Steroid Alert

Year Published: 1990

Creator: Visual Education Centre

Complete Record: This informative film presents the facts about anabolic (growth enhancing) steroids. Through interviews and narration, viewers learn what steroids are and how they affect the body. The growing problem of steroid abuse by athletes and students is presented through interviews with Dr. Harrison Pope, one if the few authorities on illicit steroid use, and ex-professional athletes and former steroid users Steve Courson, Adam Fratassio and Danny Wells. Steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone, a hormone naturally produced in every normal male. Testosterone influences the growth and development of skin, body hair, bone and muscle and is responsible for the masculine traits of males. The normal amount of testosterone produced by most males is a few milligrams a day. Since the 1950’s some males have increase the amounts of testosterone in their bodies by using steroids illicitly. Their use appears to be even more prevalent in sports and body building today. In addition to professional athletes, many students are also using some form of this drug, either to excel at sports or simply to just look bigger or better. Steroids do have legitimate medical uses when prescribed by a doctor, but because of the side effects associated with them, their use is limited. Side effects that commonly result from non-medical steroid use include liver cancer, prostate cancer, kidney disease, gynocomastia (enlargement of the breasts), hypertension, various forms of heart disease, and shrinkage of the testicles. In spite of the side effects, steroids can be obtained by those who want them. There are many different kinds f steroids, each with a different name and a slightly different chemical composition. They come in both pill and injectable form. Whether in pill or solution, repeated use of steroids tends to upset the body’s natural hormone balance. Many athletes take several different steroids, called “stacking” in attempts to increase their effectiveness. The dangers of impure ingredients and the tendency to overdose as inherent with these products as the are with any illicit substance.