Steroids

I found the movie that we watched in class about steroids very interesting. Until watching this movie it had never occurred to me to think of steroids as anything but bad. I think the main point of this video was that all drugs have risks and side effects and should only be used if the benefits greatly outweigh the risks. I was surprised to find out that steroids are actually prescribed by doctors to people with muscle deteriorating diseases. Steroids have also been used to treat Bell’s palsy, Alzheimer's, hormonal disorders, kidney problems, and asthma. There are, of course, risks in taking steroids, but I wonder how many are true and how many are embellished or just simply fabricated to scare people away from them. In the online article I found, it stated that taking steroids can cause damage to sex organs and the nervous system. Frequent users of steroids can also suffer from liver inflammation, ligament and joint damage, facial hair growth, acne, and tumors. This article also stated that steroids cause kidney disease which I found interesting because the other article I found stated that steroids helped people with kidney problems. There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there about steroids. It would be nice if some scientists and doctors did a conclusive study about steroids and released the truth to the public.

Here are the articles I found:

http://www.helium.com/items/337426-the-benefits-and-risks-of-steroids-for-athletes?page=2
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/benefits-of-steroids-and-excellence-in-performance-857569.htm

L. Kinnaman 332I Section 2 T&TH 9:30a.m.