Tainted Past, Uncertain Future
So-Called Performance-Enhancing Drugs Carry Health Risks

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Baseball returns to Capitol Hill today for another look into the illegal use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. One of the sport's biggest stars, pitcher Roger Clemens, is scheduled to testify at a congressional hearing.

Clemens was one of about 90 players named in December in a major report on the use of such drugs in baseball. But it's not just pro athletes who are risking severe health problems in this way, the report noted.

In an effort to gain a competitive edge, about two of every 100 eighth-graders and almost five of every 100 high school students admit to using steroids illegally, studies show. That might not sound like many, but it adds up to thousands of young people across the country.

What concerns doctors most: No one knows what the drugs do to kids long-term.

A Lot of Side Effects

Imagine a boy developing breasts or a girl growing a mustache. Or how about turning yellow, losing hair or feeling really moody?

Doctors say that's what can happen to kids who use what are called anabolic steroids.

These drugs cause muscle tissue to grow, making people bigger and stronger. Steroids can help some athletes such as weightlifters train harder because they can work out more frequently.

But bigger isn't always better, doctors say.

Laurel Blakemore, chief of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, says the health risks of steroids far outweigh any benefits. There's no proof, she says, that the drugs make a football player run faster or a basketball player shoot better.

"It's not guaranteed to improve performance," Blakemore says.

Illegal and 'Stupid'

Not all steroids are dangerous. Some are used in medicines that treat health problems such as cancer, asthma and allergies.

But anabolic steroids are made to build muscles by mimicking a hormone in the body called testosterone (pronounced tess-TOSS-tur-own). Though illegal without a prescription, the drugs are available on the Internet and on the street under names such as "arnolds," "gym candy," "pumpers, "roids" and "juice."

Anthwon Broome, 11, who plays soccer on a Boys & Girls Club team, says he's never heard of kids his age taking illegal steroids. But his father has warned him about the drugs. Anthwon says that he and his friends think it's "stupid" for anyone, especially professional athletes, to use them.

"Athletes have talent, and they shouldn't ruin their careers because of one drug or one mistake," says the sixth-grader at the District's Friendship Public Charter School-Chamberlain Campus.

Doctors and coaches hope that other kids agree.

Darius Stanton, an official with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, says young athletes refuse drugs when they feel good about themselves. Stanton says that kids should think beyond winning -- that sports is also good exercise and a way to develop personal skills such as leadership and teamwork.

"Winning is important, but it's not the most important thing," he says. "The most important thing is the effort you put into it."

And that doesn't come in a drug.

-- Katherine Shaver