Doping Disaster: On the Wheels of a Scandal
7 Comments 
Cycling legend Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France 7 times, and his teammates from the U.S. cycling team have been under investigation for illegal “doping.” They are accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs like amphetamines, anabolic steroids, or EPO (erythropoietin), a substance that boosts endurance by increasing the body’s oxygen-carrying red blood cells.
Using any of these substances can give people an unfair advantage and is considered cheating. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is looking into these allegations.
Although the investigation itself is closed to the public, Armstrong’s former teammate Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France in 2006 and has admitted to drug use, recently wrote a tell-all book in which he describes drug use in the sport.
A Tarnished Legend
As the most successful member of the U.S. team, Lance Armstrong was a champion. His wins—and dramatic comeback after being diagnosed and successfully treated for cancer—made him a hero to people around the world. The damage that the doping allegations have done to Armstrong’s reputation and to the sport is major.
Society has rules in place to ensure fairness. And so do most professional sports. Parents teach their children to play by the rules, and we expect adults to live up to these standards, too.
But the pressure to win—or to get good grades, or to complete a big assignment—can tempt any of us to bend or break the rules. When the stakes are high, and the competition is intense, shortcuts to gain a competitive edge are tempting. But is it worth it in the end?—especially in the case of illegal substance use, which can do long-term damage not just to reputations, but to people’s brains and bodies…
What do you think: What does it mean to you to hear that someone you look up to might have been riding to victory not on talent, hard work, and focus alone, but by cheating? What does “playing fair” mean to you?
Hit the Gym, Not the Pills
Most of us have something about ourselves that we’d like to change. Too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, too stocky, too anything… In fact, research suggests that more than half of teens are unsatisfied with their bodies for some reason. Some teens are so concerned about their bodies that they take unhealthy or extreme actions, such as taking steroids or diet pills or supplements, or trying to limit their calories too much.
Today, SBB will focus on steroids, which are unhealthy and illegal without a doctor’s prescription. Doctors can prescribe anabolic steroids to treat anemia (a condition where the blood doesn’t have enough red blood cells) or to treat men with low testosterone levels. However, some healthy teens—both male and female—turn to steroids to help build muscle or improve athletic performance.
Scary Side Effects
To build muscle, people who take steroids illegally have been known to take doses 10 to 100 times higher than those prescribed by a doctor. Taking such high doses can cause some ugly side effects, to put it mildly. In addition to stunting your growth and causing severe acne, these include:
- For guys—shrinking of the testicles, development of breasts, and baldness, among others.
- For girls—growth of facial hair, baldness, and a permanently deepened voice
Steroids can also cause extreme mood swings, violent behavior, depression, irritability, paranoia, jealousy, and impaired judgment. None of these things will make you the life of the party!
Are steroids worth it? Let us know what YOU think…
What do the Washington Redskins, NIDA, and the Greek Gods have in common?
Many of us have strong opinions about athletes using steroids to short cut their way to being stronger or faster. But it’s not just us—it’s also the 30-plus thousands of coaches and schools who use the ATLAS and ATHENA models in their sports programs.
Exactly what are ATLAS and ATHENA? ATLAS works with young male athletes and stands for Athletes Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids. ATHENA works with young female athletes and stands for Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise and Nutrition Alternatives. Together, ATLAS and ATHENA have fast become the most recognized and effective programs for steering young athletes away from steroids and other harmful behaviors. Not surprisingly, NIDA supports and helps fund it.
“ATLAS is the only program proven to work against steroid and substance abuse in young male athletes, while ATHENA is the only program proven to work in reducing eating disorders and other health-harming behaviors in young female athletes,” said Doctor Linn Goldberg, the head scientist of ATLAS.
These programs are so effective, that in 2007 the Washington Redskins joined forces with NIDA to help bring them into schools like yours!
To spread the word about these programs, the Washington Redskins and NIDA invited students, coaches, and student athletic trainers to FedEx Field on May 3, 2010, for a day of hands-on training on steroid use prevention.
Mike Sellers and Edwin Williams of the Washington Redskins Talked with Students about Steroid Abuse
What did we learn about steroids, football, and healthy behaviors? Here are some questions teens from the Washington, DC, metropolitan area asked Mike Sellers and Edwin Williams of the Washington Redskins:
Teens at the event: What do you think about steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs?
Edwin Williams: They don’t make you a better player; they just change your look.
Teens at the event: Now that we know steroids don’t make an athlete, what do you think it really takes to be a professional athlete?
Mike Sellers: There is no secret ingredient, just determination. And being in great shape lets you heal faster when you are playing sports, which keeps you in the game.
Teens at the event: What do you eat?
Mike Sellers: What you eat makes you what you are; I try to eat lots of chicken, fish and vegetables.
Edwin Williams: I used to eat soul food like fried chicken, but now I’m eating healthier and using portion control.
Teens at the event: What motivates you to be healthy and a better athlete?
Mike Sellers: The love for the game!
Teens at the event: Playing high school football requires motivation for both sports and academics. How did you maintain good grades in school?
Mike Sellers: Dedication, you have to be able to absorb lots of information and then take it back to the field.
Edwin Williams: I graduated with a 3.4 GPA, and it was not easy. It’s about time management and working hard. You have to be on top of the game, have determination, self-confidence, be able to multitask and work as hard as you can. Always have a goal.
Want more? See what else the Washington Redskins are doing
to help families in D.C lead healthier, more active lives. Want to help? Ask your teacher, coach, or principal about bringing ATLAS and ATHENA to your school, and how you can help.
Real Athletes Break Records Not Rules
“You can do it!” and a sprained ankle were what Olympic gymnast, Kerri Strug, took with her to the mat as she landed the vault to help win Team USA’s first women’s gymnastics gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Nothing could keep this athlete from performing to her fullest ability.
Why should you want to know more about Kerri? This courageous athlete was just 14 and the youngest Olympian at the 1992 summer Olympic Games, who went on to win a Gold medal at the 1996 summer Olympics. Since she was 6 years old, Kerri dreamed of being an Olympian and trained for 12 years to achieve this goal. During those years, she made sacrifices and even moved away from her family and friends to train with her famous coach, Bela Karolyi. Most importantly, each of those 12 years was spent working hard—drug free.
We had the privilege of interviewing Kerri (pictured right) about her journey to Olympic gold and what advice she’d give teens, athletes or not.
Sara Bellum Blog (SBB): Fill in the blank: Participating in sports makes me feel ____.
Kerri Strug: Alive. Being athletic is important because it is good for your long-term health and helps you learn life skills such as dedication, perseverance, and mental toughness.
SBB: What motivated you when you were training?
Kerri: I was motivated by the self-satisfaction I got when I set a goal and attained it.
SBB: What words of motivation can you offer teens?
Kerri: I think teens need to find a passion; set goals, and then go after them.
SBB: What did achieving your goal by winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics mean to you?
Kerri: After 12 long years of training and numerous sacrifices…I got what I wanted so badly. There is no better feeling than working hard for something and thinking it is not really possible; and then it becomes a reality.
SBB: Your gold medal was the product of your years of training, hard work, perseverance and passion for the sport—all drug-free. What do you think about professional athletes who have used performance-enhancing drugs? Continue reading “Real Athletes Break Records Not Rules” »
What Happened to Mark?
Image Courtesy of DeusXFlorida
The news story said Mark McGwire’s voice “cracked with emotion” when he finally admitted to the world he had used steroids for 10 years, including the season he broke the home run record, hitting 70 slammers in 1998. He is probably not just embarrassed by this, but also concerned about his health, since steroids can cause problems even after you go off them.
There are sometimes medical uses for steroids, such as to help people with cancer or AIDS build up lost muscle mass. But many people-especially those who want to improve their athletic performance-abuse anabolic steroids to “bulk up,” typically taking higher doses than people who take them for medical reasons. Steroid abuse among athletes, especially baseball players, has become such a problem that a few years ago the U.S. Congress held a special investigation. Now, major league baseball executives are working to “clean it up,” which Mr. McGwire now says is a good thing.
“I wish I had never touched steroids. . .It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era.” –Mark McGwire
Taking steroids is not a good bargain. Because even though they might make you stronger in the short-run, the price you pay can be much too high. So what can happen? Here’s just a short list of the possible side effects:
- Stunt your growth and cause bad acne.
- Cause vicious mood swings (ever heard of “‘roid rage”?)
- For guys, abusing steroids can lead to shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts.
- For girls, abusing steroids lead to growth of facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, and a permanently deepened voice.
The good news is that steroid use is not a huge problem among teens–as many teens have a healthy game plan. Still, somewhere between 1-2% of high schoolers, many being athletes, have tried them, mostly to enhance sports performance. Did you know that NIDA has a Web section on steroids with information just for teens? Check out http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_ster1.php. Also take a look at this YouTube video starring one of our scientists here at NIDA.
NOTE: PDF documents require the free Adobe Reader. Microsoft Word documents require the free Microsoft Word viewer.
Flash content requires the free Adobe Flash Player.
National Institute on Drug Abuse | National Institutes of Health | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
