Anabolic Steroids

Term Paper Title	Anabolic Steroids
# of Words	895
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.58

Anabolic Steroids

     Since ancient history, many athletes have resorted to performance
enhancing aids to give them an edge on their opponents.  Greek Olympians used
strychnine and hallucinogenic mushrooms to psych up for an event.  "In 1886 a
French cyclist was the first athlete to die from using a performance enhancer,
called speedballs, a mixture of cocaine and heroin.  In the 1920's, physicians
inserted slices of monkey testicles into male athletes to help boost vitality.
In the 1930's Aldof Hitler allegedly administered the hormone testosterone to
himself and his troops to increase aggressiveness" (Schrof, 54).  Athletes had
already begun using the male hormone testosterone to boost performance by the
1940's.  The first synthetic anabolic steroid was developed in 1953, having a
strength building effect five times stronger than the natural hormone
testosterone.  Not since the development of the anabolic steroid has any
performance enhancer been so effective and so desired by athletes.  Today, black
market sales of anabolic steroids are topping $400 million per year.  One
million Americans, half of them adolescents, use black market steroids (Schrof,
54).
     Anabolic steroids are synthetic compounds that resemble the natural male
sex hormone testosterone.  Male hormones have two different effects in the body.
Hormones have an anabolic effect, which stimulates growth, and they have an
androgenic effect, which increases male sexual characteristics.  Anabolic
steroids are constructed synthetically to maximize the anabolic (growth) effect
and minimize the androgenic (male characteristic) effect.  Steroids are
molecules that occur naturally in the body and are carried in the bloodstream
and act as messengers.  The most important of these messages tell the body to
increase creatine phosphate synthesis and to increase protein synthesis
(Schwarzenegger, 722).  These messages are delivered at various ratios depending
upon the type of steroid.
     Creatine phosphate and protein synthesis are the two most important
reactions that occur when training.  Creatine phosphate is a short-term energy
restorer which allows you to contract your muscles for more than just a few
seconds.  The more CP available, the more muscular work you can do, thus the
harder you can train and the more muscle you will build.  This, along with the
need for protein synthesis, is the reason for the attraction to steroids.
     There are hundreds of forms of steroids that have been synthesized, each
one having differing levels of anabolic and androgenic effects.  Some steroids
are used to treat illness and injury.  Corticosteroids are one of the most
successful forms that have been synthesized.  They are used to treat everything
from tendon injuries to vision problems.  There are many other forms of steroids
that were synthesized for their strength and muscle building properties.
Steroids can be taken orally of by an injection.
     Oral steroids have many drawbacks. Oral steroids, are constructed to
have short life spans and are broken...

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