Performance-enhancing drugs are a topic in today's society which is currently under hot
debate. Performance-enhancing drugs are substances which are used to stimulate certain
areas of the body to make an athlete excel in a certain event. The most common form of
performance-enhancing drugs are called steroids. According to Hank Nuwer in his book
Steroids, steroids are "...compounds that are necessary for the well-being of many living
creatures, including human beings. These include sex hormones, bile acids, and
cholesterol" (15). Steroids are used in the medical field to treat many ailments, and this
use is not the use which is currently under controversy. The medical reasons are to treat
anemia, burns, asthma, anorexia, intestinal disorders, and much more (Nuwer 15). These
types of steroids are called cortical steroids.
But the other use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs is that they are
used by athletes who wish to gain an unfair advantage over their competitors, or use them
to keep up with the competition since so many athletes are using these types of drugs.
These drugs are taken in a variety of ways. The two most common ways are to be taken
orally in pill form, or injected into the body with a needle. Just a few of these
performance-enhancing drugs are Nelvar, Deca-Durabolin, Anavar, Stanzolol, Dianabol,
and Anadrol-50 (Nuwer 17). These drugs are much more dangerous than the legal
performance-enhancing drugs because the athletes take much, much more than the
recommended doses that would be prescribed by a doctor. They feel that the more pills or
injections they take, the stronger, faster, and better they will be when competing, but this
Performance-enhancing drugs are relatively unstudied today. There are not many
known fact about performance-enhancing drugs and steroids. But, there is some evidence
that shows some of these substances ma...