Steroids: Home

This book provides readers, with updated critical and objective information about steroids and doping in sports. Helps readers towards an understanding of the nature of anabolic steroids and their effects on the human body, both beneficial and harmful Comprises an extensive array of tools that permits students to continue their own research on the topic Includes a glossary of terms that will aid readers in better understanding the technical language used in discussions of steroids and doping in sports Introduces readers to the complex issue of testing for illegal drugs in both amateur and professional sports, and to methods of testing and problems involved with mediating the validity and reliability of tests Introduces students to important individuals and organizations involved in steroid abuse and doping in sports, both historically and currently.

Appearance- and performance-enhancing drugs--specifically, anabolic steroids (APEDs)--provide a tempting competitive advantage for amateur baseball players. But this shortcut can exact a fatal cost on talented athletes. In his urgent book Suicide Squeeze, William Kashatus chronicles the experiences of Taylor Hooton and Rob Garibaldi, two promising high school baseball players who abused APEDs in the hopes of attracting professional scouts and Division I recruiters. However, as a result of their steroid abuse, they ended up taking their own lives. In Suicide Squeeze--named for the high-risk play in baseball to steal home--Kashatus identifies the symptoms and dangers of steroid use among teens. Using archival research and interviews with the Hooton and Garibaldi families, he explores the lives and deaths of these two troubled young men, the impact of their suicides on MLB, and the ongoing fight against adolescent APED use by their parents.

This book compiles several years of multi-faceted qualitative research on fitness doping to provide a fresh insight into how the growing phenomenon intersects with issues of gender, body and health in contemporary society. Analyzes how, in the context of the global development of gym and fitness culture, particular doping trajectories are formulated and users come into contact with doping. Also explores users' internalization of particular values, practices and communications and how this influences understandings of the self, health, gender and the body, as well as tying this into wider beliefs regarding individual freedom and the law. This insight into doping goes beyond elite and organized sports, and will be of interest to students and scholars across the sociology of sport, leisure studies, and gender and body politics.

A thorough, balanced examination of the controversies on the therapeutic and non-therapeutic use of steroids that covers both legal medical therapy and illegal performance enhancement. * Examines the historical trends leading to steroid use as part of social attitudes and problems related to self-image, competitiveness, and aging * Provides a thorough discussion of policy responses to steroid policy issues such as law enforcement and illegal trafficking, safety guidelines for medical practitioners, and unique considerations for youth protection * Includes a host of related primary document resources that support the discussion on steroid use * Supplies a detailed chronology of the major relevant events in steroid history, starting from the first discovery of synthetic versions of testosterone and including all major scandals in professional sports

Too many Americans are taking too many drugs -- and it's costing us our health, happiness, and lives. Prescription drug use in America has increased tenfold in the past 50 years, and over-the-counter drug use has risen just as dramatically. In addition to the dozens of medications we take to treat serious illnesses, we take drugs to help us sleep, to keep us awake, to keep our noses from running, our backs from aching, and our minds from racing. Name a symptom, there's a pill to suppress it. Modern drugs can be miraculously life-saving, and many illnesses demand their use. But what happens when our reliance on powerful pharmaceuticals blinds us to their risks? Painful side effects and dependency are common, and adverse drug reactions are America's fourth leading cause of death. Outlines when medicine is necessary, and when it is not. Dr. Weil examines how we came to be so drastically overmedicated, presents science that proves drugs aren't always the best option, and provides reliable integrative medicine approaches to treating common ailments like high blood pressure, allergies, depression, and even the common cold.