Monday, 16 May 2011

How Anabolic Steroids Alter Both Men And Women

What are Anabolic Steroids?

Anabolic steroids are a type of drug which is closely related to male testosterone. Another name for them is anabolic-androgenic steroids. Athletes and body builders often illegally use this drug in order to increase muscle mass and overall physical performance. There are a number of negative consequences which may arise as a result of steroid use including heart attack, shrinkage of testicles in men, breast reduction in women, and acne. Risks are often higher in drugs obtained illegally. Today, all major sports associations (in a variety of countries) have banned the use of anabolic steroids.
This type of drug can also be taken legally through a prescription. Doctors prescribe these steroids to men who do not produce enough of the hormone testosterone, to those who are experiencing anemia, or as a way of reducing swelling. If you or a loved one is addicted to anabolic steroids it may be beneficial to look into drug rehab at a drug treatment center. Drug treatment centers offer a wide variety of programs and are essential tools in the recovery process.

Types of Steroids

Popular types of steroids include:
  • Anadrol
  • Oxandrin
  • Winstrol
  • Deca-durabolin
  • Stanozol
  • Dianabol
  • Equipoise

How are Anabolic Steroids Used?

Anabolic steroid can be injected, taken orally through pills, rubbed on through creams and gels, or be used in the form of a skin patch. Injection is the most common form of administration and is typically done through the muscle of the body. In serious cases of abuse, up to 100 times the recommended medical amount can be taken. When a person takes two or more different type of anabolic steroids at a time they are taking part in “stacking”, a practice meant to increase muscular mass at a faster rate.
When anabolic steroids are used by those in the medical field, these drugs are used to prevent bone loss, increase levels of testosterone in those with low amounts, help those with cancer, assist in the process of puberty, encourage eating, and help those with liver problems. If someone uses anabolic steroids illegally they typically use them to increase muscle mass (which may also improve physical appearance), reduce the amount of fat in the body, and improve sports performance. Illegal steroids are typically taken by sports players, teens, and body builders but can also be taken by females and business men.

Signs/Symptoms of Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids can cause a variety of symptoms in users. These symptoms may change the body and severely reduce levels of self-esteem. Call one of the many drug and alcohol rehab centers today before you face symptoms of steroid use. Symptoms of anabolic steroid use include:
  • Increase in weight
  • Oiliness in the hair and skin
  • Cysts
  • High cholesterol & blood pressure
  • Heightened sexual desire
  • Acne
  • Shaking
  • Behavioral changes (aggressiveness)
  • Stretch marks
  • Bloating
Anabolic Steroid Use in Men
  • Reduction in testicle size
  • Low sperm count
  • Balding
  • Prostate cancer risk
  • Painful urination
  • Breast development (irreversible except through plastic surgery)
  • Infertility
Anabolic Steroid Use in Women
  • Facial hair
  • Change in voice (deeper)
  • Baldness
  • Enlarged clitoris
  • Menstrual dysfunction

Effects of Anabolic Steroids

The effects of steroids are proven to be very harmful, and although beginning physical effects may seem worth the risk, internal damage associated with these drugs can be irreversible. Drug treatment centers have been proven effective in treating users of anabolic steroids and many offer specialized treatment programs to promote a full recovery. Long-term effects of steroid use include:
  • Cancer
  • Depression
  • Liver disease
  • Tumors in the kidneys and liver
  • Jaundice
  • Heart Complications
  • AIDS/ HIV
Some studies have suggested that addiction can take place in someone taking anabolic steroids. Those with such an addiction may have difficulty stopping use of steroids and may crave the drug the more its use continues. Also, when someone addicted to steroids finally ceases using it, they experience pain similar to withdrawal pains of other drug types.
Addiction to anabolic steroids can be a complicated dilemma, especially when facing this problem alone. By calling a drug rehab facility for treatment for drug abuse, you will be given support to overcome your addiction as well as be offered individualized therapy sessions and programs. You may not be able to stop steroid use on your own, but with the help of a drug treatment center, recovery is possible.

Anabolic steroids

There should not be a controversy over anabolic steroid use in athletics -- non-medical use of anabolic steroids is illegal and banned by most, if not all, major sports organizations. Still, some athletes persist in taking them, believing that these substances provide a competitive advantage. But beyond the issues of popularity or legality is the fact that anabolic steroids can cause serious physical and psychological side effects.
In light of these hazards, measures to curtail the use of anabolic steroids are escalating. One of the nation's foremost authorities on steroid use, Dr. Gary Wadler, is part of a concerted effort to educate the public about the dangers of anabolic steroids. Dr. Wadler, a New York University School of Medicine professor and lead author of the book Drugs and the Athlete, serves as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on anabolic-androgenic steroid use. He has also won the International Olympic Committee President's Prize for his work in the area of performance-enhancing drugs in competitive sports. He joined us to address the issue of steroids and sports.

What are anabolic steroids?

Anabolic steroids -- or more precisely, anabolic-androgenic steroids -- are the synthetic derivatives of the naturally occurring male anabolic hormone testosterone. Both anabolic and androgenic have origins from the Greek: anabolic, meaning "to build," and androgenic, meaning "masculinizing." Testosterone's natural androgenic effects trigger the maturing of the male reproductive system in puberty, including the growth of body hair and the deepening of the voice. The hormone's anabolic effect helps the body retain dietary protein, which aids in the development of muscles. "Although there are many types of steroids with varying degrees of anabolic and androgenic properties, it's the anabolic property of steroids that lures athletes," says Dr. Wadler. "They take them to primarily increase muscle mass and strength."

How are steroids taken?

Steroids can be taken orally or they can be injected. Those that are injected are broken down into additional categories, those that are very long-lasting and those that last a shorter time. In recent years, use has shifted to the latter category -- shorter-lasting, water-soluble injections. "The reason for that is that the side effects associated for the oral form were discovered to be especially worrisome for the liver,"says Dr. Wadler. "But the injectable steroids aren't free of side-effects either. There is no free ride and there is a price to be paid with either form."

Who takes anabolic steroids and why?

It is not only the football player or weightlifter or sprinter who may be using anabolic steroids. Nor is it only men. White- and blue-collar workers, females and, most alarmingly, adolescents take steroids -- all linked by the desire to hopefully look, perform and feel better, regardless of the dangers.
Anabolic steroids are designed to mimic the bodybuilding traits of testosterone. Most healthy males produce less than 10 milligrams of testosterone a day. Females also produce testosterone but in minute amounts. Some athletes however, may use up to hundreds of milligrams a day, far exceeding the normally prescribed daily dose for legitimate medical purposes. Anabolic steroids do not improve agility, skill or cardiovascular capacity.

What are the health hazards of anabolic steroids?

"There can be a whole panoply of side effects, even with prescribed doses," says Dr. Wadler. "Some are visible to the naked eye and some are internal. Some are physical, others are psychological. With unsupervised steroid use, wanton 'megadosing' or stacking (using a combination of different steroids), the effects can be irreversible or undetected until it's too late." Also, if anabolic steroids are injected, transmitting or contracting HIV and Hepatitis B through shared needle use is a very real concern.
Additionally, Dr. Wadler stresses that "unlike almost all other drugs, all steroid based hormones have one unique characteristic -- their dangers may not be manifest for months, years and even decades. Therefore, long after you gave them up you may develop side effects."

Physical side effects

Men - Although anabolic steroids are derived from a male sex hormone, men who take them may actually experience a "feminization" effect along with a decrease in normal male sexual function. Some possible effects include:
  • Reduced sperm count
  • Impotence
  • Development of breasts
  • Shrinking of the testicles
  • Difficulty or pain while urinating
Women - On the other hand, women often experience a "masculinization" effect from anabolic steroids, including the following:
  • Facial hair growth
  • Deepened voice
  • Breast reduction
  • Menstrual cycle changes
With continued use of anabolic steroids, both sexes can experience the following effects, which range from the merely unsightly to the life endangering. They include:
  • Acne
  • Bloated appearance
  • Rapid weight gain
  • Clotting disorders
  • Liver damage
  • Premature heart attacks and strokes
  • Elevated cholesterol levels
  • Weakened tendons

Special dangers to adolescents

Anabolic steroids can halt growth prematurely in adolescents. "What happens is that steroids close the growth centers in a kid's bones", says Dr. Wadler. "Once these growth plates are closed, they cannot reopen so adolescents that take too many steroids may end up shorter than they should have been."

Behavioral side effects

According to Dr. Wadler, anabolic steroids can cause severe mood swings. "People's psychological states can run the gamut." says Wadler. "They can go from bouts of depression or extreme irritability to feelings of invincibility and outright aggression, commonly called "'roid rage. This is a dangerous state beyond mere assertiveness."

Are anabolic steroids addictive?

Recent evidence suggests that long-time steroid users and steroid abusers may experience the classic characteristics of addiction including cravings, difficulty in stopping steroid use and withdrawal symptoms. "Addiction is an extreme of dependency, which may be a psychological, if not physical, phenomena," says Dr. Wadler. "Regardless, there is no question that when regular steroid users stop taking the drug they get withdrawal pains and if they start up again the pain goes away. They have difficulties stopping use even though they know it's bad for them."

Reasons Why You Should Stay Away From Illegal Steroids

There’s a quite frequent stating which says that it’s much better to become secure than sorry. If that is accurate I have a tendency to wonder why some men and women will use steroids in spite of the reality that they’re completely conscious with the related unwanted side effects. Should you are starting the body constructing profession it’s extremely highly recommended which you consider time and do investigation around the results of anabolic steroids that are extremely offered these days.
Steroids are hormones that are artificial and generally result in quick advancement from the physique muscular tissues. It’s accurate that steroids have some benefits specifically with regards to enhancing the charge at which a physique builder gains muscular tissues. Steroids also may make you increase your efficiency in the event you are an athlete, even so you ought to comprehend the unwanted side effects of taking them are quite severe and really should as a result be prevented whatsoever price.
These days steroids have turn into so typical that even the teenagers are utilizing them really early in there athletic careers. There’s a large amount of unhealthy competitors amongst the teenagers and each and every 1 desires to seem nicely toned compared to other and this kind of tension is generally unproductive. A great deal of teenagers who take part in athletics wind up making use of steroids since they really feel that coaching tougher and consuming properly aren’t sufficient to assure them good results when they’re competing.
The most effective strategy to remain absent from steroids is by initial knowing just what steroids are and just how they function inside the physique. Steroids are hormones that are artificial and generally result in quickly improvement from the physique muscle tissue. Typically physique builders rely on them because the other alternative when dietary dietary supplements fail to create them attain rapidly muscle development.
Steroids are usually labeled as possibly anabolic or corticosteroids.
Corticosteroids are primarily employed by physicians to remedy specific physique inflammations. And actually in terms of managing asthma corticosteroids are extremely successful. Nevertheless you ought to not that only corticosteroids are legal in many nations. Even so this isn’t the situation with regards to anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids are generally illegal in numerous nations and should you are caught making use of them you may experience significant jail expression.
Not merely are anabolic steroids illegal however they also include numerous unwanted side effects that are highlighted beneath;Males will typically encounter the subsequent facet effects-; reduced libido, reduce in testicular dimensions, reduced sperm count, and a few guys will even have an severe situation of turning into impotent. Some guys will even expertise an improve inside the dimensions of there breast.
Females however will expertise the subsequent facet effects- development of facial hair, they’ll even start off speaking having a deep voice, event of acne on there faces, and general they are going to drop there femininity.
Other unwanted side effects obvious in each males and females incorporate a harmed liver since it truly is overworked when it tries to breakdown the steroid. The heart can also be impacted due to the fact steroids impact the heart muscle tissues and could result in heart circumstances.
It is obvious as a result which you need to remain absent from steroids.
To get “underground” access to the world’s most informative resource on bodybuilding totally FREE, please visit www.shaz-steroids.com and learn what the pros know about weight training!

Hormones

Hormones are your body's chemical messengers. They travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs. They work slowly, over time, and affect many different processes, including
  • Growth and development
  • Metabolism - how your body gets energy from the foods you eat
  • Sexual function
  • Reproduction
  • Mood
Endocrine glands, which are special groups of cells, make hormones. The major endocrine glands are the pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, adrenal glands and pancreas. In addition, men produce hormones in their testes and women produce them in their ovaries.
Hormones are powerful. It takes only a tiny amount to cause big changes in cells or even your whole body. That is why too much or too little of a certain Hormone can be serious. Laboratory tests can measure the hormone levels in your blood, urine or saliva. Your health care provider may perform these tests if you have symptoms of a hormone disorder. Home pregnancy tests are similar - they test for pregnancy hormones in your urine.

Steroids: Not Just for Athletes


Anyone who follows the news probably has a picture of the typical steroid user: an elite athlete — a home-run hitter, say — trying to get an edge on the competition, or a high-school or college kid who wants desperately to get into the pros.
But while those cases make headlines, the stereotype turns out to be largely off base, according to a new study published online in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. In a web-based survey of nearly 2,000 self-prescribed steroid users (the stuff has legitimate medical uses as well, such as correcting hormone imbalances), it turns out that the typical user isn't a competitive athlete at all. He (and it's pretty much always "he") is a highly educated professional, about 30 years old, who doesn't participate in organized sports at all — and never has. He uses steroids to build muscle, increase strength and look good. And he does it, not as an easy, stand-alone shortcut to body modification, but as a supplement to a carefully planned regimen of diet and exercise. In short, says one internist: "They're gym rats."
A majority of steroid users say they'd be willing to consult with doctors about their steroid use — in principle. In practice most didn't actually reveal their habit to their physicians. The reason: they don't believe doctors know a lot about the drugs, and they suspect that physicians, like the general public, have an exaggerated idea about how dangerous steroids really are. The users themselves tend to be aware of side effects like liver damage, high blood pressure and behavioral changes. That's why most users inject the steroids instead of taking them by mouth, in order to better control blood levels and lessen the risk of liver toxicity. A majority of habitual users also get blood work at least once a year, probably to make sure the drugs aren't throwing hormone levels too far out of balance.
The authors make it clear that they don't approve of the non-medical use of steroids — but do believe that reducing the potential harm they can cause is never going to be possible if nobody understand who the users really are.

Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks

Are you hoping to gain a competitive edge by taking muscle-building supplements or other performance-enhancing drugs? Learn how these drugs work and how they can affect your health.

By Mayo Clinic staff Most serious athletes will tell you that the competitive drive to win can be fierce. Besides the satisfaction of personal accomplishment, athletes often pursue dreams of winning a medal for their country or securing a spot on a professional team. In such an environment, the use of performance-enhancing drugs has become increasingly common.
But using performance-enhancing drugs — aka, doping — isn't without risks. Take the time to learn about the potential benefits, the health risks and the many unknowns regarding so-called performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, androstenedione, human growth hormone, erythropoietin, diuretics, creatine and stimulants. You may decide that the benefits aren't worth the risks.

Anabolic steroids

What are they?
Some athletes take a form of steroids — known as anabolic-androgen steroids or just anabolic steroids — to increase their muscle mass and strength. The main anabolic steroid hormone produced by your body is testosterone.
Testosterone has two main effects on your body:
  • Anabolic effects promote muscle building.
  • Androgenic effects are responsible for male traits, such as facial hair and a deeper voice.
Some athletes take straight testosterone to boost their performance. Frequently, the anabolic steroids that athletes use are synthetic modifications of testosterone. These hormones have approved medical uses, though improving athletic performance is not one of them. They can be taken as pills, injections or topical treatments.
Why are these drugs so appealing to athletes? Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids may help athletes recover from a hard workout more quickly by reducing the muscle damage that occurs during the session. This enables athletes to workout harder and more frequently without overtraining. In addition, some athletes may like the aggressive feelings they get when they take the drugs.
Designer steroids
A particularly dangerous class of anabolic steroids are the so-called "designer" drugs — synthetic steroids that have been illicitly created to be undetectable by current drug tests. They are made specifically for athletes and have no approved medical use. Because of this, they haven't been tested or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and represent a particular health threat to athletes.
Risks
Many athletes take anabolic steroids at doses that are much higher than those prescribed for medical reasons, and most of what is known about the drugs' effects on athletes comes from observing users. It is impossible for researchers to design studies that would accurately test the effects of large doses of steroids on athletes, because giving participants such high doses would be unethical. This means that the effects of taking anabolic steroids at very high doses haven't been well studied.
Anabolic steroids come with serious physical side effects as well.
Men may develop:
  • Prominent breasts
  • Baldness
  • Shrunken testicles
  • Infertility
Women may develop:
  • A deeper voice
  • An enlarged clitoris
  • Increased body hair
  • Baldness
Both men and women might experience:
  • Severe acne
  • Increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture
  • Liver abnormalities and tumors
  • Increased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol)
  • Decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol)
  • Hypertension
  • Heart and circulatory problems
  • Suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis
  • Prostate gland enlargement
  • Aggressive behaviors, rage or violence
  • Psychiatric disorders, such as depression
  • Drug dependence
  • Infections or diseases such as HIV or hepatitis if you're injecting the drugs
  • Inhibited growth and development, and risk of future health problems in teenagers
Taking anabolic-androgenic steroids to enhance athletic performance, besides being prohibited by most sports organizations, is illegal. In the past 20 years, more effective law enforcement in the United States has pushed much of the illegal steroid industry into the black market. This poses additional health risks because the drugs are either made in other countries and smuggled in or made in clandestine labs in the United States. Either way, they aren't subject to government safety standards and could be impure or mislabeled.

Androstenedione

What is it?
Androstenedione (andro) is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, ovaries and testes. It's a hormone that's normally converted to testosterone and estradiol in both men and women.
Andro is available in prescription and nonprescription forms. The prescription version is a controlled substance. Andro is also sold without a prescription as a nutritional supplement. Manufacturers and bodybuilding magazines tout its ability to allow athletes to train harder and recover more quickly. However, its use as a performance-enhancing drug is illegal in the United States.
Scientific studies that refute these claims show that supplemental androstenedione doesn't increase testosterone and that your muscles don't get stronger with andro use. In fact, almost all of the andro is rapidly converted to estrogen, the primary hormone in females.
Risks
Side effects of andro in men include:
  • Acne
  • Diminished sperm production
  • Shrinking of the testicles
  • Enlargement of the breasts
In women, side effects include:
  • Acne
  • Masculinization, such as deepening of the voice and male-pattern baldness
In both men and women, andro can decrease HDL cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol), which puts you at greater risk of heart attack and stroke.

Human growth hormone

What is it?
Human growth hormone, also known as gonadotropin, is a hormone that has an anabolic effect. Athletes take it to improve muscle mass and performance. However, it hasn't been shown conclusively to improve either strength or endurance. It is available only by prescription and is administered by injection.
Risks
Adverse effects related to human growth hormone range in severity and may include:
  • Joint pain
  • Muscle weakness
  • Fluid retention
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Impaired glucose regulation
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Hyperlipidemia

Erythropoietin

What is it?
Erythropoietin is a type of hormone used to treat anemia in people with severe kidney disease. It increases production of red blood cells and hemoglobin, resulting in improved movement of oxygen to the muscles. Epoetin, a synthetic form of erythropoietin, is commonly used by endurance athletes.
Risks
Erythropoietin use among competitive cyclists was common in the 1990s and allegedly contributed to at least 18 deaths. Inappropriate use of erythropoietin may increase the risk of thrombotic events, such as stroke, heart attack and pulmonary edema.

Rethinking Steroids

By Jeff Neuman
We howl with outrage when athletes use steroids. But why are we surprised? They’re doing what we want them to do – i.e., everything they can to win.

We want sports stars to do glorious things as our surrogates. We don’t care about their long-term futures, or their lives after sports. We condemn the player who sits out to nurse small wounds, who pulls up shy of the fence instead of crashing into it in pursuit of a fly, who veers out of bounds instead of taking a hit. We praise the gamer, who gives us everything he has on every play whether it’s smart or not. We laud Curt Schilling for risking serious damage to his ankle by pitching the bloody-sock game after a quick-fix procedure. We lionize Willis Reed for playing on an injured knee, after getting a Carbocaine injection to block all pain signals from his leg to his brain.
So why are we upset when a player takes something to aid in his recovery from workouts?
It’s not as though we’re a society opposed to enhancing performance. You can’t watch a sporting event for more than a few minutes without seeing ads for a very specific kind of performance enhancer. We use Rogaine for our thinning hair, Prozac for depression, Xanax for anxiety, Prilosec for heartburn, Lamisil for toenail fungus, Viagra for fun, Botox for wrinkles – and we pillory athletes for taking drugs that make them better at their jobs.
But what about the dangers?
What about them? According to Dr. Norman Fost, Professor of Pediatric Medicine and Director of the Program in Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, the side effects of steroid use, as reported scientifically in medical journals, are hair loss, acne, infertility, lowered voices in women, and testicular shrinkage, all of which are reversible when the user stops. In his thought-provoking documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster , Chris Bell notes that while alcohol and tobacco cause 75,000 and 435,000 deaths respectively in America each year, anabolic steroids are believed to cause 3. Among reasons for emergency room visits, steroids rank 142nd – behind multivitamins.
What about Lyle Alzado? He died because of his steroid use, didn’t he?
Alzado died of a brain tumor. He blamed the steroids, but medical experts don’t. Dr. Charles Yesalis, Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Administration, and Exercise and Sport Science at Penn State, who has published more than 70 articles about steroid use, told Bell, “I don’t know of any of my colleagues who link his central nervous system lymphoma with his use of steroids.”
Performance enhancement is not a single thing; it is a continuum. At one end is nutrition; at the other, perhaps, is Bouton’s mythical 20-win pill. But where does the moral boundary lie? It’s perfectly fine to eat liver to get extra iron that will aid you in storing and transporting oxygen in the bloodstream; it’s a violation to take r-EPO (recombinant erythropoietin), an artificial hormone that causes increased production of red blood cells to achieve the same effect. Why is one ok and the other not? What’s the moral distinction?
One of them is natural, the other isn’t.
True. But in that case, why is it okay to train and sleep in chambers constructed so they mimic high-altitude conditions, forcing the body to adapt to a lower-oxygen environment in ways that have benefits in competition at sea level? Why are hyperbaric treatments to speed healing acceptable for athletes? In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, as reported by Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward of the Steelers had blood drawn and put into a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets before the blood was given back to them, in the interests of hastening their recovery from injuries. Is this natural? Does that matter? How is such blood doping morally different from steroids?
If pro athletes are doing these drugs, kids will, and we don’t want kids messing with this stuff.

I agree wholeheartedly. Research suggests that steroids are dangerous for developing bodies. We absolutely do not want young people taking steroids.
There are a lot of things that pro athletes do that we don’t want young people doing. Forget about actions like drinking and smoking and sex and reckless driving (all at once in some cases); I mean things like throwing curveballs and playing football and training for a sport fulltime. Is it hypocrisy to tell kids that some things are off-limits until they’re older? Ask the nearest parent. A criminal ban on providing steroids for performance enhancement to anyone under 21 would be wholly appropriate.
It is difficult to discuss steroids rationally, because they were banned so quickly and totally that scientific research became impossible. After fifty years of mostly illicit use, however, we know much more about them than we did when their cartoonish image was developed. An injection will not give you instant abilities; you still have to put in the work, and be exceptionally gifted to begin with. They will not necessarily cause freakish bulk; if that’s your aim, they will help you tolerate the effort it takes to get there, but you can use them and train without turning into a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloon. “They’ve been used in medicine since the 1930s,” Dr. Yesalis told Bell. “Can they be used safely? Yeah.”
Do I really think steroids are okey-dokey for pro athletes? Um… I’m not sure. But I think the issue is much muddier than the current hysteria makes it seem. In prior generations, amphetamines (“greenies”) were the drugs of choice; Mike Schmidt wrote in his book Clearing the Bases that they were “widely available in baseball clubhouses,” and there was testimony in the Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985 that Willie Mays kept liquid amphetamines in his locker. (Mays has denied the charge.) When performance is needed, enhancement will be tried.
I suspect that future generations will look at the use of steroids in sports in much the same way we look at the medical use of leeches in bygone days. We understand what they were trying to do, but can you believe they used something so crude? As with any drug, it’s a matter of balancing effectiveness with risk – and that’s a question of tactics, not morals.
Jeff Neuman is a sportswriter and editor, and co-author of A Disorderly Compendium of Golf.