Greg
Twarozek
Enterprise
Story
The
Legacy of Steroids
Have you ever noticed the amount of
pharmaceutical commercials there are on TV? The spots tout the near miraculous
benefits of the drug until the very end. That’s when a voice comes out of
nowhere and starts listing the bad side effects of that drug. If you listen to
all of the possible side effects, they usually out-number the positives the
drug has. Same is true with steroids. Yes, they improve athletic performance,
but the negative effects are numerous and can be life - altering.
Steroids are like a disease in the
human body. They can change your physical stature in an instant. They have
physical and mental effects. David Long, who is a teacher at the Charter School
for Applied Technologies, explained his thoughts on the drug and how dangerous
it really is. “The health risks are huge; physically they improve your body’s
necessary skills in the short term. However, the long term effects are shown to
only have negative results.”
Long added that with the “pressure to perform
now” on so many athletes, he believes many of them are becoming addicted to the
drug. “I believe if an athlete feels their skills are not meeting their
expectations they would consider steroid use.”
Steroids can adversely affect
numerous organs. The “Why Steroids Are Bad for You” article written on
WebMD.com explains what steroids can do to muscle growth and how deadly the
side effects can be. Daniel J. DeNoon, a writer for the site explains similar physical
problems men have had with the drug. DeNoon stated that men can suffer from
acne, baldness, increased tendon ruptures, heart failure and liver disease.
DeNoon said that women can be affected as well by growing excessive facial and
body hair, reduced breast size, and deepened voices. Brendan Stone, a former
soccer and lacrosse player from Canisius High School, gave his views on what
the drug does to the mind. “Permanent muscle damage and psychological changes
is what makes steroids dangerous. The mood swings have led some athletes to
commit suicide.”
Drugabuse.gov is a website that looks
at steroids and how they affect all systems in the body, such as the
cardiovascular and hormonal systems. The website explains anabolic steroid
abuse and its many disadvantages. The
site explained how steroid abuse disrupts the normal production of the hormones
in the human body. Some of the changes are reversible, but most are
irreversible. Steroids can stop bones from growing at a normal rate, and blood vessels
can be clotted which leads to an abnormal heart rate.
The site thoroughly examined how our
cardiovascular system reacts, noting that steroids lead to increased blood
pressure. Tumors can grow inside of the liver as well when steroids are abused.
The site showed that people who take steroids may not be affected at a young
age, but that eventually life-threatening consequences may occur. Chris
Burzynski, a physical education teacher at the Charter School, believes they
can greatly affect your system. “The drug affects the organ that filters
wastes, the kidneys.”
Nick Zulia, a senior baseball player for
St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, shed some light on the issue. He explained
what body part he thinks the drug affects more than any other. “I think steroids
damage the brain the most. It has been said that steroid abuse can lead to mood
swings and various other psychiatric problems,” Zulia said. You often hear
people refer to the term “roid rage” when talking about the effects of it. That
can be a pretty scary atmosphere,” Zulia stated. Steroids don’t just affect
people’s bodies, the impact they have had on professional sports today has been
profound. He believes that steroids can “destroy” a professional sport.
If we know how damaging steroids can be,
then why would a professional athlete considering using them? Chris Burzynski,
a gym teacher from the Charter School, gave one possible explanation “It
depends on what they’re looking for, if they feel they need it for their
personal goals, yes they would use it for that reason. However, some of them
use it to gain an edge on the competition.” Long added that athletes use them
to “meet certain standards.” “I think professional athletes use steroids
primarily to reach their life long goals.”
Performance enhancers are used
frequently, so should they ever be legal in sports? How would the view of
sports change if they were legal? “If steroids became legal, it would damage
the view of professional sports. There is something that is special about sports
in America,” Nick Zulia said. “It is founded off the hard work of many athletes
who dedicated their life to their respective sport, using steroids to steer
away from hard work damages the meaning of a professional sport.”
Brendan Stone, an alumnus of Canisius
High School, believes the public trust would be shattered if steroids were
legal. “If they were legal, the integrity of sports would be ruined. If
everyone can cheat their way to greatness, then there is nothing great about
being great.”
When looking at all the variables it
is clear steroids are here to stay. Dozens of professional athletes have seen
their careers skyrocket and plummet due to the drug. Whether we like it or not,
steroids are changing professional sports.
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