By John Garces/sports editor
Thanks to a large federal raid on an Internet pharmacy in Orlando, several performance-enhancing drugs are in the news.
These drugs, such as HGH, which is more commonly known as human growth hormone, as well as nandrolone and stanozolol, which are anabolic steroids, have been linked to professional athletes in many sports.
These drugs, and others of their kind, are known as PEDs, or performance enhancing drugs, because of their positive effect on a player’s ability.
But what many people may not know, specifically high school athletes who feel the need to take them, is the effect these drugs have on the body.
Anabolic steroids have long been known to produce extra muscle mass, but they are also widely believed to be the cause of several physical ailments.
Because of the growth of many tissues in the body, anabolic steroids can cause damage to many of the body’s organs as a result of disturbing a user’s equilibrium.
The organ most at risk is the liver, which has to deal with breaking down the testosterone compound in the drugs.
Significant damage to the heart is also possible, because of the expansion of the cardiac muscle that occurs when the drugs are used.
Many professional wrestlers who have died from steroid usage have been found to have enlarged hearts.
Growth of facial features, such as the jaw bones and teeth are also associated with use, as well as an increased risk of cancer.
Aside from the obvious risks involved with the use of these drugs, other side effects can occur, such as the development of inappropriate sexual characteristics (men grow breast tissue, women grow facial hair), a deepening of the voice, baldness and impotence in men.
One might wonder if the temporary adrenaline rush of turning into a better athlete is ever worth the risk of dying at an age far too young.
The facts say no. But the facts appear to have no effect on the attitudes of the American athlete yet.
Maybe they should do a little digging of their own before we’re the ones doing the digging and burying another one of them before their time.
