoners that indicated the promotion of strength and aggression and German soldiers were given the drugs in order to boost their fighting abilities. After the War, Nazi concentration camp victims were treated for chronic wasting by anabolic steroids, one of the first therapeutic uses of AAS (Langone, 70).

Discovering the muscle-growth and strength giving properties, bodybuilders and weightlifters began to experiment with steroids in the 1950s. In the backdrop of the Cold War politics, Soviet authorities and sport coaches initiated organized drug programs for their athletes. As a result, Soviet weightlifters demonstrated impressive strength gains and won a number of international competitions. The “secret” of the Soviet success was quickly discovered and very soon athletes in several countries, including the U.S., began to experiment with steroids (Putnam, 1999).

The use of anabolic steroids has gradually permeated from the strength athletes to the general public, including adolescents desirous of building their muscles for looks and strength. A NIDA funded of drug abuse among adolescents in middle and high schools across the United States in 1999 revealed that 2.7% of 8th- and 10th-graders and 2.9% of 12th-graders had taken anabolic steroids at least once in their lives. This indicated a significant increase from 1991, the first year that data on steroid abuse were collected from the younger students. In that year, 1.9% of 8th-graders, 1.8% of 10th-graders, and 2.1% of 12th-graders reported that they had taken anabolic steroids at least once. More males than females abuse steroid, but steroid abuse is growing among young women, in particular (“Anabolic Steroid Abuse” 2000, p. 2).

The limited legitimate medical uses of anabolic steroids at present are for treatment of delayed puberty, some types of impotence, and wasting of the body caused by diseases such as HIV infection. But doctors are reluctant to prescribe steroids for legitimate purposes due to the “criminalization” of the drug following the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 (Williams, n.d).

Reasons for Steroid Abuse

Although reasons for steroid abuse may vary in individuals, most people do it for the following three reasons:

Performance Enhancement in Sports: Most people consume steroids for improving their performance in sports. Steroid abuse is most prevalent among weightlifters and bodybuilders. Other sports in which strength is a major factor are also prone to steroid abuse. Such sports include track and field, American football, and baseball. It is most of the main reasons people give for abusing steroids is to improve their performance in sports.

Increasing Muscle Size: Another reason for abuse of steroids is the desire for increase in muscle size and strength. This desire could be for cosmetic reasons, i.e., to look good or to build their strength for protecting themselves. Bodybuilders who do not consider bodybuilding as a sport may also fall in this category. Others, who take steroids to look bigger and become stronger, could have psychological reasons for doing so, e.g., having been raped or having suffered abuse in their childhood.

Problem Behavior: Some people, particularly adolescents, abuse steroids as part of a larger pattern of problem or high-risk behavior. Such problem behavior also includes other delinquent-type behavior such as underage drinking, not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle, use of other illicit drugs, carrying guns, and precocious sexual behavior (Wichstrom and Pedersen, 2001).

How Are Anabolic Steroids Used?

Anabolic steroids can be taken orally or injected in the muscles. Some types (gels or creams) are used by rubbing on the skin. Steroid abusers take steroids in doses that are 10 to 100 times higher than normal doses. In order to maximize the benefits of steroids and to minimize their side effects, steroid abusers use intake strategies known as “stacking” and “pyramiding.” Stacking consists of taking different types of anabolic steroids, i.e., oral and injectable steroids at different times. “Pyramiding” refers to the taking of steroids in cycles of 6 to 12 weeks. Typically, at the beginning of a cycle, a steroid abuser starts with low doses of the drugs being stacked and then slowly increases the doses. In the second half of the cycle, the doses are slowly decreased to zero. In a second cycle, the steroid abuser may train without the use of steroids (“Anabolic Steroid Abuse” 2000, p. 3).

There is widespread, but as yet unproven, belief among steroid users, that such “stacking” and “pyramiding” increase the effect of steroids on muscle size and strength and also reduce the side effects.

The Effects of Steroid Abuse

Anabolic steroid abuse is known to cause a number of harmful side effects, some of which are permanent and very serious. The side effects of steroid abuse mainly stem from the disruption of the normal production of hormones. Such disruption is accentuated by the extremely high doses taken by steroid abusers that range from 10 to 100 times higher than normal doses. In general, long-term use of anabolic steroids causes masculinization in women and has a feminizing effect in men.

Masculinization in Women: In women, the increase in testosterone levels caused by ingestion of anabolic steroids cause decrease in their breast size and body fat, coarseness of the skin, enlargement of the clitoris, and the deepening of the voice. Women may also experience excessive growth of body hair and male pattern baldness.

Effect on Men: In men, when testosterone levels get too high due to steroid intake, the hypothalamus within the brain acts to shut down its own production of the male hormones leading to an imbalance of male and female hormones within the body. One result of the imbalance is breast development (gynecomastia) in men; another is testicular atrophy. In adolescent males, it can cause stunted growth as the production of hormones to a certain level signal the bones to stop growing (Miller 1987).

Cardiovascular Diseases: Steroid abuse may cause heart attacks and strokes, even in young people. This is mainly due the increase in the level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and decrease in the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) caused by steroids. The condition increases the risk of atherosclerosis — deposition of plaque inside arteries — and the resultant blood flow to the hear muscles and the brain.

Liver and Skin: Steroid abuse is suspected of causing liver cancer and the growth of cysts on liver as well as the skin. It is also known to cause acne and coarse skin in women.

Infection: Sharing of needles by some steroid abusers puts them at risk of HIV, hepatitis and other life-threatening viral and bacterial infections.

Behavior: Prolonged anabolic steroid use in high doses causes irritability and aggression known as “roid rage.” Other behavioral effects of anabolic steroids abuse include euphoria, increased energy, sexual arousal, mood swings, distractibility, forgetfulness, and confusion. Some studies also report the prevalence of depression, loss of appetite, insomnia, and reduced sex drive, as withdrawal symptoms when steroid-use is stopped. This may lead to psychological dependence and addiction to steroids.

Telltale Signs of Steroid Abuse

There are several telltale signs of steroid use in athletes that a coach should be familiar with. They include unusual muscle gains or weight loss, extreme mood swings, aggressive behavior and irritability, uncooperativeness and hostility, as well as yellowish skin and eyes.

Use of Anabolic Steroids in Baseball and Pro-Football

Major American sports including Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League had rather lax drug-control laws until recently. Recent admission of steroid use by high profile sport figures has brought the problem of steroid abuse in pro-football and baseball in sharp focus.

Jason Giambi: Jason Giambi, the New York Yankees first baseman admitted before a federal grand jury in December 2003 that he had injected himself with human growth hormone and testosterone during the 2003 season. He also admitted to rubbing a supposedly undetectable steroid cream on his body and placing drops of another steroid, called “the clear,” under his tongue and for taking a female fertility drug called Clomid. The testimony contradicted his earlier denials about sterid use and pointed to the possiblilty of wdespread steroid abuse in pro-baseball. Giambi testified that he obtained the steroids from Greg Anderson, the personal trainer for San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds, but refused to implicate Bonds in the drug scandal.

Due to immunity for incriminating testimony before the Grand Jury, and the fact that steroid use had not been banned in Major League Baseball, Giambi escaped punishment for his admission. His knee injury in 2003, benign tumor of the pituitary gland and intestinal parasitic infection in 2004 are believed to have been the result of steroid use. (“Admission Before BALCO Grand Jury Detailed, 2004)

Bill Romanowsi: Bill Romanowski, the former American Football player and linebacker, admitted in a recent (October 15, 2005) interview with Television’s 60 Minutes host that he took steroids during the last three years of his NFL career, which ended in 2003. He also admitted to the use of human growth hormone but says that he did not as effective as anabolic steroids. Romanowski got the steroids from Victor Conte, head of the infamous Bay Area Lab Cooperative that supplied dietary supplements, including steroids.

In the interview, Romanowski also admitted to deliberate violence on the field; he broke running back Dave Meggett’s finger on purpose during a playoff game against the New York Giants, and hit Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Kerry Collins during another game, breaking Collins’ jaw. Apart from “roid rage” on the field, Romanowski suffered from as many as 20 “documented” concussions and brain damage that could be permanent. The brain injury suffered due to the concussions has resulted in profound slowing of cognitive function.

Conclusion

Anabolic steroids, which are synthetic versions of the male sex hormone testosterone, have been widely abused ever since their invention in the 1950s. Apart from athletes, who use it as a performance-enhancing drug, young people use it for adding muscle and looking good. High profile incidents of steroid use in international sports as well as the recent confessions of steroid use by American football and baseball players shows that steroid abuse is common in most popular professional sports. There is little doubt that long-term anabolic steroids use results in a number of serious physical and psychological side effects. Hence it is necessary to control the abuse of steroids, particularly among the younger people. Sports coaches can play an important role in controlling steroid abuse by promoting a drug free culture. They can do so by being aware of the telltale signs of steroid use by their proteges and by convincing them about the serious dangers inherent in steroid abuse.

References

Admissions before BALCO grand jury detailed.” (2004, December). ESPN.com. Retrieved on November 1, 2005 at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1936592

Anabolic Steroid Abuse.” (2000, April). National Institute on Drug Abuse: Research Report Series. Retrieved on November 1, 2005 at http://www.drugabuse.gov/PDF/RRSteroi.pdf

Langone, J. (1995). Tough Choices A Book about Substance Abuse. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

Miller, R.W. (1987, November). Athletes and Steroids: Playing a Deadly Game. FDA Consumer, 21, 16+.

Putnam, D.T. (1999). Controversies of the Sports World. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Romanowski: I broke RB’s finger, took steroids, damaged brain.” (2005, October). Sportsline.com. Retrieved on November 1, 2005 at http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/8960909

Wichstrom, L., & Pedersen, W. (2001). Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids in Adolescence: Winning, Looking Good or Being Bad?. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 62(1), 5.

Williams, J. (2005, October). “The Demonization of Anabolic Steroids I: What Makes These Hormones So Evil?” MESO-Rx. Retrieved on November 1, 2005 at http://www.mesomorphosis.com/articles/williams/demonization-of-anabolic-steroids-01.htm

Some studies have shown that there is no real difference in performance between athletes who took steroids and those who took fake steroid pills

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid is the full name of the drug commonly known as anabolic steroid; anabolic refers to muscle building and androgenic to male-sexual characteristics that are promoted by the use of AAS

For example, the use of AAS as well as other drugs such as marijuana is markedly lower in Norway than in other countries such as the U.S.); hence marijuana use may be more strongly associated with deviant behavior among Norwegian adolescents than among young people where its use is more common.

Some law enforcement officers have been known to lift weights and use steroids to make themselves more imposing to criminals

Jason Giambi (1971-) is a Major League Baseball first baseman who played for Oakland Athletics (1995-2001) and currently plays for New York Yankees (2002-)

The Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990 added anabolic steroids to the federal schedule of controlled substances, thereby criminalizing their non-medical use.

Definition of steroid from Free Online Dictionary [available at http://www.thefreedictionary.com/steroid]

Anabolic” refers to muscle building, and “androgenic” refers to increased masculine characteristics; hence the name anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) — which are commonly referred as just anabolic steroids.

The wins were often touted by Soviet government propaganda as proof of the superiority of the Communist ideology over the “decadent” Capitalism.

The full extent of the side-effects of steroid abuse is still not fully documented since it is a relatively recent phenomenon and more scientific studies are required for a complete understanding of the issue.

He also admitted to procuring injectable steroids (Deca-Durabolin) from a “Gold Gym” in Las Vegas.

Steroids