The media has always focused on the bad side of anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs but ESPN/ABC’s Brent Musburger spoke to students at the University of Montana recently said that steroids work and could be used at the professional level.

Musburger, however, said that anabolic steroids have no place in high school athletics.

From Hardballtalk.nbcsports.com:

He went on to say that while anabolic steroids have no place in high school athletics, “I think under the proper care and doctor’s advice, they could be used at the professional level,”

This will likely have a lot of you fuming, but after reading the whole story I think he makes a lot of sense.  It is undisputed that steroids do, in certain situations, bring with them medical benefits. The biggest problem with steroids — aside from the fact that using them violates the rules — is that they can be dangerous if abused or overused.

But what if we had good evidence that, if taken in X dosage by someone in good health, they weren’t harmful at all?  What if, under proper medical supervision, they proved to be no different than cortisone shots and vitamin regimens and things like that? Or, if you want to get right down to it, what if they posed risks, but risks that were reasonable enough to where weighing them against the potential to make millions playing sports made taking them worth it?

We don’t have good enough information on this because there haven’t — at least as far as I know — been comprehensive studies in which the effects were tested on healthy, athletic adults. A lot of the reason there hasn’t been such tests, I bet, is because there’s such a stigma and hysteria attached to them.

The point to be conveyed is simple – one can get side effects of steroids with overuse and abuse, and not “proper” use.

Tags: anabolic steroids, high school athletics, Performance enhancing drugs, side effects of steroids, steroids

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In a survey done by the charity DrugScope, it was found that abusing steroids or performance enhancing drugs was a main problem in almost 10 out of 20 town and cities it surveyed. Experts said that more and more young men were turning towards anabolic steroids for increasing self-confidence and improving body shape.

The use of drugs is mainly associated with sportsmen, especially with athletes and bodybuilders. But in the survey, evidence of widespread use of drugs, just for purely aesthetic reasons, by young professionals, building-site workers and students was discovered. The charity warned that youths saw drugs as an easy way to attain that muscled, toned physique. It also said that supply of class C drug, a human growth hormone, is illegal, but its possession was under law.

“The rise in the number of young men misusing steroids is extremely worrying and seems to be in response to a growing obsession with the ideal body image. There are serious risks associated with steroid misuse, but people may ignore the dangers or not seek help because they do not consider themselves drug users, said Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope.

From BBC:

The use of anabolic steroids is becoming mainstream as young men turn to the drugs to boost self-confidence and improve body image, experts warn.

The charity DrugScope found steroid abuse was a significant problem in 11 out of 20 towns and cities it surveyed.

The drugs have traditionally been used by elite athletes and bodybuilders.

But DrugScope found evidence of widespread use by young professionals, building-site workers and students for purely aesthetic reasons.

Young people see the drugs as an easy way to achieve a muscled, toned physique, the charity warned.

Supply of the Class C drug, a human growth hormone, is illegal, but possession is not.

Side effects of steroid misuse in men include reduced sperm count, kidney and liver problems, high blood pressure and increased aggression.

The DrugScope survey also found an increase in the use of heroin and crack cocaine simultaneously. This usage practice is known as “speedballing,” and is so common in south London that the combined substances are treated similar to a drug in its own right.

The various side effects of steroids misuse include reduced sperm count, high blood pressure, increased aggression and kidney and liver problems. Risk of occurrence of HIV and hepatitis B and C is also quite high among the injectors.

Tags: abusing steroids, bodybuilders, human growth hormone, side effects of steroids, speedballing, steroids

Posted in bodybuilding, buy steroids, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Olympics, Steroids in Sports