TweetThe use of steroids usually conjures up a negative image in most people’s minds but with their use becoming more wide-spread, even in Saskatchewan, some people are seeing them differently.
Normally anabolic steroids are associated with cheating or considered part of an unhealthy lifestyle. Ben Johnson planted the early seeds of our negativity towards steroids in 1988 when, after winning the gold medal in the men’s 100 metre sprint, he was found to have taken an anabolic steroid. He was promptly stripped of that medal.
In more recent history, controversy surrounding several big name Major League Baseball players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez have helped solidify that perception. Cyclist Lance Armstrong’s years of denial about using performance-enhancing drugs and his eventual admission have made it a seemingly non-debatable issue nowadays.
But one Regina man doesn’t think steroids are necessarily as bad as many believe.
Frank is a former steroid user (his name has been changed as he has requested to remain anonymous). He took the drug for a few months, in what’s known as a cycle, before competing in a bodybuilding competition. He confessed he had great muscle gains in that time. But shortly after the competition ended he went off the juice.
“I took some time after using and took a look at it as a whole. I don’t think it’s something that actually really harms anybody other than the individual using,” he said.
Frank admits there’s no need for him to take the drugs anymore, realizing he likely couldn’t reach a higher level in the bodybuilding world. Still, he insists he’s done the research and he feels steroids have gotten a bad name.
“It wasn’t really proper use where people were seeing problems, it was when it kind of bordered that abuse side of things,” he said.
“Any adverse side effects, they’re definitely [attributed] to long-term use, or abuse for that matter. You always see people in the media give it such a harsh, bad name and the problem is there’s no way that somebody’s going to, say, die or murder a family. Like, there’s got to be underlying issues,” he said when comparing steroids to other drugs like cocaine or crystal meth.
But a Regina-based sports medicine doctor with about 20 years of experience doesn’t see it the same way.
“Even though a steroid user may think they’re getting away with a few months of cycling a steroid the reality is that they’re often doing very dangerous practices with it,” said Dr. Mike Nicholls.
He claims it’s not far-fetched to link steroid-using men with other high-risk behaviour.
“There comes a point where an athlete crosses a line. When they cross that line to taking banned or illegal or underground substances they’ll often combine all kinds of things, including cocaine, for workouts. They start injecting drugs. There’s a huge concern. For example, with steroid users, the number one risk is Hepatitis. Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV.”
All this comes on top of side effects most are already familiar with, including increased aggressiveness (known as “roid rage”), baldness, testicular atrophy, and female masculinity. Cancer is also linked with prolonged use.
“If you replace some substance that you naturally make with super-physiological amounts from an outside source, it causes you to decrease your own natural production of things,” Nicholls stated.
He thinks there really isn’t a safe or correct way to use steroids, contrary to what Frank believes.
“Is smoking bad for you? What if I only smoke one or two cigarettes a day? Well, it’s probably less bad, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t bad.”
WIth steroid use seemingly on the rise in our province those impacts are likely either being ignored or discounted. In tomorrow’s final installment of JUICED we’ll look at body image issues, a main reason why people might be willing to risk those side-effects.

JUICED Part 2: The dangers of anabolic steroid use | News Talk 650 CKOM

TweetThe title "DR" gives some people a licence to be a moron