Drugs, Athletes, and Sports - Androstenedione :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

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, â€Å"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? Drugs, Athletes, and Sports - Androstenedione :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics 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, â€Å"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?

Alcoholism: Genetic or a Learned Behavior

Alcoholism: Genetic or Learned Behavior? First, before I could answer this question, I had to do a little research. Alcohol addiction is a physical dependence on alcohol which occurs gradually. Over time, drink too much alcohol changed the balance of chemicals in your brain associated with the pleasure aspects of drinking alcohol. Excessive, long-term drinking can affect the balance of these chemicals, causing your body to crave alcohol to restore good feelings or to avoid negative feelings. â€Å"Alcoholism was officially recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association in 1991†. ( http://www. earn-about-alcoholism. com/alcoholism-disease. html ). What causes alcoholism? Is alcoholism inherited from a parent or is alcoholism a learned behavior? I chose this subject because I have a cousin who is 21 and already and alcoholic. According to him, he has been drinking since he was 10, while it was only a gulp of beer when his dad’s back was turned; it was still a step towards his current condition. Now I wonder, is he an alcoholic because he inherited this trait genetically from his dad (whose dad was also an alcoholic), or is he an alcoholic because of the environment in which he was raised and influenced.According to NCADI (Fact is Alcoholism Runs in Family), reports show that children of alcoholics are four times more likely to grow up to be an alcoholic than any other children. Scientists agree that genetic anomalies were the primary causative factor in at least some forms of alcoholism. (http://www. neurogenesis. com/Articles-Library/Foundational-Studies/The-Alcoholic-Gene. php ). Now scientists have to determine what these genes are and whether they are specific for alcohol or define something more general, such as differences in temperament or personality that increase an individual’s vulnerability to alcoholism.There was a study done in Sweden that followed alcohol use in twins who were adopted as children and raised apart. T he study showed that alcoholism was slightly higher among those who were exposed to alcoholism only through adoptive families. However, it was dramatically higher among the twins whose biological fathers were alcoholics, regardless of the presence of alcoholism in their adoptive families. (http://alcoholism. about. com/cs/genetics/a/aa990517. htm) The studies also showed one twin doesn’t always become an alcoholic just because

Buddhism Is A Path Of Spiritual Development And The True...

Buddhism, as a religion is an intricate and sometimes complicated set of practices and doctrines. Originating in India by Buddha, the philosophy holds that Buddhism is a path of spiritual development leading to Enlightenment and the true nature of reality. One way to fully understand Buddhism is to critically discuss the Four Noble Truths and how they lead to the path of Nibbana. According to Lopez, ‘The Buddha stated in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth’ (Lopez 2014). The four truths can be understood as four types of practices which lead to the state of the ‘noble ones’. The First Noble Truth is the ‘truth of suffering’ (dukkha). In expansion – birth, aging, illness, and death is suffering. This requires the understanding of the nature of suffering and the different types of suffering. The term ‘dukkha’ has a wide variety of translations such as ‘unsatisfactoriness’ but is most commonly known as ‘suffering’. As well as suffering, dukkha includes related states such as physical pain, mental anguish and misery. There are terms that are not properly conveyed in the First Noble Truth but are implied. Terms such as disappointment, frustration, anxiety and dissatisfaction. Simply put, saying that life is full of dukkha means that human existence is characterised by experiences we would prefer not to have. According to Buddhists, there are eight types ofShow MoreRelatedBuddhism Research Paper1724 Words   |  7 PagesGrace Greenspon Ms. Skalkottas English 3-4 CP October 13, 2011 Buddhism The main focus of Buddhism is that the faith centers on correct understanding of human nature and ultimate reality, The Buddha was also called the Enlightened One, he taught that the way to eliminate suffering begins with understanding the true nature of the world. 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