Steroid abuse is the epitome of cheating in elite sport. For those seeking the benefits of body image rather than a sporting image, though, steroid abuse may equate to steroid addiction. Whatever the motive, steroids may give you muscles and make you buff on the outside -- but on the inside you can become a total health wreck.

Just a couple of weeks ago, American Pete Kennedy lay in grave condition in an Albany Medical Center Hospital's intensive care unit. In a span of a few months, Pete's weight went up from 168lbs to more than 210lbs as he transformed his physique from a wiry thin body into a budding Mr Universe. Believing he had a cold virus that was causing extreme fatigue and severe shortness of breath, the hospital's initial thoughts were that he had pneumonia. A day or two in hospital and some antibiotics should have done the trick. But Pete's condition deteriorated and he was transferred to intensive care where doctors found he had an enlarged heart and failing liver and kidneys.

Why? Steroids, that’s why.

Heart failure, liver failure, kidney failure, depression, suicidal tendencies, overly-aggressive behaviour, shrunken testes, enlarged breasts (and clitoral enlargement in females) are all-too-familiar signs of steroid abuse, yet many persist oblivious to their effects which can happen in a few short years. Why is the message not getting through? When you read reports such as the special by Jacqueline Stenson in The Times which suggests that medical doctors have exaggerated the side effects, then the messages are mixed at best. What many reports fail to broadcast is that steroid abuse can be as addictive as any drug.

When there should be wholesale condemnation, if only because taking steroids is cheating, there are proponents arguing that if it’s not hurting you then what’s all the fuss about? Maybe because drugs are supposed to make sick people get better, not the other way around would be a good start towards exposing the flaws with this line of thinking; strike one.

Steroids are illegal in many countries and consequently there is a black-market economy which thrives and the amount of unaccounted ‘cash’ floating around encourages criminals to get in on the act; strike two.

Who knows what you are buying on the black market with all sorts of scams and ruses going on. What are the chances of buying tainted material or, even worse, stuff that may be ‘poison’ to you; strike three.

And the thinking among cheats and or gym junkies is that if a little bit works, then more must be better, leading to ‘stacking’ or using a number of steroids at the same time which is surely dangerous; strike four.

A culture of shooting up may lead to other junkie (‘gateway’) behaviour like illicit drug abuse; strike five.

And I would shudder to think if steroid use became allowed under medical supervision. To me, a doctor should be diagnosing and treating sick people. Do sore muscles or not being able to bench-press 300lbs constitute diseases that warrant ‘treatment’? Does being normal mean that you have a disease? What next…’Doc, can I have some ‘coke’ with ‘ice’ because I am feeling ‘normal’?

The fork in the road is probably been passed now and there is little chance of going back. But if people like Jeff Rutstein have anything to do with it, there is hope when all we can see is despair. He wrote Steroid Deceit , a story about his personal and painful experiences as a steroid addict. That’s right, an addict.

Abstinence from steroid abuse can send one into spirals of depression, fatigue and other withdrawal symptoms and therefore encourages users to stay on them to feel strong, powerful and in control of both their body and mind. Taking steroids is reinforced by getting bigger. As Rutstein says, the problem with steroid abusers is that they suffer from ‘bigorexia’. Bigger muscles reinforce steroid use. This is just the reverse of anorexia, where getting thinner is reinforced by not eating.

It is clear that, like any drug, steroids can be addictive and perhaps there is a place for ramping up educational, preventative and rehabilitation programmes for steroid abusers as there is for recreational drugs.

The problem just won’t go away if the notion that steroid abuse is not addictive keeps currency.

  • Robin Parisotto is the author of  BLOOD SPORTS – the inside dope on drugs in sport.