Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) were first isolated, identified and synthesized in the 1930s, and are now used therapeutically in medicine to induce bone growth, stimulate appetite, induce male puberty, and treat chronic wasting conditions, such as cancer and AIDS. Anabolic steroids also increase muscle mass and physical strength, and are therefore used in sports and bodybuilding to enhance strength or physique. Known side effects include harmful changes in cholesterol levels (increased Low density lipoprotein and decreased High density lipoprotein), acne, high blood pressure, liver damage. Some of these effects can be mitigated by taking supplemental drugs.
AAS use in sports began in October 1954 when John Ziegler, a doctor who treated American athletes, went to Vienna with the American weightlifting team. There he met a Russian physician who, over "a few drinks", repeatedly asked "What are you giving your boys?" When Ziegler returned the question, the Russian said that his own athletes were being given testosterone.
Returning to America, Ziegler tried low doses of testosterone on himself, on the American trainer Bob Hoffman and on two lifters, Jim Park and Yaz Kuzahara. All gained more weight and strength than any training programme would produce but there were side-effects. Ziegler sought a drug without after-effects and hit on an anabolic steroid, methandrostenolone, (Dianabol, DBOL), made in the US in 1958 by Ciba.
The results were impressive—so impressive that lifters began taking ever more. Steroids spread to other sports where bulk mattered. Paul Lowe, a former running back with the San Diego Chargers American football team, told a California legislative committee on drug abuse in 1970: "We had to take them at lunchtime. He would put them on a little saucer and prescribed them for us to take them and if not he would suggest there might be a fine."
Olympic statistics show the weight of shot putters increased 14 per cent between 1956 and 1972, whereas steeplechasers weight increased 7.6 per cent. The gold medallist pentathlete Mary Peters said: "A medical research team in the United States attempted to set up extensive research into the effects of steroids on weightlifters and throwers, only to discover that there were so few who weren't taking them that they couldn't establish any worthwhile comparisons."
In 1984, Jay Silvester, a former four-time Olympian and 1972 silver medalist in the discus, who was then with the physical education department of Brigham Young University in the U.S., questioned competitors at that year's Olympics. The range of steroid use he found ranged from 10 mg a day to 100 mg.
| Question | Yes | No | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Have you taken anabolic steroids within the past six months? | 61% | 39% | 0% |
| Have you ever taken anabolic steroids? | 68 | 32 | 0 |
| Ethically, do you approve of anabolic steroids in athletics? | 50 | 27 | 23 |
| If a test could positively identify steroid users, would you favour banishment of the drug in sport? | 48 | 35 | 17 |
| Are you aware of any specific reason why athletes who have not attained full maturity should avoid anabolic steroid usage? | 42 | 48 | 10 |
| If you were a coach, would you commend anabolic steroid usage to (mature) athletes in your event? | 45 | 35 | 20 |
| Do you feel anabolic steroids have positively affected the performance of athletes in your event? | 65 | 16 | 19 |
| Do you feel that steroids have negatively affected the performance of athletes in your event? | 6 | 61 | 33 |
| Do you feel that steroids enable a person to gain strength faster than otherwise possible? | 84 | 3 | 13 |
| Do you believe that steroids enable a person to gain cardio-respiratory endurance more quickly than otherwise possible? | 13 | 42 | 45 |
| Do you believe that steroids enable a person to gain greater cardio-respiratory endurance than otherwise possible? | 6 | 45 | 49 |
| Have you ever gained localised muscular endurance faster when taking anabolic steroids? | 48 | 42 | 10 |
| Have you gained greater local muscular endurance faster when taking anabolic steroids? | 32 | 22 | 46 |
| Do steroids enhance mental attitude? Do you feel more in control of your life? Do you feel you will perform better in your event? | 68 | 10 | 22 |
| Has steroid usage appeared to contribute to injury problems? | 26 | 32 | 42 |
| Are you aware of the undesirable side-effects? | 74 | 19 | 7 |
| Do steroids increase body weight? | 55 | 16 | 29 |
| Are steroids difficult to obtain? | 22 | 61 | 17 |
Several successful athletes and professional bodybuilders have admitted long-term methandrostenolone use before the drug was banned, including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sergio Oliva. Dianabol is no longer produced but similar drugs are made elsewhere.
The use of anabolic steroids is now banned by all major sporting bodies, including the ATP, WTA, ITF, International Olympic Committee, FIFA, UEFA, all major professional golf tours, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the European Athletic Association, WWE, the NFL and the UCI. However drug testing can be wildly inconsistent and, in some instances, has gone unenforced.
Read more about this topic: Doping In Sport