Steroid use in high schools a major concern
Dangers of drugs being overlooked by some teenagers
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Anabolic-androgenic steroids work. That’s the ugly fact about these man-made, muscle-building drugs.

These artificial substances, that are synthetic versions of testosterone, the male sex hormone, date back to the 1930s.

According to the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, steroids were developed to help men who were not producing a natural amount of testosterone, an affliction known as hypogonadism. They are used legally today for men with low testosterone and for treatment of patients with AIDS and other body-wasting diseases and loss of muscle mass. They are also used for treatment of certain types of breast cancer and some forms of anemia.

However, according to Dr. Nora D. Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the doses prescribed to treat these medical conditions are 10 to 100 times lower than the doses that are abused for performance enhancement.

According to NIDA reports, more than 100 different anabolic steroids have been developed, with most of the illegally used steroids being smuggled in from other countries, illegally diverted through U.S. pharmacies, or synthesized in clandestine laboratories.

The drugs are taken orally, by injection or used transdermally. Testosterone’s effects trigger the maturing of the male reproductive system in puberty, including the growth of body hair and the deepening of the voice. The hormone’s anabolic effect helps the body retain dietary protein, which aids in the development of muscles.

Therein lies the draw for athletes looking for a shortcut.

Steroids have been found to be a performance-enhancing drug for athletes, allowing them to train harder and more often and increase muscle mass. They seem to have seeped into our world via professional sports. There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by without new revelations concerning the use of these muscle-building drugs.

Cherished baseball records are coming into question and there are now inquiries surrounding a Super Bowl team. Sports fans are left to wonder how many of the athletes they see perform are doing so naturally.

While the recent focus has been on the NFL and Major League Baseball, there is a real concern that steroids are not the sole property of professional athletes. They have also reached high school athletes, who are looking for that proverbial edge, and teenagers, who for cosmetic reasons, want to look better on the beach.

According to the NIDA’s 2004 Monitoring the Future Survey, approximately 500,000 teenagers are using anabolic steroids. The study, which tested 49,474 students in a nationally representative sample of 406 public and private schools, showed that steroid use has declined in the past few years among eighth- and 10th graders, while use among high school seniors has remained at its peak level (about 3.4 percent) since the organization began surveying in 1995.

That is why Dr. Victor Naumov formed The National Coalition for the Advancement of Drug-Free Athletes Inc. (NCADFA) with other doctors. The mission is to raise awareness about the issue of steroid abuse and to offer alternatives. They take their message, “natural by choice,” to high schools. They want to be a part of the solution by not only pointing out the dangers of the drugs, but offering a solution by teaching proven natural scientific techniques and strategies.

“We want to take the issue out of the locker room to the dinner table,” said Naumov. “We want to get it out to the public.

“Steroids are so dangerous,” he added. “They can change the course of your life forever.”

Steroid users, according to Naumov, display recognizable symptoms that parents and coaches should be on the lookout for. The first, he said, is large muscle weight gain in a short time.

There are several other indicators to look for, according to Naumov — acne on the face, chest and back; development of tissue behind the nipples in boys; aggression, which is often referred to as “roid rage”; depression; mood changes; and the “superman syndrome” in which the user has a feeling of invincibility.

“Look at behavioral changes, obsessiveness with working out all the time and preoccupation with [muscle] magazines,” Naumov said. “Look for change in temperament, a puffy bloating look and acne.”

Even girls are getting into steroids, and Naumov pointed out that signs are a deepening of the voice, more masculine structure, breast shrinking, facial hair and male pattern balding.

Steroid’s side effects are hardly glamorous. They may not surface for many years, but they are devastating. They include cancer, liver and kidney tumors, heart attacks and strokes. Teens run the risk of arrested bone development that can prevent them from reaching their full height potential.

“At that age, the body is still growing, and by changing the natural process, you’re asking for trouble,” Naumov said.

An added danger is the fact that recent evidence suggests that longtime steroid users have demonstrated the classic characteristics of addiction, including cravings, difficulty in stopping steroid use and withdrawal symptoms.

A further concern is the ready availability of the drug. Gyms are said to be factories, and if that’s not enough, you can purchase steroids over the Internet.

In the first place steroids are illegal without a doctor’s prescription. Let the buyer beware when it comes to buying steroids through the underground.

What steroids do for an athlete is put more testosterone in the blood, which enables an athlete to recover more quickly from a workout and rebuild muscles faster. Athletes can recover faster and train harder, and the results will show up quickly.

“The scary thing is that the stuff works,” Naumov said.

Users will take steroids in cycles varying from two to four months, depending on the drug and the dosage. The cycle is followed by a down period when the user is off the drug. Some choose to taper, which is reducing the dosage over a period of time.

One practiced use by athletes is to take more than one individual steroid during a cycle, called stacking. Each steroid will serve its own purpose.

Steroids, though, are not a magic pill. You just don’t take them and overnight become a world-class athlete.

“Steroids will get you bigger and stronger, but they will not make you a better player,” Naumov said. “It’s not going to improve your skills.”

Above all else, steroids are an issue of choice. Athletes choose to take them or not. It may bring up moral and ethical issues about cheating and taking a shortcut to success, but it does not eliminate the serious and dangerous side effects.

— Doug McKenzie contributed to this story