Research Paper about SARMs and PEDs
In 2015, over a million people have stated that they incorporated performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) into their daily routines. That number has increased over the years, causing these products to grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% between 2018 and 2025. A Youth Risk and Behavior Surveillance System has done multiple different studies showing that about 7.3% of U.S. high school students have used anabolic steroids. That is about 375,000 men and 175,000 women (Mohamadi). In 2010 the Pharmaceutical Industry developed a new class of therapeutics called Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator known as SARMs. SARMs are similar to your regular anabolic steroid as it is used for building more body muscle, lessening fat, and increasing bone density. SARMs are known as “tissue-selective”, which means they target your muscles without having to set off a chain of reactions to other parts of the body, leading to side effects such as prostate issues, hair loss, and acne, unlike other anabolic steroids (Walding). Many high schoolers are taking this supplement believing they will help muscle growth and for an advantage in their sport without having any side effects. As the usage of SARMs in high school has been increasing significantly, I wanted to know if these are safe for teens, as I think most teenagers taking them are uneducated about the side effects. SARMs are known to have fewer side effects than other anabolic steroids however, the FDA still warns us about this drug. In 2017 Donald D. Ashley, director of Office of Compliance in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, released a statement stating,” Body-building products that contain selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs, have not been approved by the FDA and are associated with serious safety concerns, including the potential to increase the risk of heart attack or stroke and life-threatening reactions like liver damage,”(Meyer).
I wanted to find out more information teens had about SARMs and PEDs, so I surveyed the local high school football team. The goal of my survey was to understand if teenagers were properly educated about the side effects of the supplements. The football team was a perfect group of people to survey, as anabolic steroids highest rates are found on the football field and in the weight room. I surveyed 40 different players and over 90% of the team knows someone who has/had taken SARMs. Most of the team believes that taking PEDs in high school for muscle growth is unnecessary as your body is still developing and could cause damage. However, about 35% of the team believes that there is no problem using PEDs to grow muscle as long as they research about it and take proper doses. Although some players believe it is okay to use for muscle growth, the whole team thinks that using PEDs for high school sports is cheating and should not be allowed, as it is illegal. High school sports do not test for these steroids, causing many of these athletes to use PEDs to have more of an advantage over their competition. Just over 70% of the players believe that high school sports should test for steroids because of the unfair advantage, while the rest believe that testing for steroids will be a waste of money and time as most high school athletes do not take any steroids. When I asked about their knowledge about the side effects, most of the players know that SARMs come with side effects, but a lot of the players do not know the exact side effects. About 80% of the team believes that the common side effects from SARMs are testosterone loss, enlarged prostate, and shrinking of the testicles. At the end of the survey, I took a poll on who has ever thought about using PEDs and about 55% of the team said they have thought about taking it. Most of the reasons to take PEDs are to gain weight and muscle growth.
I figured that this is what the polls would look like, So I went ahead and also interviewed one of my friends who wants to stay anonymous. My 20-year-old friend was lifting weights for a couple of months and wasn’t gaining any weight or muscle growth, so that is when he decided to take 1 cycle of SARMs. During his 1 month cycle, he was eating more, having better lifts, and just all good energy. After his cycle, he gained 15 pounds in muscle and lost a good amount of body fat. He was talking to me about how the only side effect he has gotten was just more acne while on his cycle. Although he did not have any side effects, he was informing me about one of his friends who was taking SARMs for 6 months, and now he is dealing with liver damage. At the end of my friend’s cycle, he started taking a Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) called Nolvadex. He was telling me about how taking a PCT will help your body recover from the side effects. Since SARMs stimulate effects on testosterone, causing your natural testosterone production to decline, while Nolvadex is used to bring back your testosterone.
The results from my survey and interview show that most teenagers are not fully aware of the side effects of these supplements. As I was researching more about the side effects, I stumbled upon an article from the International Journal of Impotence Research (IJIR). The IJIR did an online survey About the usage of SARMs. 343 out of the 520 responses, 343 participants admitted to using SARMs (Efimenko et al). 98.5% of the participants were males. More than 90% of users acquired SARMs from the internet and did not consult with a physician. Over half of the SARMs users have experienced side effects including mood swings, decreased testicular size, and acne, even though More than 90% of men have reported increased muscle mass and were satisfied with their SARMs usage. The results from this study show that most of the participants are fine with taking these supplements, even though over half of the participants have received side effects. This study is starting to make me think that these side effects are worth the muscle growth.
The Journal of Applied Philosophy was Investigating athletes who used PEDs in sports. They have conducted that many athletes just don’t take it for having advantages on their competition, but for the external goods in their sport. This means athletes would take these supplements for reasons such as fame, money, and to be honorably mentioned about their victories. As dopping is banned in many sports for the advantages, Health was another big factor in how these supplements got banned. It is irrational to place one’s health at risk for the sake of conventional athletic excellence, as these athletes are leading themselves to premature death or other anti-flourishing effects (Austin 51). Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher, claims that such a person will not treat people unjustly, because doing so is shameful and not worthy of honor. He also believes that it is difficult to be magnanimous and you have to make such sacrifices to achieve the demands of magnanimity. This is meaning that athletes should not have to cheat for competitions as it is shameful, even though it is challenging to not have an easy advantage over your opponents.
According to the Department of Economics Doping in professional sports has many different stages. First, you have the choice to either take PED supplements or not. Then the season is being played. The 3rd stage is the probability of being caught, any natural athlete has no risk. Then the final stage is for the prizes at the end of the season. Let’s say athlete A is on supplements and beats athlete B who is natural. With the probability of being caught, Athlete A has a chance of losing all his prizes and gives them to Athlete B, because of testing positive for PEDs. The study shows that taking illegal supplements is not worth the chances of being caught (Eber and Thépot 437).
After conducting a bunch of research, I concluded that you can use SARMs and PEDs at your own risk. These supplements are known for having common and long-term effects on your health but are also known to help reduce fat and grow muscle fast. As I interviewed someone who has been on this supplement, he claimed he had little to no side effects, besides acne which he said wasn’t that bad at all. He didn’t have any effects because he researched about it and how to use it properly. However, people who are young and their body is still developing will receive a lot of riskier side effects, such as organ failures. When it comes to taking supplements for sports, they are not safe as the risk of being caught is higher than the award you would receive. If you are an athlete looking to have a bigger advantage over competitors, I would recommend you to train a lot harder and stay natural instead of having to cheat your way in, which is also not a good look on your name as an athlete.
