The problems in sports nowadays are the cheaters. These people try to gain an unfair advantage over their opponent. Most of those people are steroid abusers. Professional organizations have banned steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, but the tests aren’t very conclusive. It’s time for them to step up on their testing to get cheaters out of the sport world!

To begin, anabolic and androgenic steroids are the most common type of performance-enhancing drug. Anabolic means building up and androgenic are the sexual changes that occur, otherwise known as puberty. Once taking anabolic steroids, they can stunt the growth of your limbs. Some of the androgenic effects are the growth of body hair, deepening of voice, and coarsening skin. Some common types of steroids that can be abused are Ephedrine and Caffeine. Ephedrine is linked to a number of deaths once on an overdose. One major effect of Ephedrine is the energy boost it gives you. Another deadly side effect is that it increases your heart rate and blood pressure. Caffeine another steroid is found in coffee, soda, and chocolate. It gives you a big sugar rush. Just like what candy can sometimes do to you. Why even have these drugs? Anabolic and androgenic steroids can treat forms of Anemia and speed up delayed puberty. Anabolic steroids also give you a reverse effect to muscle wasting. These steroids should be monitored more carefully in professional sports.

Adding on, in every steroid, there will be a deadly side effect. For example, steroids can affect the male organ size known as the penis. Another harmful effect would be that it can cause internal bleeding. Yet people want athletes to use steroids when in football for example, one hard hit, and even more damage. The Health effects of steroids are even more deadly. An enlarged heart, liver failure, high blood pressure, and kidney failures are some of the major effects Steroids can cause. With this in mind, imagine if an athlete had one of these problems, for the rest of their life they would have to live with one of these problems. It would be devastating. Still, some people want steroids to be allowed in sports. They believe steroids make it fairer for everyone to compete. Why would anyone want a substandard drug like this one? It would do anything bad you could imagine to a person. Steroids can also lead to the diseases HIV and AIDS. Injecting yourselves with needles to use steroids can lead to HIV. Usually, steroids are taken in unsanitary conditions which can spread AIDS. The effects of steroids most definitely outweigh the few positive effects of steroids.

In sports today, steroids are one of the most talked about topic. In baseball, football, basketball, and weightlifting are some of the most sports that have their athletes abusing steroids. Just about every sports organization has a ban on steroids. (West) In the Major League Baseball (MLB) there are no formal statistics of the amount of abusers in the sport. (West) Many athletes get away with using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. The tests they use aren’t a good fit for professional sports due to the fact that the results aren’t conclusive. Many of the organizations have banned Steroids due to the deadly side effects. Today, the organizations randomly test athletes. The MLB is where most of the abusers are found. Steroid user Jose Canseco said that about 85 percent of baseball players’ use or has used steroids. The National Football League (NFL) was one of the first organizations to ban steroids. The NFL has a more strict policy than other sports and a more effective testing process. The sport of Bodybuilding is one of the sports that steroids have been mentioned in. Studies show that just about every Bodybuilder uses steroids to compete. Steroids in Bodybuilding help them maintain muscle mass.

Next, some people use steroids because of past events in their life. For example, they may have been physically or sexually abused in their childhood. Or they may want an edge over an opponent in a big game. Most users though, however, use them just to get stronger. Some people abuse steroids by stacking, cycling, or pyramiding. Stacking is the process where they take multiple brands of steroids at a time. Pyramiding is the process in which they take one dose at a time for a certain amount of time. Cycling is taking as many steroids in a specific amount of time. Steroids can be crushed, swallowed, or injected. Abusers might escalate their doses ten to one hundred times higher than recommended. Temptations might be another effect for someone’s abuse. They may want more success in sports or to heal an injury faster. Some people might back up their reason for abuse by saying that they suffer from muscle dysmorphia. Muscle dysmorphia is where someone believes their muscles are too fat or too skinny. In other cases, the victim might want some high-risk behaviors that can happen in their life. For example, fighting, robbery, and breaking the law are some examples of high-risk behaviors. If the patient doesn’t have one of the previous stated reasons then they might have a mental problem and don’t know what they’ve gotten into.

To conclude, the controversy of steroids in sports can be prevented fairly easy. If professional organizations step up the machines and tests they have, it’ll be easier to bust the abusers of performance-enhancing drugs. However, if they keep their privileges and test the same, athletes will continue to abuse the rights and privileges they have to being a professional athlete. Steroids do nothing but end up hurting you in the long run. Some people just look at the positives to steroids which would be the edge it gives you over an opponent in sports, but they shouldn’t judge the book by its cover and realize that the negatives outweigh the positives when it comes to steroids. After researching about Steroids, I was left with one question; Are they really worth it?