Steroids Not Just In Sports

     In a previous blog post I brought up the argument that steroids in baseball are not really that bad. However, I did not counter in the fact that all these men are idles to millions of little boys and girls all over the world. I simply pointed out that steroids have not changed the game of baseball, but they have changed the world and not for the better.

     Studies done by scientists show that more and more high school students are using anabolic steroids to try and get the extra edge over their opponents and stand out more in the eyes of the talent scouts. In an article on steroidlaw.com written by Rick Collins the number of high school seniors using steroids in 2007 was 2.2 percent. This number has decreased dramatically from 2002 where the percentage of steroid using seniors was at an all time high of 4.0. 

     “Teens are typically less inclined to admit their steroid use to disapproving physicians, leading to an increased risk of health consequences for failing to monitor liver and cardiovascular health markers,” said Collins.

    The use of steroids can prevent a teens body from growing. Steroids may close the growth of the long bones, thus preventing the teen from growing to their full potential height said Collins. Collins also mentions that teenagers who start using before building a natural foundation first may get big fast, but shrink as soon as their cycle has run out. So with this shrink factor the users are less likely to ever come off of steroids. As if this wasn’t bad enough steroid use can also cut off the natural testosterone production said Collins.

     However, don’t be fooled into thinking that males are the only ones that are using these dangerous drugs. Associated Press reporter Linda A. Johnson wrote an article in April of 2005 that said a daunting number of girls are using steroids, some as young as nine years old. AP sports columnist Tim Dahlberg and Baltimore Sun reporter Milton Kent both have written separate articles that support Johnson and her findings. When an anonymous Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) questionnaire was given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) its findings where that 7.3 percent of girls have admitted to using steroids.

     Teenage girls use steroids to help develop faster or to tone up for bikini season. Despite these numbers there are always sceptics such as Dr. Harrison Pope a Harvard psychiatrist claims that steroid use among females is extremely rare. “You have to allow that many of the responses may be false positives. A girl may say, oh, the dermatologist gave me steroids to treat poison ivy, where she is confusing corticosteroids with anabolic steroids.” 

     Today’s teenagers base their lives off of instant gratification and steroids provides that. Impatient, lack of responsibility and the yearning for fast results are deteriorating the bodies of young people everywhere. If parents do not become more in tune with their children’s lives then Americas future looks very bleak.

All articles where found on steroidlaw.com which was created by New York lawyer and the nations leading legal expert on anabolic steroids and muscle building dietary supplements Rick Collins.

~ by jaybasile on March 28, 2008.