Side Effects Of Steroid Abuse In Sports
The abuse of steroids has become a serious problem throughout American society. Steroid abuse must stop in this society before it becomes an even bigger problem. “I don't recommend steroids for everyone, and I don't recommend growth hormones for everyone. But for certain individuals, I truly believe, because I've experimented with it for so many years, that it can make an average athlete a super athlete. It can make a super athlete” - incredible. Just legendary. Jose Canseco. This quote stood out to me because it goes along with what I believe that people should work for what they want physically to become a super athlete. The controversy surrounding anabolic steroids in sports has stormed to the attention of America today. Some may use it for appearance and others would use it for performance levels but also risking their lives.
The use of anabolic steroids can damage a person’s body by causing liver disease, heart disease, and lots of hair loss. First of all steroid abuse has been associated with aggression. Studies have found an association between anabolic steroids and aggression. First, in the body’s chemical messenger, they work by attaching to target cells and by attaching to the target cells they change that cell’s behavior. The chemicals within the anabolic steroids can affect the user’s mood by targeting the nerve cells. Steroid-induced rages happen rarely to light users, but if steroid-induced rages do happen, they most likely only occur among excessive users with pre-existing psychological issues. There are multiple reports of the psychiatric effects of anabolic steroid use. “Among 122 patients, 40% experienced depression, followed by mania (28%), psychosis (14%), delirium (10%), and mixed mood episodes (8%). Among 130 patients, mania was most prevalent (35%), followed by depression (28%), mixed mood episodes (12%), delirium (13%), and psychosis (11%). Corticosteroids caused 54% of organic mania cases on a hospital psychiatric consult service. In a prospective study of 50 patients treated with corticosteroids, 13 developed hypomanias and 5 developed depression. ” – according to MDedge. “We found a clear link. AAS users were more likely to have been treated for depression, concentration problems, and aggressive behavior,” says Claudia Fahlke, director at CERA. Disturbances of mood, cognition, sleep, and behavior as well as frank delirium or even psychosis are possible, the most common effects of short-term corticosteroid therapy are euphoria and hypomania. But having long-term therapy tends to induce depression.
In addition to how steroids could affect the user, s steroids also have many reports linking steroids to causing people to have liver damage. More and more athletes use anabolic steroids to improve their performance to be better than others or to build their bodies. Steroid abuse in men is associated with a large range of side effects, like acne, baldness, shrunken testicles, baldness, decreased sperm count, and breast development. Another name for breast development in men is gynecomastia. “When anabolic steroids are abused they can have many side effects, including liver damage,” notes George Y. Wu, MD, Ph. D. , a professor of medicine, chief of hepatology section, and Herman Lopata chair in hepatitis research at the University of Connecticut Medical Center in Farmington. Liver damage from the use of anabolic steroids can cause a condition called cholestasis. In this condition, a digestive fluid in your liver called bile cannot get to where it needs to go and it starts to leak out into your bloodstream. Some signs of cholestasis are itching, nausea, loss of appetite, dark urine, and jaundice which is the yellow discoloration of your eyes and skin. Anabolic steroids can be addictive which could lead to steroid craving which leads to the need for more frequent uses and higher doses of that drug. The cause of liver damage has been shown to be related to the excessive use and cumulative effects of higher doses of steroids. Steroids are known to cause tumors to form in your liver this is called hepatic adenomas but luckily these tumors are not cancerous type. But these are still really dangerous because at any time they can rupture and cause serious bleeding within the liver. Several reports of deaths were caused by the bleeding of the liver from ruptured hepatic adenomas.
The use of anabolic steroids and the increase of hepatic adenomas within these users are increasing. Steroids are not good for your body they cause horrendous side effects. People who misuse anabolic steroids report angrier then nonusers in America. One study suggests that the mood and behavioral effects that were seen during steroid misuse may result from secondary hormonal changes. - Nation Institute on Drug Abuse. Some male users form breasts due to the use of steroids. An increase in testosterone can cause serious acne problems that could be permanent. Some other side effects include genital changes, water retention, yellow eyes, coronary artery disease, ligament injuries, high blood pressure, changes in cholesterol levels, sterility and liver disease. Women that use steroids could have hair loss or even baldness. Some of the effects of steroids are even worse. Another effect that people could run into is falling into a coma, some may even die from the injections. Steroids cause heart disease and heart attacks because of high blood pressure. Heart disease risk was more than 2. 5 times higher in people taking steroids than nonusers. Steroids cause suicidal thoughts. The behaviors and mood of a depressed person affect the whole family. There’s the irritability, which sets off conflicts and derails family. The negative thought patterns, which becomes a prism of permission for everyone. There is a general burden of stress diagnosis. Anabolic steroids are known for their effects on the body, but the impact on mental health can be just as or more significant. Steroid use can have many side effects on the human mind in addition to its physical effects on the human body.
