The first argument against what the media and the government are saying is that it is very difficult to research effects of steroids accurately. One of the reasons is that most people who take steroids take it at dosages higher than recommended amounts and researchers cannot ethically give study participants the dosages that they normally take in real life so test results are not accurate to what they take in real life.
Additionally, athletes have been using steroids for more than forty years and there have been very few instances of serious health problems. There are huge risks with using steroids (especially if not used in a manner to known to give the best results with the fewest side effects), however, so that doesn’t mean that steroid use is safe, though. Additionally, healthy adult males are less likely to experience side effects than females and adolescents, but that does not make them immune to the effects – and the side effects have been documented, but the question to the severity is what is up in the air.
People who have used steroids successfully for long periods of time say that steroid use can be safe as long as they are taken correctly and the users is well-educated about each and every steroid they use. The form of the steroids, the dosage, the length of the cycle and the individual user determine the dangers of steroids. Here are some determinants of danger factors in relation to steroids:
Men can withstand large doses of steroids for short periods of time more so than small doses for a long period of time. Cycling helps break up the regimens so that steroid users can go off the steroids for a period of time and give their bodies a break.
Women are the opposite. They can withstand smaller doses for a long period of time instead of inundating the body with large doses of the male sex hormone. Large doses of the male sex hormone can start the appearance of male sex characteristics in females. Women get greater positive effects from small doses than men, however.
That all said, even if there is not a lot of evidence of serious life-threatening instances, there are plenty of negative side effects and steroids need to be used with caution so as to not experience those effects. Some people do say that by making anabolic steroids illegal the government is actually making steroid use more dangerous because people who are going to use them anyway don’t have as easy access to information about how to take the steroids in a manner to decrease their chance for negative side effects. People who use steroids illegally may not have as much access to health monitoring necessary to make sure they are not doing damage to their health – blood tests can often indicate early signs of potentially dangerous conditions.
Another danger factor of steroids is the form in which it’s taken. Oral steroids have higher risk factors because they can do more damage to the liver and other bodily systems, but they are often preferred because they are excreted from the system faster and make it easier to pass drug tests. Intravenous steroids are less likely to lead to some of the negative side effects, but they take much longer to leave the system than the oral forms.
Most people will probably agree that steroids have the potential to be extremely dangerous. The controversy is mostly about if and when the benefits of steroids outweigh the negative side effects. We know they are there, it’s just whether or not the determining factors can be manipulated to help widen the gap between the two. Sources: |
