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LearningTranscript
00:00I'm open! I'm open!
00:16Dear Tim and Moby,
00:18What is a steroid?
00:20From Dennis.
00:22Steroids are a group of fatty substances, or lipids, that occur naturally in the body.
00:27They regulate all kinds of things your body does, like growing and fighting disease.
00:33Doctors sometimes use natural and synthetic steroids as medications to treat problems
00:37like arthritis, acne, and severe pain.
00:42Steroid abuse?
00:44Well, that's a different story.
00:47Sometimes people take steroids for the wrong reasons, and without a doctor's supervision.
00:54Most anabolic steroids are made primarily of the male sex hormone testosterone.
01:00Testosterone causes all those puberty changes in boys, like muscle growth, hair growth,
01:04and a deeper voice.
01:07Anabolic steroids can build muscle mass and make people stronger.
01:14Doctors might prescribe them to a patient who's lost muscle mass because of disease.
01:19Like any prescription drug, it's illegal to take anabolic steroids without a doctor's supervision.
01:26I'm getting to that.
01:28Strength is a major factor in most sports. No one's going to argue with that.
01:33Athletes train really hard to build muscle and increase their body's ability.
01:39Right! A person could take anabolic steroids to increase their muscle mass, even if it
01:43weren't medically necessary.
01:45That's steroid abuse, and most professional sports test for it.
01:49So do the Olympics.
01:54Well, in addition to giving the person on steroids an unfair strength advantage, steroids
01:58have all kinds of bad side effects, too.
02:01They cause mood swings, everything from rage to depression.
02:05Steroid use can also cause severe liver damage, which can take years off your life.
02:11In women, steroids can mess up the menstrual cycle, deepen the voice, and even cause facial
02:15hair.
02:17Some male steroid abusers go bald early, become unable to have children, and develop breasts.
02:25It's not funny.
02:27Taking steroids without a medical reason is really, well, it's dumb. It messes with how
02:31your body regulates itself.
02:34There have even been some signs that steroid abuse can lead to suicide.
02:40Actually, from stopping steroids.
02:44Yeah, it's crazy, but lots of high school and college athletes use steroids now.
02:51So not worth it.
02:53Sports are supposed to be about fair competition.
02:57If some people are using steroids or other illegal performance drugs, it's not a level
03:01playing field.
03:03It's cheating, and if you win by cheating, you're really not winning at all.
03:09Well, forcing everyone to use dangerous drugs isn't really a good solution.
03:17Okay, throw it here!
03:27Yeah, I think that's why robots are banned from sports, too.