Steroids are a group of powerful drugs. Steroids are hormones that are made in the laboratory, and they have the same muscle- and tissue-building effects as the male sex hormone testosterone. During World War II, German soldiers took them before battle to make them more aggressive, and after the war, survivors of the Nazi death camps took them to build up their wasted bodies.
It wasn't long afterward that athletes began to use steroids illegally. Weight lifters took them to make them more muscular, runners to strengthen their legs. Soon, steroids were being used by nonprofessionals. Today, according to some drug experts, perhaps a million Americans, including some 250,000 high school seniors who want to make themselves look (Galas, pp 77) like Mr. or Miss Body Beautiful, spend millions of dollars a year on the illegal hormones.
Like most drugs, steroids can be prescribed by doctors for other than what abusers want them for. They may, for example, be used to treat some forms of anemia, a blood disorder; osteoporosis (a bone-thinning disease); serious burns; and to replace male hormones in people who need them. But while they may increase body weight and strength, the jury is still out on whether they improve performance -- and that is what those who use them illegally think they will do. There is, of course, a difference between performing well on the ball-field or the track and looking like you could.
People who take steroids regularly probably know that already. Some studies have shown that there is no real difference in performance between athletes who took steroids and those who took fake steroid pills. The steroid-takers might have been better off taking a multivitamin pill once a day. But there is more to steroids than whether they're valuable as a performance builder..............
