In the world of sports it is not rare to see athletes give their heart and soul for the love of the game. From sunrise to sundown they practice everyday to perfect their game.

Then there are those who take an alternative route. Now athletes are taking performance enhancers such as creatine, androstenedione and worst of all, anabolic steroids.

Steroids are chemicals that act like hormones (substances in your body that regulate bodily functions). Anabolic steroids are the ones that are abused to build muscle mass or to make your workout longer. They are chemicals of artificial testosterone, which is a male hormone. With higher testosterone you can have more physique and body hair and a deeper voice.

It mainly started in the 1950 s when some athletes were juicing up for training purposes but now you will find all sorts of athletes using this drug. From high school to professional sports a lot of athletes are using steroids. Even though it is illegal there are over one million steroid users. Five percent of male and two percent of female high school students are using steroids. So that would be equal to 375 thousand males and 175 thousand females.

Why take steroids if you already know that it is not good for you? Most of the steroid users are injecting for better performance and strength for their sports, but, other users are simply juicing to build more muscle mass or to look better, physically.

Inside their bodies they are actually ruining themselves. Taking steroids is a big threat to your health. You could have severe acne, genital changes, water retention, and yellowing eyes and skin. Its not only your appearance that could be at risk but you can also get other health problems. There are coronary artery diseases, ligament injuries, high blood pressure, changes in your cholesterol level, sterility, and liver disease. For males you can get breast development, kidney disease, headaches, muscle cramps, abdominal pains, and bone pains. For females you could get male patterned baldness, smaller breasts, deeper voices, hairy bodies and menstrual irregularities. What I don t understand is why some take steroids to look better. Would you be attracted to a woman who is just like one of the guys, literally? And girls, would you want someone who has yellow skin with acne all over his face? I know I wouldn t.

Physical problems are just the first step, steroids also give you psychological problems. This would be known as roid rage. When the user gets very angry and they could possibly swing punches aggressively at anyone within striking distance. The other mental problem is addiction. Even though the user has an already built body he or she thinks that steroids are still necessary to use so they can perform better. Some users also experience depression during parts of the cycles when taking the drug.

Anabolic steroids are illegal and are sold over the black market and there are different kinds. To name some there are Erythropoietin, stimulants, clenbuterol and other drugs that are marketed as steroid alternatives. Without a prescription steroids are illegally sold.

Besides steroids there are other performance enhancers that can be bought over the counter. They are androstenedione and creatine. These also increase your hormones just like the anabolic steroids.

They way they think andro works is your body converts it into testosterone. If the theory is true then andro would be just like regular anabolic steroids. There have been a few studies of its safety and effectiveness but most studies have been about creatine. An amino acid supplement which will make you train longer and harder.

We are for sure that anabolic steroids are bad for you because it has been proven. I believe that if creatine and andro are made and used for the same purpose I don t see how it could be any different from steroids accept that it might not be as harmful, but if taken in a large amount wouldn t it have the same effects? Even though some of these effects are good, is it worth it to go through the bad effects that are more permanent? So for love of the game, would you please keep it clean?