In boxing as in other sports, the reasons for taking performance enhancing drugs are many fold. Performance and self image are among the main reasons, male and, to a lesser degree, female, athletes choose to use performance enhancing drugs. Since an athlete's goals are to improve a particular area of performance with respect to strength, speed, or stamina many feel it is a worthwhile endeavor because of these perceived benefits. However, the risks associated with using performance enhancing drugs are without question dangerous, to say the least.

            Abusers, for the most part, are generally well informed when it comes to the matter of their panacea. However, a bigger problem can be found in the quality of information available to them. Most often internet chatter, hearsay, and skewed rationale are responsible for explaining away all the adverse affects of both steroid use and abuse. According to Fred Hartgens, doctor of sports medicine, journalist and author, abuse of performance enhancing substances is widespread because of their putative muscle building and performance enhancing effects.  Many abusers will tell you the doses they take are not harmful because of a certain type of beneficial cycle or because they are not ingesting  amounts considered harmful.

            This is not only false and misleading, but dangerous as well. When physicians prescribe steroids it is most often with specific disorders in mind and administer lowest possible doses so as to reduce potential  harm.  According to Otto Appenzellar, author and doctor of sports medicine, the role of sports in the prevention of disease and the improvement of health is a major concern of sports medicine. The medical community agrees that proper diet and exercise can stave off many of the illnesses found in modern society, chiefly obesity and heart disease . However, this issue does not concern health. It concerns unregulated, unsupervised use and abuse of performance enhancing substances for the purposes of improving athletic ability. However, dangerously large amounts are required for the type of desired results. As a result, there is no safe use.

PERFORMANCE AND IMAGE

            With respect to performance and image, abusers have been known to take enormous risks when their need for athletic improvement outweighs their sense of safety. According to John Almquist of  Fairfax Virginia County Public School Athletic Training Program and National Athletic Trainers Association Task Force Chairman, education is the key preventing kids from trying steroids in the first place. Research shows performance enhancing substance users subject themselves to over seventy different health hazards, including liver cancer and severe psychological reactions.

            The heart, liver and reproductive organs can be adversely affected  by performance enhancing  substance  abuse. When studying the ill effects of PEDs, the short term affects can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to present themselves. With respect to long term affects some, can even longer. According to Fred Hartgens, doctor of sports medicine and author of numerous articles concerning the side effects of anabolic steroid use and abuse, because anabolic steroids are such strong hormonal agents they may affect several organ systems, their abuse may result in unwanted side effects. 

            In the short term, the more immediate side effects of steroid abuse are many. From the male athlete point of view, severe acne, atrophy of the testes, lowered sperm production, gynecomastia, high blood pressure, increased LDL (bad cholesterol), decreased HDL (good cholesterol),  liver dysfunction and enlargement of the prostate gland, only to name a few.

            However, as nature would have it, PEDs can affect women more adversely than men. Women have a tendency to experience many of the same dangerous side effects as men with respect to high blood pressure, poor cholesterol levels and liver dysfunction.  However, many of these problems are symptomatic of male characteristics which include, pattern balding, deepening of the voice, and facial hair.

            For both sexes however, behavioral changes like increased aggressiveness and "Roid Rage" commonly accompany the use of anabolic steroids. Following are some of these bad health effects and the specific reasons why anabolic steroids are not good for both short and long term health.

            One very common side effect is the onset of severe acne. When a case of adolescent acne is already present, more severe cases can present themselves. Steroids enlarge the sebaceous glands, and as a result leads to increased oil production in the skin. This increase in oil production leads to formation of plugs and serves as food for bacteria.

            To make matters worse, normal hormone levels surge at puberty which is why teenagers develop body hair and, in the case of boys, deeper voices. It is this surge of powerful hormones, that is principally responsible for the rise of acne in the teenage years. Introducing steroids to this already precarious balance is asking for even more trouble.

SHRUNKEN GONADS

            Atrophy of the testes,  a fancy term for shrunken gonads, is not just a minor problem. Because  outside sources of testosterone  are being introduced, the testes no longer signal to produce their share. At the same time the brain is being signaled from outside sources, which usually involves slowing  the production of sperm. Parts of the brain and neuro endocrine system  then signal the testes to take a break. This synthetically introduced function can cause temporary sterility. By the same token, the jury is still out as to whether steroids are linked with a permanent form of sterility or not.

            Gynecomastia, a polite term for "man boobs," is another not so good side effect of abuse that comes from the improper balance of testosterone. When the body converts the additional testosterone into estrogen and other female hormones in the male body, female breast tissue is sometimes formed.

            High blood pressure, which is caused when the steroid forces the body to hold on to excess salt and water rather than flushing it out, can cause an increase in the body's red blood cell count resulting in higher blood pressure. The long term effects of high blood pressure are on a list all their own. It causes the heart to get larger, which can lead to heart failure. Aneurysms can form in blood vessels, the main artery from the aorta to the brain, legs, intestines and spleen.

            High cholesterol, often a result of high or bad cholesterol levels, and or low good cholesterol levels, can also change the levels of lipoproteins in the blood. Steroids, particularly oral steroids, increase the level of low density lipoprotein (LDL), and decrease the level of high density lipoprotein (HDL). This increases the risk of atherosclerosis, a condition in which fatty substances are deposited inside arteries and disrupt blood flow. If blood is prevented from reaching the heart, the result can be a heart attack. If blood is prevented from reaching the brain, the result can be a stroke.

            Malfunction of the liver is another danger as the liver is where just about everything you put into your body gets processed and is also responsible for filtering your blood. Steroid abuse has been associated with liver tumors and a rare condition called peliosis hepitis, in which blood filled cysts can rupture, causing  internal bleeding. But, these are only the short term effects, long term effects are even worse.

            Enlarged prostate, a problem most often seen in aging males, is not something you typically see in younger men, unless their taking anabolic steroids.

BALDING IN WOMEN

            Balding in women who abuse steroids is caused by the body's confusion over production of DHT, a hair inhibitor enzyme, which generally affects both sexes similarly. Women see this change occurring first around the scalp line and can eventually cause balding that is irreversible.

            A deepening voice is another naturally male characteristic that can develop in women who abuse steroids simply because of the large amounts of testosterone sending male signals to the brain. This is the control room for the production of hormone production and the various glands that manage the hormone output. Also excess facial hair and coarse skin, both male characteristics, are unsavory by products of steroid abuse caused by an over abundance of male hormones. While aggressiveness and heightened libido are side effects that can be experienced by both genders, some effects are uniquely female. For example, changes in the sexual organs are inherently female, as well as confused and erratic menstrual cycles. Other traits may include shrinking breasts, anxiety, depression and high levels of stress. All these characteristics can be caused by introducing the amounts of synthetic steroids to the female body necessary to see a change in muscle development.

            Increased aggression in both men and women steroid abusers, sometimes called "Roid Rage", as a result of too much testosterone is a hotly contested topic. However in animal studies the relationship between steroids and aggression has always been pretty clear. Only in recent years have researchers been able to define the long term effects of steroid abuse. They are learning more as abusers age and subsequent problems develop.

            One of the deadliest side effects, scoffed at by many abusers, is HIV. Intravenous needle sharing, combined with a heightened sex drive and libido function, can be a very dangerous combination.  This is especially true in adolescent teens and young adults who often have weaker decision making skills and a high susceptibility to peer pressure. HIV and AIDS related deaths are on the rise and the epidemic is not as popular in the media as in past decades. Most people adopt a "that can't happen to me attitude," and many steroid abusers, already egotistical, do not even consider it at all.

            Another dangerous side effect are cardiovascular problems. High blood cholesterol levels can lead to premature heart conditions, heart attacks and stroke. The increase of muscle mass can put undue strain on the rest of the body that is not prepared for the surprisingly fast new muscle development. The heart is put under more pressure to provide blood to more muscle tissue. As a result steroid abuse over the long term will inevitably cause physical damage, with respect to stunted growth, ligament and joint injuries as well as weight problems and neurological issues, to name just a few.

THE CASE FOR HGH

            However it is worth noting that those in favor of using and defending certain kinds of performance enhancing drugs, Human Growth Hormone or HGH, must be discussed. HGH is naturally secreted in the body and healthy people naturally produce it throughout their lifespan. According to Daniel Engber, journalist and author for The Washington Post, this difficult to detect substance has recently replaced anabolic steroids as the trendy performance enhancing drug of choice. The difference between steroids and HGH is that an athlete can beef up on steroids and improve his athletic performance. However, according to Daniel Rudman, endocrinologist and journalist, whose studies have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, most clinical studies suggest that HGH won't help an athlete at all. The other key difference is that while steroids cause all sorts of nasty side effects as mentioned, taking HGH doesn't seem to be that bad for you.

            The Daniel Rudman studies soon spawned a mega industry of rejuvenation clinics and anti-drug regimens. The highest concentration of secretion of growth hormone is during adolescence. But HGH levels fall off as people age and by the age of sixty many produce half as much as they did in their twenties. It is this gradual lessening of growth hormone that seemingly necessitates the need for HGH as amateur and pro athletes alike start to age.

            The media has not spent much time making a distinction between HGH and steroids, but it's just plain wrong to put growth hormone in the same category as anabolic steroids. A chiseled physique won't help you hit a baseball or throw a punch. So far no one has been able to connect the increase in lean body tissue caused by HGH with enhanced athletic performance. Unlike steroids growth hormone doesn't increase weightlifting ability. In the lab it has more of an effect on muscle definition than muscle strength. And it doesn't seem to help much with cardiovascular health either.

            So why do athletes take HGH? One possibility is that this hormone really does enhance performance but the effect is too subtle to measure. However, an elite athlete may be able to detect slight improvements in strength and ability in which at the highest levels of sport a tiny edge can make a huge difference.

            Though some proponents of performance enhancing substances may praise the benefits that these substances can have on muscular and improved athletic performance, most properly informed individuals would be hard pressed to deny the realities of their detrimental side effects.

It is understandable that performance enhancing substance use and abuse is so rampant considering the huge amounts of money paid to pro athletes, and the human need to achieve and simply feel better about one's self. However even when considering that no side effect is guaranteed to occur, the overwhelming evidence of dangerous side effects should be enough to persuade most people to steer clear of performance enhancing substances. Unfortunately this is not the case and those who choose to use or abuse performance enhancing substances are essentially guinea pigs with respect to lack of proper medical supervision.

Works Cited

Discounts Supplements.com. "Side Effects of Anabolic Steroid Abuse (long term and short term).  Steroid Abuse. Web. 15 May 2010.

Appenzeller, Otto. "Sports Medicine." Access Science. McGraw-Hill. n.d.:n.pag. Web. 5 May 2010.

Hartens, Fred. "Androgenic-anabolic Steroids and Athletes." Access Science. n.d.:n.pg. Web. 10 May 2010.

Kiesbye, Stefan. "Steroid Use is Rampant in Schools." Contemporary Issues Companion: Steroids. n. pag. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Web. 2008. 10 May 2010.

Crane, Elizabeth. "'Roid rage: districts' latest drug problem doesn't involve getting high, but getting stronger. Learn how steroids are infiltrating high schools and what districts are doing to stem the abuse." The Free Library. Web. 1 July 2005. 23 May 2010.

Engber, Daniel. "Juicy Story, But No Dope." The Washington Post. 25 Mar 2007. B.2. Web. 17 May 2010.

Rudman, Daniel, MD et. al. "Effects Of Human Growth Hormone In Men Over 60 Years Old." New England Journal of Medicine. 323.1. 5 Jul 1990. Web. 18 May 2010.

Scalia, Antonin, et. al. "Random Drug Tests on Student-Athletes Do Not Violate their Right to Privacy." Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. 26 June 1995: n. pag. GALE CENGAGE Learning. Web. 12 May 2010.

O'Connor, Sandra Day, et. al. "Random Drug Tests on Student-Athletes Violate the Right to Privacy." Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. 26 June 1995: n. pag. GALE CENGAGE Learning. Web. 12 May 2010.

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