Word: steroids
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...jumping for joy, in high hopes that better testing and closer monitoring would follow the Johnson incident at Seoul," says Dr. Robert Voy, former chief medical officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "But looking back today, I see that almost nothing has been done." Moreover, efforts to detect steroid use face formidable difficulties. Warns National Collegiate Athletic Association drug tester Frank Uryasz: "Drug testing in this country is in its infancy...
...athletes still seem determined to outwit testers. "I feel sorry for my friends in the lab business," says Charles Yesalis, a Penn State University professor and steroid expert. "It's not even a close fight." Some athletes use so-called masking agents, chemicals that muddle test results to conceal steroid use. Others have turned from synthetic substances to human-growth hormone, which is virtually impossible to detect. Some have retained private labs to help them cheat...
Despite the daunting problems, there is room for hope. Long-rampant steroid use among professional football players may be falling because of tougher testing, stiffer penalties and a changed player attitude toward drugs. Last November, President Bush signed legislation adding steroids to the list of tightly controlled substances, restricting their distribution and giving investigative authority to the Drug Enforcement Administration...
Outside the U.S., steroid use may even be waning. East German swimmer Raik Hannemann, who won the bronze medal in the 1990 Goodwill Games, said he took steroids from 1982 until 1988. "It was a normal thing all over the world," he says. With Germany's unification, East German swimmers became subject to a much tougher testing program, which ended broad steroid use, Hannemann claims...
...myth that steroids provide gain without pain dies hard. For years, physicians have warned that steroids could cause cardiovascular and liver disease, as well as sexual dysfunction. Nonetheless, some athletes still believe they can be taken safely. Now it appears that "severe psychiatric symptoms are much more common than severe medical symptoms," says Dr. Harrison Pope, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Pope says steroids can cause aggression, impair judgment and, in rare cases, lead to psychotic behavior. At least 10 steroid users have been involved in murders or attempted murders, he says...