Custom «Steroids» Essay Paper Sample

Athletes are very amazing in the things that they are able to do just to achieve higher levels of performance and to get the extra edge in the competitions. However, they do not know that the consequences of the decisions and actions that they make today have long-term effects for their future compared to the happiness and achievements that they are experiencing today. The use of steroids is a very important example of the products that people use and affects their lives long-term. In this paper, Steroids and its negative long-term effects will be discussed.

Steroids are synthetic substances that affect the male sex hormones (androgens). This substance promotes growth of skeletal muscles, male sexual characteristics, and other effects. Steroids were developed in the 1930's to treat hypogonadism which is a male disorder of the testes that slows down or delay puberty, impotence, and wasting of the body due to HIV or other diseases (Anabolic Steroids, 2005). Typical users of steroids include young, male athletes, body builders, and football players. However, reports suggest that an adolescent who wants to speed up their puberty also uses steroids. Male and female models who want to improve their body figure use steroids (Steroids: Just the Facts, 1997). The most shocking issue of all is that kids also use steroids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance-United States, the percentage of students who reported lifetime steroid use increased during 1991--2003 (2.7%--6.1%) and then decreased during 2003--2005 (6.1%--4.0%) (Dangers of Steroid Abuse (health risks, prison, death), n.d.). Steroids are becoming a large industry today. It is very important to inform the people that the use of steroids have long-term effects.

The negative effects of steroids include: (1) the increased risk of mood disturbances including mania and depression, (2) increased risk of psychosis, (3) increased risk of aggressive acts which may injure self or others, (4) increased risk of cardiovascular disease, liver diseases and cancer, kidney diseases and cancer, (5) risk of HIV and Hepatitis B & C from contaminatedneedles, (6) acne, (7) bad breath, (8) decreased sex drive, (9) baldness, (10) water retention (11) muscle cramps (12) aching joints (13) increased risk of muscle tears, tendon injuries and nose bleeds, (14) insomnia, (15) decrease in immune system effectiveness (16) infertility (Anabolic Steroids, 2005). There are people who abuse steroids not knowing what effects it may bring to them. These negative effects are worsened by the abuse of steroids.

Abuse of steroids has been a recurring issue in the US. Research shows that 2.5% of high school pupils in the US will have taken illegal steroids at some time. Also, among 12 steroid users, 10 turned out to have hearts that pumped less blood into the body than they should (Joelving, 2010). These are very serious complications that affect the user long-term. This is a very alarming issue that needs to be addressed seriously. It affects all scenes of the generation - be it young, old, men or women. The negative long-term effects and the number of population that it affects suggest that the use of steroids should be prohibited.