Baseball Bombshell Lesson: Illegal Steroid Use Dangerous To Young Athletes, USA

Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Article Date: 19 Dec 2007 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

The widespread use of anabolic steroids by pro baseball players that was revealed in former Senator George Mitchell's bombshell report begs the question of role models and player's influence on young athletes. Many teenagers don't know the risks of performance enhancing drugs, but do understand an inherent message of "win at all costs," says Dr. Barbara Krantz, chief medical officer, Hanley Center, West Palm Beach, Florida.

"When star athletes don't seem to worry about health consequences of performance-enhancing drugs, why should kids?" asks Dr. Krantz. "We need to talk about the real risks. These non-medical anabolic steroids are easy to get, often on the Internet, and they are dangerous drugs, with serious psychological and medical side effects."

Besides severe muscle pain experienced when someone comes off steroids, medical literature documents that steroids can elicit mass mood swings characterized by panic attacks and violently aggressive behavior. National Institute of Health (NIH) studies have shown that steroid use during adolescence may permanently alter the brain's ability to produce serotonin and dopamine, neurochemical transmitters than give us a feeling of well being. The reduction of these brain chemicals can then produce long-term aggression.

Dr. Krantz lists other possible serious, sometimes irreversible results of steroid use over time. Physical effects include damage to the heart, kidneys and liver, including heart attack, renal failure and hepatic cancer. Other side effects include decreased sperm count, increased prostate size and prostate cancer. People who share needles run the risk of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and bacterial endocarditis.

"We've already seen serious effects of steroid use in young people," said Dr. Krantz, "including liver cancer in a male patient in this mid-twenties who had been using steroids continually for five years."

Both teens and adults report taking steroids to improve performance and endurance in sports by enhancing muscle mass and reduce body fat. Tens of thousands of teenagers have or are using performance enhancing drugs, including steroidal supplements such as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione (street name Andro), available over the counter in drugstores, health stores and even supermarkets. Although they are taken because the users think they have anabolic effects, little is known whether the supplements have any effect on muscle mass or whether there are serious side effects.

Steroid users, in an attempt to produce a greater effect on muscle mass, "stack" or mix oral and/or injectable types, often in does as high as 100 times the strength of a medical dose. They may "pyramid" the doses in cycles of 6-12 weeks, starting with a low dose and slowly increasing it, then decreasing the dose over time, with the belief that this allows the body to safely adjust. Neither stacking nor pyramiding has any scientifically based safety benefits.

About Hanley Center

Established in 1986, the Hanley Center is a premier provider of addiction treatment, prevention and education, including the Atlas and Athena programs for high school athletes. Hanley is located on a beautiful campus setting in tropical West Palm Beach, Florida. Nationally recognized and acclaimed Hanley Center offers both age and gender specific treatment services for alcoholism and substance abuse designed to meet the unique needs of men, women and older adults, built upon the proven 12 Step philosophy.

Hanley Center