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Running head: STEROIDS

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STEROIDS:
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STEROIDS

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Introduction
The pressure to perform at the highest level has kept on intensifying as time goes by. This
is majorly attributed to the fact that sporting activities have kept becoming more lucrative with
time. Therefore those engaging in this activities want to ensure that they emerge winners at all
costs so as to win the ultimate price in the form of lucrative deals. Most sportsmen and women
strive to reach their best through hard work in practice secessions. However, there are those who
end up being overwhelmed by the pressure to the extent that they feel that they need an extra
boost to be able to win. For this reason, they turn steroids which are performance enhancing
drugs in an effort to be able to outperform their closest challengers (Chaiet, 2018).
Steroids
These are synthetic drugs which enhance or copy the masculinizing effects of
testosterone or the male sex hormone. Testosterone has an anabolic as well as androgenic effects
on the human body. The anabolic effect encompasses the growth of muscles, increase in bone
density, as well as rapid recovery from injuries while androgenic effects include development &
maintenance of male characteristics.
Whenever steroids find their way into an individual's bloodstream, they imitate the
properties as well as characteristics of naturally occurring male sex hormones. The muscle
tissues which usually have receptor sites specific for growth end up being accessed by the
steroids. The steroids then activate these receptor sites simply because they have a similar
chemical composition to the testosterone hormone resulting in a domino effect of metabolic
reactions that take place as the drugs instruct the body to be able to increase muscle production.

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Therefore, the sportsman or woman who uses steroids prior to competing tends to have
an added advantage in terms of their ability to perform at the highest level. This always puts
those who have not used steroid at a disadvantage (Chaiet, 2018).
Other than putting those who have not used these performance enhancement drugs at a
disadvantage, steroids tend to have not only positive effects to those using them but they also
have negative effects. For these reason, sportspersons are always advised against using steroids.
Additionally, an effort to ensure that there is fairness during a competition there are stiffer
repercussions that have been put in place by sports governing bodies in an effort to discourage
sportspersons from using steroids.
The most recent example that illustrates how the sport’s governing bodies are actively
trying to discourage the use of steroids in sports is the ban that the Russian Paralympic team
received from the International Paralympic Committee with regard to not competing in the 2016
summer Paralympics. This was after overwhelming evidence that pointed to the fact that the
Russian athletes had used steroids as well as other performance enhancement drugs in the Sochi
Paralympics resulting in Russia taking the top spots in the medal standings (Katz, 2008).
The imposition of this ban to the whole Russian Paralympic team was as a result of the
involvement of government agencies in the scandal. This clearly goes ahead to highlight that the
drive for success is not only at a personal level but it is also at a national level where countries
are striving to outperform one another by all means.
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