Androstenedione: Just Say No
Imagine rounding the bases after hitting your 70th home run and setting a new major league record. Slapping your teammatesí hands, you hear cheers progress throughout the sold out stadium. As you acknowledge the crowd further, you hear booing also coming from the standing crowd. Why are they booing? You just set a record! Then you see a small boy pointing at you and yelling. You watch closely and see the word, “Andro” form on his lips.
Androstenedione, known as "andro", is made of a naturally occurring hormone of the body, which is used naturally in tiny amounts to make the male hormone testosterone. It is found in humans, animals and the pollen of many plants. Andro is produced in the gonads and adrenal glands of all mammals. It is said to help speed up the recovery of injuries along with bodybuilding and weight training to increase muscle mass. The androgens are the male sex steroids. When andro is taken it can convert the female sex steroid, estrogen into testosterone. Testosterone increases body and facial hair, acne, deepens the voice, enhances prostate growth, and promotes muscular growth. Blood levels of testosterone start rising about 15 minutes and peak about an hour after oral consumption of androstenedione. When users take too much, androgen shuts off the bodyís own making of testosterone, which can damage normal testicular function (Quinn).
When athletes take androstenedione, it gives them an unfair advantage over other athletes. No one will ever know if Mark McGwire or any other athletes could have done their achievements without taking andro. "The International Olympics Committee, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and in the Men and Women's Tennis Tours banned androstenedione due to the fact that it is unsafe and gives an unfair advantage" (Totheroh). It is still legal, though, in Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. If it is going to be banned in some sports, it should be banned in all. Since there are many different opinions of the committees, it is obvious that athletes are confused and are pushing the limits of performance improvements.
People think that if androstenedione is not illegal then anyone should be allowed to take it. Mark McGwire used androstenedione and he set a world record. So is it safe to use? Should a high school athlete use it?
Baseball?s reputation has been painted with a red asterisk. The non-medical use of steroids has been banned according to the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990. Many baseball athletes have been caught or presumed illegal users of HGH or Steroids since the act passed in 1990. All these athletes have one thing in common, they want to have an edge or advantage on the game. Some athletes even admit to administering the drug to other athletes and themselves. Jose Conseco testified to personally injecting the steroids into Mark McGuire (Cote).
Weber and Marx have both written accounts on the rise of capitalism and the bourgeoisie class in an attempt to understand the resulting inequalities that still exist today. Weber has criticised the work of Marx, citing how limited it is use a purely economic framework, labelled as historical materialism, instead of looking at all factors within society (Weber 2001: 20). Weber provides evidence and conclusions that mirror Marx, suggesting that his criticism is faulty. First, both writers recognise an inequality between the poor and rich resulting from the rise of capitalism and the bourgeoisie (Marx and Engels 2008: 34-36; Weber 2001: 28-30). Second, they both suggest broader systems of delusion meant to normalise the exploitation of the worker, and validate the gains of the bourgeoisie (Marx and Engels 2008: 38-40; Weber 2001: 24-27). Third, both authors refer to the development of systems that divides workers and suppresses their ability to deviate from or break capitalism (Marx and Engels 2008: 44; Weber 2001: 19; 115). Therefore, Weber’s criticism of Marx is only partially correct. Marx actually discusses social, political, and even moral elements despite both authors believing that The Communist Manifesto is solely about economics; the overlap between their conclusions shows demonstrates such variety. Weber’s work is superior though because he integrates examples of religion and morals to further support these points: the oppressive systems of capitalism and the persistent class antagonisms. Disproving even Marx’s own identity as an economist, Weber’s argument is marginally superior because it uses morality to elaborate on Marx’s seemingly-economic conclusions regarding the rise of bourgeois capitalism.
Karl Marx believed class was a matter of economics, that is, how the individual fits into the pattern of modern capitalist society. Marx argued that the whole of capitalist society was constructed in order to support this idea including the society’s infrastructure. Marx believed that social classes arise when a group gains control of the means of production. This group also has the power to maintain or increase its wealth by taking advantage of the surplus value of labor. Many people question why a worker would labor under such conditions. The reason is quite simple according to Marx. The reason is political and social representation. Members of this class elect representatives who pass laws that serve their interests. Landlords and factory owners were able to use their control of resources to exploit the unlanded laborers in the newly emerging factories.
Marx focused on economy, not history. In contrast Waber interested ideas and history about how capitalism emerged. Marx ruling class has the prestige respect and nobility. Weber democratic, people elect their representatives, Ideas and innovations. Weber emphasized that social class is shaped by demand and supply. Waber; the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, this is where pure form of capitalism emerged because of hard work and calling. In contrast Marx; believed that religion is the drug of people. It means that it keeps them with self-satisfaction. He also, argued that religion withhold peoples or social development and mislead the poor people. Marx: favor Waber and argued that Capitalism was progressive at the first time. It replaced the other systems dominated by kings, and churches. It pushes back illiteracy, and lack of free market. It emerged to make money all around the world and generate wealthier. Also, it enables persons to consume goods. After all, it transformed system of exploitation and creates social classes and inequality. That is why he proposed to replace capitalist with a system dominated by the working class. On the other hand, Waber think that there is no way to change
Athletes often abuse this drug to help build muscle and improve athletic performance. This is illegal and dangerous to do to your body. Most athletes use steroids to gain an advantage on their opponent so they will become better than them. This may help them short term become better. However, in the long run, their body may pay for the abuse of steroids. Many people do not understand the dangers they could face while taking steroids. These dangers, along with the drug being illegal, could definitely lead to the wrong path for anyone. Players use steroids to get more muscles so they can hit the ball farther and get more home runs, run faster, or even have th...
The use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs is a common trend that is currently fascinating athletes all over the world. Athletes who are using these drugs are damaging the sport and harming their bodies at the same time. Seeking a greater athletic physique and ability, athletes turned to the use of steroids. Once the dangers and possible health risks arose, athletes then turned to performance enhancers. Two specific supplements have taken the sports world by storm and now are being used by athletes of all ages. They are androstenedione and creatine. It took years until people began to understand how dangerous steroids really were. These performance enhancers, like androstenedione and creatine are going to produce the same results.
Max Weber and Karl Marx, two prolific Sociologists who share different views with the origins and development of modern capitalism. They wanted to understand the rise of capitalism, the causes of it, as well as the direction it was heading. As they started to dissect capitalism they developed two separate conclusions generated from completely different factors. It’s hard to fathom the fact that Weber and Marx could arrive at two distinct conclusions while studying a similar event. They took two separate angles of approach, which caused them to have to opposing theories. Due too Weber and Marx approaching capitalism from different angles, their views of the dynamics, and the understanding of the origins differed.
Karl Marx, a German philosopher, saw this inequality growing between what he called "the bourgeoisie" and "the proletariat" classes. The bourgeoisie was the middle/upper class which was growing in due to the industrial revolution, and the proletariats were the working class, the poor. These two classes set themselves apart by many different factors. Marx saw five big problems that set the proletariat and the bourgeoisie aside from each other. These five problems were: The dominance of the bourgeoisie over the proletariat, the ownership of private property, the set-up of the family, the level of education, and their influence in government. Marx, in The Communist Manifesto, exposes these five factors which the bourgeoisie had against the communist, and deals with each one fairly. As for the proletariat class, Marx proposes a different economic system where inequality between social classes would not exist.
This is very important when talking about the means of production, which the bourgeoisie own. The proletarians, or lower have to work for the bourgeoisie which causes a lot of social stratification. So because of globalization the bourgeoisie have to recreated and change the means of production, and if they do not they will lose everything and then becomes proletarians and have to work for the new bourgeoisie. Also as the bourgeoisie change the means of production, they change social norms and functions. How can this be without them revolutionizing the system? It cannot be. All of the points that Levine or Gilbert has made on Marx’s ideas are all on point. In society today there are different classes, they might be built upon more than economics, but wealth and money dictate a lot about someone’s place. Marx’s initial ideas are now expanded upon, but the basic ideas of Marx are what all sociologist study social stratification must understand. Marx is correct in his statement because society has changed so much since the Stone Age and Middle Age. We have laptops, cell phones, and really advanced gadgets. Not every country has the same technology as the United States does, and they still survive. This clearly shows how important changing
A very debatable question arises when analyzing this, and the upsurge of homelessness. Is the increase of homelessness due to deinstitutionalization? I believe that homelessness is not a result of deinstitutionalization, but rather in the way it has been implemented. Approximately 20-25% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness (Website 2). According to the Federal Task Force on Homelessness and Severe Mental Illness, only 5-7% of the mentally ill homeless need to be institutionalized (Website 2). A majority of mentally ill can live within the community with the appropriate supportive housing options (Website 2). That is where the problem lies. The mentally ill individuals, who have been dependent on all aspects of an institution, are being thrown into a community with little help or guidance. The importance of the distribution of psychoactive medication and financial support were perceived, but the significance of helping to create a community status role for the mentally ill was overlooked. Once this became apparent, community mental health centers were very resistant to providing services for them. States were also extremely reluctant to distribute funds for these community-based servi...
Although steroids have many negative effects, they have many needed medical purposes. Androgens have many legitimate medical uses, such as the use for treatment of hypogonadal men to compensate for the lack of endogenous production. Anabolic steroids are also helpful for the treatment of certain adolescent diseases, some types of anemias, and for a relatively rare form of edema. Other clinical uses focus on the tissue building and anti-catabolic effects, such as in the treatment of burn victims, AIDS, or HIV positive patients, or patients malnourished from disease or old age (Bellino 1).
Social class has existed in our society since its foundation. Working class, middle class, upper middle class, or upper class, whatever your standing, social class can affect your place in society. Social class can be defined by where you live, who you talk to, where you get an education, even by the clothes you wear. These may not be definite determinants of social class, but categorization of people becomes easier when looking at these factors. In previous papers, I have claimed that social class is a result of capitalism. Though, I still believe this to be true, there are many factors that can affect social class and vice versa. Theorists have looked at different aspects of how these can affect social class. In my paper I am going to explore capitalism, stratification, racism, segregation, and education and their relationship with social class and how this can cause social conflict; I will have a primary focus of how Weber, DuBois, and Marx views this relationship.
Many athletes are pressured into using PEDs by coaches or managers and are not thoroughly educated about the harmful health issues that can come along with taking performance-enhancing drugs. A rising issue is whether performance-enhancing drugs should be allowed in professional sports. I believe that in any professional sport, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes should continue to be banned because this rule will help to keep athletes from abusing these harmful drugs. Steroids can seem harmless to the uninformed user, but they actually have harmful side effects. According to the article “News examines relationship between steroids and heart-related deaths,” published by New York Daily News, “The study (presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago on Nov. 12, 2006) shows that deaths jumped from 476 from in 1980-1992 to 987 from in 1993-2005.
Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, and sociologist, as well as a political revolutionary. In 1843 he began constructing the “Communist Manifesto” alongside his companion Friedrich Engels. The Manifesto began by arguing class struggles and elaborating on the exploitation of one class from another throughout history. “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (__) Marx explains that throughout history we see the oppressor and the oppressed in constant opposition to one another—sometimes openly and others concealed. Each time the fight ends between the two either a revolutionary reconstruction is implicated or in the classes demise. The Manifesto continues to show that the modern bourgeoisie is the product of several of th...
Karl Marx analyzed class relations and social conflict using materialist interpretation of historical development and eventually creating a communist class, in hope of providing everyone with the same necessities. Marx argued that the capitalist bourgeoisie mercilessly exploited the proletariat class. He realized that the performance carried out by the proletariats created considerable abundance for the capitalist. Marxism focuses on exterminating the bourgeoisie and supplying the people with balanced amounts of funds ultimately creating the proletariat class efficient for everyone.