User:Criticalskills2

What are the effects of performing enhancing drugs (P.E.D) across American sports. The thesis statement I`ve chosen is “what are the effects of performing enhancing drugs across American sports”. I chose this topic because it’s something I have an interest in and would like to find out more about this. The three topics I’m going to discuss is why drugs, such as anabolic steroids, are abused in sports, the effects the drugs have on one’s body and mind and the consequences of being caught. The main question asked in relation to taking these `supplements` is ‘’why?’’. The reason any sports star would take steroids would be to get an advantage over their opponent. They face a great amount of pressure from their opponents and feel a lot of pressure to excel in their sport. Some athletes only play sports for a limited number of years, so they will do anything to be the best. Knowing being the best can bring them even more fame and fortune. They see these drugs as a short cut to becoming the best, but also face the risk of ruining their careers. Another reason is because taking steroids increase muscle growth but also reduce body fat. Steroids make athletes bigger stronger and more aggressive. They help the body’s muscle cells produce more protein, leading to increased muscle size and strength gains following resistance training as well as faster recovery. Studying the effects of large doses of steroids is unethical there’s limited research on the side effects, especially long term. Steroid abuse disrupts the hormone production in the body. This may cause reversible but also irreversible changes. Some reversible changes can be the reduced rate of sperm being and testicular atrophy. The irreversible changes include male pattern baldness and breast development in men. Artificially high hormone levels can also prematurely trigger your bones to stop growing. Steroids have been closely associated with cardio vascular disease (CVD), causing heart attacks in athletes even younger than 30. Steroids increase the risk of blood cloths that will disrupt blood flow to the heart damaging the heart muscle. They can also prevent blood reaching the brain which will result in a heart attack. Not only is it bad on the heart but also can cause tumours in the liver, acne and cysts on the skin and infections where the needle is injected. Steroids not only affect you physically but also mentally. High doses can cause increasing irritability and aggression. Abusers can also experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking the drugs. They may also experience mood swings, tiredness, loss of appetite, reduced sex drive, insomnia, but the most dangerous side effect being depression because it leads to suicide attempts. The NFL administrate random drug tests throughout the season and in the off-season for anabolic steroids and amphetamines. They give a four-game suspension for a firsts time offence, an eight-game game suspension for a second-time offence and a full season suspension for a third offence. The MLB administrate two annual drug tests, for anabolic steroids and amphetamines, during and between seasons. They give a fifty-game ban for a first-time offence, a hundred-game ban for a second-time offence and a life time ban for a third-time offence. The NBA randomly administrate four drug tests per year for anabolic steroids and amphetamines. They give a ten-game ban for a first-time of fence, a twenty-five-game ban for a second-time offence and a lifetime ban for a third-time offence. The NHL administrate the maximum of two drug tests, during the season, only testing for performance enhancing drugs (P.E.D). They give a twenty-game ban for a first-time offence, a sixty-game ban for a second offence and lifetime ban for a third offence. The NHL have been constantly criticised for the policy for not requiring annual tests and not including designer steroids. Overall from the points clearly made above there are some short term positive effects such as getting bigger and stronger and improving your performances in sport. However, there are far more life-threatening effects when taking these drugs. Many players don’t fully think of the consequences when taking steroids and just want to be the best. Clearly, from seeing what the effects can be, its not worth risking your own life to be good at a sport.

BibliographyItalic text Anabolic Steroid abuse, `What are the health consequences of steroids? `, https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/anabolic-steroid-abuse/what-are-health-consequences-steroid-abuse