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Show Drug abuse and related problems By SARAH HANSEN Editor's Note: The Davis County Coun-ty Clipper, in an effort to educate the public, and specifically parents, is running a series on drug abuse and related problems. Most of the information is taken from the free handbook, "Let's All Work Together to Fight Drug Abuse." H L probably works harder at his training train-ing program. Basically, it is a The second theory is that steroias have only a placebo effect The athlete thinks the anabolic steroids will make him stronger, so he works harder on his training program. Because he thinks he's stronger, he can lift more. The third theory is that there is an actual increase in lean muscle mass and thus strength in athletes who take anabolic steroids. In the studies that were well controlled, con-trolled, eliminating the placebo effect, the only athletes who showed show-ed an actual increase in lean muscle mass were those who were on a heavy training program prior to and during taking anabolic steroids. Athletes who had not been on a heavy training program prior to using us-ing anabolic steroids showed no significant increase in lean muscle mass even if they coupled the anabolic steroids with a training program. Regardless of whether or not they actually are athletically beneficial, there is no controversy that anabolic steroids have potentially serious side-effects. So significant are the side-effects that there are only a few ethical indications for their use. In men, some of the effects of steroids include hair loss, deep depression, severe acne, decreased sperm production, stunted growth, decrease in testicular size, increase in penis size, abnormal liver function, func-tion, heart disease and acute schizophrenia. Some of the effects in women are decreased female hormones, acute schizophrenia, severe acne, hair loss, increased clitoris, deepened voice, promotion of cancer, heart v disease, abnormal liver function and deep depression. A recent college study reported that 6.6 percent of high school students nationally have taken steroids. Experts and body builders say a growing number of teen-age boys are taking steroids not to become better athletes, but to look better. The vast majority of the governing govern-ing sports bodies, as well as the majority of the medical community, feel that steroids are detrimental. It is the goal of the various sports organizations to give athletes a level playing field on which to compete. The goal is to have the best athlete triumph based on his natural abilities and training effortnot because he was more juiced up with drugs. That basis alone is the reason why the majority of drugs are prohibited pro-hibited in sporting events. In 1988 the United States and the Soviet Union signed an agreement to cooperate in ridding drugs from the athletic environment. The major focus of the program was probably anabolic steroids. Their use has been widespread, The athletic field is faced with a new opponent that is causing one of the biggest controversies ever in athletics. The opponent is anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids are basically derivatives of, or very similar structurally struc-turally to, testosterone, the major male hormone. There are major controversies and inconsistencies as to whether or not they actually increase in-crease muscle mass and strength. There are three major theories as to why some athletes who use anabolic steroids get bigger and stronger. The first is that anabolic steroids cause fluid retention in the muscle which makes the muscle larger. The athlete sees the larger muscle and thinks he is stronger and probably even more so in the Eastern Bloc countries than in the U.S. The side-effects, as both the Soviet Union and America have seen, is not worth the price the young athletes have paid In Illinois, a 24-year-old body builder who had been taking steroids since he was 19 hanged himself after he became manically depressed trying to kick the habit. Anabolic steroids will not overcome over-come genetics. The maximum achievement of the body can only be achieved by proper training, diet and effort. |