Since the dawn of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, athletes have been competing against one another for honor and physical supremacy. The Olympic Games were a sporting competition based on honor, personal improvement and success. The victors of the contest gained no financial compensation for their accomplishments, as the honor of being crowned champion, and thus earning the coveted gold medal, was sufficient motivation for all athletes. There was no lust for money or riches that propelled the athletes to train vigorously and improve their chances of winning. There was no thought of possibly cheating in order to increase chances at victory. In this primordial era, the primary course for skill improvement was through hard work and high intensity practice. Countless hours were spent on the training grounds sharpening skills and building up physical endurance to gain superiority over opponents. The playing field was even, and the athletes competed fairly. Nowadays, these morals and values are severely defiled. The professional sporting world has become tarnished by the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs, and this must be abrogated. The traditional Greek values and thought process of placing honor and dignity first and using that as a basis for athletic motivation are all but completely extinguished in …show more content…
Anabolic steroids have negative consequences in nearly all aspects of bodily function, most significantly in the central nervous system, excretory system, cardiovascular system and psychiatric function. Psychiatric and central nervous system malfunctions share a very similar mechanism in that both are affected via neurotransmitter impairment. Steroids have a profound effect on the balancing act of neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin and their respective
The Notorious Olympian Marion Jones was a highly decorated American track and field athlete, known for her speed and success in sprinting and jumping events. However, her career took a sharp turn when she became embroiled in a doping scandal involving steroids. In his article, A Tarnished Marion Jones Couldn't Outrun (2007) Author Harvey Araton claims Marion Jones' doping scandal and subsequent downfall serve as a cautionary tale about the perils of cheating in sports. In view of the author's opinionative tone, this article is intended for those who are interested in sports, PEDs, and Olympic scandals, ranging from ages between 16 and 55; these are the people who perceive fairness within sports as a grave issue.
Anabolic steroids are used because athletes’ wants gain weight, muscle, and wants to become faster in a short period of time. In the Article “Why do people abuse anabolic steroids?” states that people suffering from behavioral syndrome
“Drugs are chemical substances which, by interaction with biological targets can alter the biochemical systems of the body.” (Mottram) This can cause many things in an athlete’s body to happen. On the cardiac muscles, if using, drugs can increase the force and rate of a heartbeat. Using steroids can cause a lot of mood swings from this. Steroids are not always bad, they have helped us in the medical world as long as they 're not being abused.
Steroids can cause many health issues, “including “steroid rage,” the development of male characteristics in female athletes, heart attacks, and greatly reduced life expectancy (The Database Book. 2009).” Steroids could also ban you from playing ever again. The first time a player is tested positive they are put on an eighty game suspension, second positive test will put the player on a 162 game suspension, which is the whole season including postseason, and a third positive test will ban the player from Major League Baseball for life. Steroids also give the player an unfair advantage over other players who are playing with their natural ability. “The sport badly needs to restore the public’s confidence in the purity of competition.
Dr. LIncoln Allison argues that in truth, steroids are not really “cheating”, they are just a way to bring out the full ability from a player. “A sportsman or woman who seeks an advantage from drugs just moves up to the level appropriate to his or her underlying ability”(107). She suggests that we deal with other, much greater problems, before worrying about teroid issue, ”In general, the risk to health from performance-enhancing drugs is considerably less than that from tobacco or alcohol, and we ought not to apply paternalistic moral assumptions to sport that we are not prepared to apply to the rest of
Taking steroids will affect the brain’s serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitter systems. Serotonin regulates sleep patterns, movement, appetite, sexuality, and emotions. Dopamine regulates mobility, learning, emotions, appetite, and positive reinforcing effects. Both of these neurotransmitter systems play a major role in everyday life. Taking large doses of steroids can impair organs causing physical and psychological illnesses.
The first modern games were held in 1896 and ever since then the Olympics have been what we know them as today. The Olympics is the place where your race, age, wealth, sexual orientation, or physical appearance don’t matter. When you step onto the field, or the track or into the pool, you are just the same as every person you are competing against. Every Olympic athlete shows up with one goal in mind, and that is to prove that they are the best. They want to prove that to
Steroids don’t just harm the emotional part of a student. In another article, a quote by Adler read, “Steroids can have long-lasting and sometimes irreversible side effects on the body. Anabolic steroids have been linked to increased cholesterol, stroke and blood clots, urinary and bowel problems, and problems with the musculoskeletal system”(Steroid Use). High schools, and the student’s parents, need to start protecting their students from these harmful medical effects of steroids. In a report done by CBS News, it
In sports, it is very important to center on social organization in relation to who has access to power, who has authority, resources available, and different economic opportunities. According to Simon (2016), “There is so much at stake in social inequalities. Conflict theory impels us to recognize that every dimension of social structure can be conceptualized in terms of winners and losers, and social conflict often causes disastrous and tragic consequences for the losers in the social struggle.” In some cases people can become bullied or even tortured as a consequence of social conflict. It is a shame people have to be shunned and mortified because of a choice of social structure in which they participate.
For years, the use of performance-enhancing drugs has haunted all levels of sport, baseball taking the majority of the publicity. Many have lost sight of the fact that baseball players are not the only athletes that face this life threatening addiction. Due to the amount of padding they have to wear, football players can easily disguise their size therefore keeping them from receiving scrutiny from the public. This has allowed more and more players to look to PEDs in order to gain an edge over their opponents. The issue spans to not only the professional level, but the high school and collegiate divisions as well. Because the National Football League sits on a higher platform, they bring in an exceptional amount of money compared to that
They claim that the spirit of sports is not in its fairness but in the athletes themselves. They continue and say that the decision of the athlete from the way he trains to what he eats to whether or not he decides to use PEDs is what make the spirit of the sport. They also mention that other professional activities as in musical performances these performer use drugs to calm their nerves. This opposing more permissive view offers me the opportunity to present an argument on whether PEDs should be banned or not and how that would affect the sporting
By allowing professional athletes to use drugs, what message are we sending out to young sports players and those who idolize their sporting heroes? Is the goal to inform them on how to cheat, or how to use your own muscle and blood to win? Performance-Enhancing drugs used by athletes can cause many health problems and create an unfair advantage to other athletes. Many of the performance enhancers used have serious health risk and allow the use of such substances could cause peer pressure to all athletes to consider using them. Athletes dreaming to improve their performance the easy way are often the first you see to start using substances; this places them at risk of the many consequences.
PEDs can cause aggression and other mood changes as well as more serious disorders like depression 4. PEDs are unhealthy for the body and the mind. Steroids and other PEDs don’t increase dopamine in the brain like other drugs; dopamine produces the “high” feeling. But they can become addictive and people that use them will continue to do so despite physical problems and negative effects on social relationships 5.
Steroids are very unhealthy for multiple parts of the human body, many health issues can arise from the use of such a drug. Primarily, the users’ continuous use of the drug will deplete the body’s ability to produce testosterone
Anabolic steroids, is either taken orally or intramuscularly, when drugs are take orally absorption of the drug is more complicated compared to intramuscularly. The drug goes through different types of layers before it reaches it’s final destination, the muscles and bloods stream so that it’ll work. The layers it goes through is the, acid in the stomach, the steroid it’s self damages the stomach and gives stomach pain as more is taken. The other layers are bacteria in the small intestines and lastly it must past through the metabolism process in the liver known as the first pass effect. Once it’s reached the destination, distribution process happens which is the transportation of drug throughout the blood stream.