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Building PC's, not Muscle
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Teens and steroids
As reported by CNN on August 09, 2001.
Compared with the number of teens using illicit drugs such as marijuana and amphetamines (speed), the number of youths taking anabolic steroids is small. The long-term effects of using steroids, however, can be just as bad as the effects that occur with use of other illegal drugs.
It's hard to know exactly how many young people use steroids, testosterone, growth hormone and other substances intended to enhance athletic performance. However, a survey of 45,000 high-school students conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research in 2000 offers some estimates:
The rates of steroid use reported among boys in grades 8, 10 and 12 were 2.2 percent, 3.6 percent and 2.5 percent, whereas the rates of use among girls in the same grades were 1.0 percent, 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
The rate of use among 8th- and 10th-grade boys rose 50 percent between 1999 and 2000 — from 1.2 percent to 1.7 percent.
The rate of use among girls has remained steady since 1998.
The survey also looked at the students' attitudes toward steroid use. In 1998, about 70 percent of 12th-graders saw "great risk" in using steroids once or twice, but by 2000 the rate had dropped by 10 percent. For the past decade, about 90 percent of students said they disapprove of using steroids.
The high-school students also reported that steroids are available to those who want to take them. Slightly more than 20 percent of the 8th-graders believe it's "fairly easy" or "very easy" to get steroids. About 35 percent of the 10th-graders and 45 percent of the 12th-graders agreed.
"If any child in the community is using steroids, it's a major issue," says Jay Smith, M.D., of the Sports Medicine Center at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. "Peer groups are a major influence in teen years, so that's probably where parental support is key."
Steroids have a reputation for being dangerous to adult athletes, such as bodybuilders and football players. The hazards for teens are even greater than the risks for adults because teens are still growing. Anabolic steroids can stop bone growth and damage the heart, kidneys, and liver of adolescents.
Timely temptation
The opportunity to take steroids reaches youth at the time when they're most vulnerable — when they want to play well in hopes of earning a sports scholarship to college, when they feel uncomfortable being smaller than or different from peers, and when they want to attract members of the opposite sex. They're old enough to damage their bodies with drugs, but lack the maturity to foresee the possible problems later on.
Although it's not known how many high-school athletes use steroids or other drugs to improve performance, it's clear that youth are aware of — and use — substances they think will give them an edge. In a study conducted at Mayo Clinic, local high-school athletes were asked whether they used creatine, a legal supplement that may enhance muscle growth in athletes who do strength-training workouts. Researchers found that 8 percent of the 328 boys and girls who took part used creatine, including some as young as age 14.
However, use of steroids by high-school students is still fairly uncommon.
"Where I suspect I am seeing signs of steroid use is during screening physicals for junior college teams," says Aynsley Smith, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic's Sports Medicine Center. "Many of those players are hoping they'll still catch on at a 4-year school. They look ripped, and I see lots of stretch marks, but not like they've been working hard in the gym."
Once they've earned a place on the team roster, players may find themselves under pressure to become bigger and stronger, even if they were playing well when they joined the program. Steroids make big gains in muscle possible much more quickly than does training alone.
"I think part of it is that the coaches don't really want to know how the athletes can come back 30 pounds heavier a few months later," says Aynsley Smith.
In college, some players realize that if they want to play professional football, they must improve their performance in training drills and in the weight room. Some athletes feel that steroids may be the only way they can meet teams' selection standards. With time running out, they feel that their only two choices may be football with steroids or retirement after college.
Some male steroid users take the drugs to alter their physical appearance, gaining size and muscle to impress girls. They're less interested in enhancing athletic performance.
"For a lot of them, steroids are something that builds their confidence. At that age, they're considering getting into sexual relationships that are kind of scary. Changing their appearance so they feel more attractive can make it easier," says Aynsley Smith.
Helping teens feel valued and find other activities that raise their self-esteem may be a way to keep them from starting to use steroids. When a young person values intangible qualities about himself, he may feel less of a need to change his physique or achieve quick success with girls.
Parents and coaches must educate themselves on the signs and symptoms of all performance enhancing drugs. It is also better to counsel an athlete out of a sport and into a different activity than to suggest the athlete just return bigger in a short period of time — particularly if the changes in size and strength needed are large. Such statements are very likely to trigger substance use.
It's also important to be honest with young people. When athletes first began taking steroids, the medical community lost some validity with steroid users by taking the position that the drugs didn't really work. It's now acknowledged that steroids do "work" in the short term to improve muscle mass, but that the benefit comes at a high price in the form of side effects and potential complications.
Athletes at all levels, including middle school, are looking for a performance edge. Potential performance enhancers like creatine and steroids will sooner or later catch the attention of athletes. However, even legal supplements such as creatine aren't regulated by the federal government, and the long-term side effects of using such supplements are unknown.
"The bottom line is that steroids are illegal and clearly can have life-threatening effects. Parents and coaches should realize that their athletes have probably at least considered using these supplements and should take measures to educate the athletes about what they may be getting into," says Jay Smith.
--CNN
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