Why Do Athletes Use Steroids In Professional Sports

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. An example of this, is hitting homeruns. Homeruns used to be something special that rarely happened. It used to be something that baseball players only dreamed about and that only the elite could accomplish though hard work and dedication. However, after the introduction of steroids hitting homeruns seems like an everyday occurrence that anyone can accomplish. In 1927, Babe Ruth set a single season home run record with 60 home runs. Then 34 years later in 1961, Roger Maris broke that record with 61 home runs. And after that it took 37 years for Mark McGuire to break that record with 70 home runs. However, with the introduction of steroids, it only took five years for Barry Bonds to break McGuire's record with 73 home runs. When great accomplishments such as holding a single season homerun record are being broken every five years when it previously took about every 35 years it starts to loose its who aspire to be like then in every way shape and form. They see these great athletes on TV and become brainwashed with a message that is becoming extremely persuasive in society that is: bigger is better, and being the best is more important than how you get there. Young athletes start to believe that by taking steroids they will be able to perform at a higher level. In fact in a study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2004, 20% of eighth graders, 30% of tenth graders, and 40% of twelfth graders surveyed said that they had used steroids and were in some way influenced by professional athletes. What these young athletes don't know is that it takes a lot more than a miracle drug to a message which is the complete opposite. It has gotten so bad, that Congress has set up a Government Reform Committee to stop the use of steroids in professional sports because it has become an epidemic that is destroying a generation of young athletes. Their purpose it to consider the Major League Baseball's drug policy, how the policy will be implemented, how it will effectively address the use of prohibited drugs in players, and most importantly how it effects society and the public health. This is just one step to restoring the game integrity.