Effects of Steroids and PEDs (Performance enhancing drugs) Jason Fracchia Effects of Steroids and PEDs (Performance enhancing drugs)

In Late 2012 Lance Armstrong admitted to using PEDs while he was competing, as punishment he was stripped of his then record of seven tour de France medals, lost all endorsements and was fired from his own multi-million dollar charity foundation Mark McGwire was one of baseball’s all time greats, he broke several records including the single season home run record in 1998, and yet he will never see the Hall of Fame because he admitted to using steroids while competing

Performance Enhancing Drugs What is a Performance Enhancing Drug? Any Artificial Drug that will make you hit harder, run faster, lift heavier, swim longer, or give you an unfair advantage over your fellow competitors What are different Types of PEDs? Anabolic Agents Artificial Hormones Stimulants Narcotics Masking Agents

Anabolic Agents A synthetic steroid hormone that resembles testosterone Advantages- endurance increase, fat loss, muscle recovery increase, muscular size and strength increase in combination with exercise Disadvantages- Acne, aggressiveness (roid rage), males develop breasts, females suffer abnormal menstrual cycles, females grow hair in abnormal places such as the chest, belly, and back, testes shrink up, liver malfunction, sperm count is decreased, male voice is pitched higher, female voice is pitched lower, etc.

Anabolic Agents (cont.) So why take Anabolic Agents? If you are a professional athlete and the way you make a living is on the line, the rewards far exceed the negatives The side effects only happen in about 1 out of 10 steroid abusers, they are not considered common Most side effects are reversible once you stop taking the steroids (teste shrinkage, acne, mood swings, male breasts, female hair)

Artificial Hormones Much Like Anabolic Agents but harder to test for Types of Artificial Hormones HgH (human growth hormone) Insulin Gonadotorophins (hCG) Advantages-Muscle size and strength increased, recovery time decreased, risk of injury decreased, fat loss, masks the effects of Anabolic Agents Disadvantages- arthritis, brain swelling, strokes, osteoporosis, organ enlargement Bottom line Extremely Easy to acquire Pros out weigh the risks Side effects are rare Easy to mask in urine tests

Stimulants A substance that raises levels of physiological or nervous activity in the body Advantages- Aggression increase, competitiveness increase, cardio-vascular increase, response time increase, fat loss Disadvantages- Highly addictive, anxiety, coma, death, high blood pressure Bottom Most athletes don’t use them any more Can help with lethargic play or behavior Advantages do not surpass the risk Easy to test for Can and will ruin your life Was extremely popular in baseball in the early 1900’s, lead to better hitting percentages

Narcotics A drug or substance affecting mood or behavior Advantages- Pain Killer, higher pain tolerance, euphoric feeling Disadvantages- Death, addiction, heart failure, liver failure, lung failure, depression Bottom Line Moral Booster Highly Addictive Unpopular in modern sports Advantages do not surpass risks

Masking Agents Anything that can help hide the presence of illegal drugs in the body Advantages- Masks the presence of PEDs Disadvantages- Death, coma, strokes, cramps, cardio-vascular collapse, organ failure How does it work For testosterone users they might take Epi-testosterone, a normal healthy male has a testosterone/Epi-testosterone ratio of 1:1, so an athlete will take epi-testosterone to balance out their testosterone level Decreases the concentration of banned substances in urine Bottom Line Extremely Dangerous Used very often to mask PED use Provide almost no health benefits

Banned Methods Blood Transfers (blood doping) This is the process of extracting blood prior to competition (about 1 month) and storing it, then a few days before the competition putting the blood back into your body This increases the oxygen level in your blood significantly increasing your cardio and energy This can increase the chance of blood infections, can cause cramps, strokes, heart failure, and death

Can PEDs transform a normal athlete into a Sports Icon? Short Answer is no There are intangibles in athletes that no drug can reproduce and it is different in all sports Steroids do not automatically make you stronger, you have to workout harder and longer to even get them to work properly, and if you don’t the steroid will produce an opposite effect than the desired outcome

Sources http://www.counselingseattle.com/drugs/steroids.htm http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002037 http://www.teachpe.com/drugs/banned_list.php http://www.usada.org/effects-peds/