National geographic science of steroids

Programme from nat geo on steriods and their impact on human body

>> [Background Music]
They're among the world's most

controversial drugs.

Not coc, heroine, or crystal
meth but anabolic steroids.

>> Steroids are incredibly
effective.

>> However, it comes at a price.

>> This is Russian roulette that
they're playing with themselves.

>> Millions have used
anabolic steroids,

including those you'd
least suspect.

No drug is so reviled
yet so misunderstood.

>> The fact to the matter
is you want our athletes

using steroids.

>> From researchers, users,
and abusers come stories

from inside the world
of steroids and a view

of how steroids work
from inside the body.

What do we know about
the real risks?

>> You cannot cause and effect
and you just can't do it.

>> And can science
separate fact from fiction

in this steroids' debate?

[ Music ]

In 2005, some of baseball's
greatest players addressed

Congress on steroid use
in professional sports

>> Members of the committee,

distinguished guest my
name is Jose Canseco,

and for 17 years I played
professional baseball.

>> In his book and during
testimony, Canseco's book

of rampant steroid
use in baseball,

since then more heroes
have fallen.

In 2007, major league
baseball took a major blow.

In a massive investigation,
the Mitchell Report implicated

over 80 players from
all 30 clubs

for using performance
enhancing substances.

Those names included home
run record holder Barry Bonds

and star pitcher Roger Clemens.

Both have denied
the accusations.

But for pro athletes in all
sports, millions of dollars

and world records can ride on
gaining the slightest edge.

And that's when many
turned to steroids.

[ Music ]

Anabolic steroids are now banned

in every major sporting
organization.

In the US, anabolic
steroids are also illegal

without a prescription, yet more

than a million Americans have
admitted using them illegally.

The real number of
users is anyone's guess.

>> Other than pedophilia,

this is the most secretive
behavior I've ever encountered.

I've had people admit
they've hit their spouse,

that they've used
cocaine, heroine,

amphetamines they'll admit all

that before they will
anabolic steroids.

>> In pro sports,
adamant denials are part

for their course.

>> Are you taking [inaudible]?

>> I'm not here to
discuss [inaudible].

>> I have never used
steroids, period.

>> There's probably not an
athlete alive at any level

that hasn't considered
using steroids,

at least at some
point in their career.

>> Are steroids dangerous?

Many doctor say yes.

How dangerous?

Doctors disagree.

>> I'm far more concerned
about tobacco and alcohol,

not the amphetamines, crystal
meth, cocaine and heroine,

by a long shot than I
am anabolic steroids.

However, that that's not
give us license to ignore it

or not aggressively deal
what the problem in.

>> There tend to be highly
impregnated people on both sides

of the isle, both groups
of whom have opinions

that are substantially
beyond anything

that the actual data
can support.

>> Science isn't the only voice

in the debate others have
something to say, the champion

who turned his back on steroids,
the father who lost a child

to steroids, and even the
athletes who defend steroids.

Few understand steroids
better than Kieran Kidder.

Kieran is competitive
power lifter.

He use supplements for
more than 15 years,

at times that included steroids.

>> Good morning.

>> I'm getting ready to go to
the gym here in a little bit.

>> What are you training today?

>> Back and legs, kind of that.

>> Kidder is also the founder

of the world power
lifting organization.

>> Today it starts.

A guy is personally like
to train about mid-morning.

So, I come out and I'll, you
know, I try to have a little bit

to eat for like an hour or
two before I'm going to train.

>> [Background Music] He
believes steroids are widely

misunderstood drug.

>> Preconceived notions that
it's similar to doing narcotics

and you're, you know,
wrapping a rubber-band

around your arm like
a junky does.

But, it's no different than
taking, you know, multivitamin

on a daily basis, you know,
it's just part of a routine.

>> Like a shot a vitamin B12,

injectable steroids are
taking the exact same way.

And Kidder's earlier
use of steroids,

gives him an insider's
perspective on how to use them.

>> I always start out with
injectables for a few weeks

and then add different orals
in over about a 16-week period.

>> Known as stacking,
many believe

that mixing several
different steroids may produce

better results.

>> It's good to have a few
different compounds in you

than abundance of one.

So that just keeps your
receptors always clicking

and popping and pulling
the stuff into your body

and utilize it to
the best of it can.

>> Many experts believe

that steroids can push
the physiologic limits

of the muscle, making it
bigger, faster and stronger

than it could get naturally.

>> These drugs will take
you places that you can lift

for 50 years and you'll
never get to naturally.

They're that potent.

>> [Background Music]
Steroids affect the body

by enhancing the natural
process of muscle building.

The key to building
muscle is protein synthesis

and cellular repair.

Skeletal muscle is made

up of long fibers chains,
containing proteins.

Bundles of thousands of fibers
make up the muscle itself.

When an athlete engages
in a heavy workout,

this structure is damage
causing micro tears

in the muscle fibers.

The body naturally
repairs this damage

by mending the torn fibers.

The result is a muscle that's
larger and stronger than before.

And with each additional
workout,

the athlete adds bulk,
strength, and speed.

With steroids, muscle repair
can come faster, much faster.

[ Music & Noise ]

>> A normal person when
they workout, they're going

to breakdown their muscle
and it takes about 48 hours

in between workouts for your
muscles to repair themselves.

Well, anabolic steroids
speed up that process.

So rather than taking 48
hours, it maybe only 24 hours,

so you're able to workout
more frequently, longer,

more intensely and
then recover faster

so you could workout again.

>> Not only that, they may
raise the performance sealing

of the muscle.

Scientist realized the potential

of anabolic steroids
soon after they appeared.

In 1939, German scientist Adolf
Butenandt won the Nobel Prize

for chemistry for his
pioneering work on testosterone.

[ Inaudible Remark ]

Hitler refused to let
him accept the prize.

But from World War
to the Cold War,

Germany pioneered
steroids research.

At the 1976 Olympics
in Montreal,

East German athletes won
40 gold medals including 11

in women swimming.

>> During the 70s, East
Germans had a phenomenal record

in the pool and it wasn't
until about 20 years later

when they finally emerge that
they had a drug program in place

and they were just taking
all the medals literally.

>> By the end of the 1970s,
steroids had infected sports

in other countries, but steroids
was not yet a household word.

Then in rush [phonetic]
Ben Johnson.

>> And they're off.

Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis.

Carl Lewis is--

>> Carl Lewis [inaudible] out.

>> And Ben Johnson
is really has it.

Look at the brave
and he catch it.

And there's Ben Johnson
and he's going

to walk [inaudible],
Ben Johnson first.

>> In 1988, the Canadian
sprinter won the gold

in a 100-meter dash in
the Seoul Olympic Games,

shuttering the world record.

A urine test revealed
his secret.

>> Ben Johnson did two things.

One, is he got his medal
taken away for doping

with anabolic steroids.

Two, is he run the
fastest 100-meters

that it ever been
recorded in world history.

So, he showed really the world
that these were effective drugs,

because when Ben Johnson
came back without steroids,

two years later, the
headlines were Ben Johnson

in his back and he' slower.

>> Johnson had a
third achievement.

He helped the public equates
steroids with cheating.

>> Sort of it like
using a bicycle

if you are running a race was
against the spirit of sport.

>> Although steroid use was
deemed cheating by the rules

of sport, they were not
yet classified as illegal.

After the Johnson scandal,
the US Congress held hearings

on outlawing the non-medical
use of anabolic steroids.

Those opposed included the
American Medical Association,

The Food and Drug
Administration,

even the Drug Enforcement
Administration.

All testified that
steroids were addictive

and didn't meet the criteria for
becoming a controlled substance.

Despite this in 1990, Congress
voted to make steroids illegal

without a prescription.

The first shot in a
war against cheating

in sports had been fired,

but many athletes
could get around that.

They could find steroids through
trainers, fellow athletes,

and even doctor is willing
to write prescriptions.

And in the 90s, Kieran Kidder,
didn't need a prescription.

He also knew where to find
black market steroids,

but the law was close behind.

>> Back in 1996 I got arrested
for possession of them.

Somebody ratted me out.

I spent four months in jail.

My whole life was never
been the same since.

>> Yet he still believes they
have their place in sports.

>> I've taken them and
I've taken lots of them.

I just don't recommend
just anybody takes it.

If you know what you're doing,
there is a safe way of doing it

and there are absolutely is.

>> Most who takes steroids
think there is a minimum risk

or low risk or risk they can
handle, but that's the problem.

It's very powerful hormone
that's going to your brain,

it's going to your muscles,
it's going to your liver,

it's going everywhere,
and it's changing you.

>> [Background Music]
The challenge

for science is proving it.

But not all steroids
are created equal.

For every athlete who secretly
injects steroids, there someone

like this man who legally
uses a different type

of steroid right
out in the open.

There were several
classes of steroids,

most often confuse are anabolic
steroids and corticosteroids.

Both are synthetic versions
of hormones produce naturally

in the body but they performed
two completely different tasks.

Athletes use anabolic
steroids to build muscle.

Corticosteroids are used by
doctors to reduce inflammation.

Everything from arthritis
medication

to asthma inhalers
contained corticosteroids.

Unlike anabolic steroids,
they cannot build muscle,

but anabolic steroids
have their place

in legitimate medicine as well.

>> There are few things that
anabolic steroids are used for

and I use them in
my practice as well.

I use them for men, usually
older men who lose the ability

to make their own testosterone.

>> Other doctors prescribe
steroids to treat muscle loss,

anemia, static growth,
and delayed puberty.

Anabolic steroids are
simply synthetic versions

of testosterone, the
primarily male hormone.

In short, there are
man-made versions

of natural testosterone produced
in a lab instead of the body.

>> So, if we're going to
give somebody testosterone,

all we're doing is giving them
back what their body would

normally be making.

It's not giving them
any more than that.

>> But if you do take more
than the physiologic dose,

the results can be dramatic
and chemistry maybe the key

to pushing the muscle beyond its
natural performance envelope.

For unknown reasons, when
an athlete trains intensely,

natural testosterone levels in
the body drop precipitously,

sometimes to that
of a castrated man.

The body also releases another
hormone called glucocorticoids

to reduce inflammation.

But glucocorticoids
have a second effect,

they are catabolic, meaning,
they breakdown muscle tissue.

It's a double whammy against the
muscle, a drop in testosterone

and an increase in
muscle wasting hormone.

It's speculated that steroids
affect the hormone imbalance

in two ways.

First, they may replenish
testosterone levels

after a workout,
accelerating muscle repair.

They may also block the
muscle wasting effects

of glucocorticoids.

The result is a muscle

that quickly gets
bigger and stronger.

For athletes, inhibiting
these two roadblocks

to muscle building
provides a huge advantage.

>> It does take athletes
to the next level.

If you are swinging a bat,
you can use a heavier bat,

or you can swing it faster.

If you're running,
sprinting, you can run faster.

That's why you find so
many athletes using them.

>> Steroids are incredibly
effective.

A young guy who eats
badly, sleeps badly, smokes,

drinks too much alcohol,
misses half of his gym workouts

and take steroids can blow
away the most dedicate,

most gifted athlete who
does not take steroids

in terms of shear muscle gain.

>> [Background Music] But
to achieve those gains,

it takes high doses of steroids.

Most doctors prescribe
anabolic steroids

in what they call
a physiologic dose.

The amount of testosterone
a man produces naturally.

Some endurance athletes who
want to reduce recuperation

between workouts use a
physiologic dose of steroids.

Some sprinters with
higher strength

and power needs may use
twice the natural amount,

but what about bodybuilding
and weightlifters?

>> In some of the
studies that we have done,

we have encountered guys who
are taking the equivalent

of 100 times the natural
output of testosterone.

In other words, if you figure

that the normal male testis
manufactures between 50

and 75 milligrams of
testosterone a week,

we have seen guys who are
taking 5 or 6,000 milligrams

of testosterone or its
equivalent per week

from injections of pills.

>> [Background Music]
And the more you'd take,

the bigger you can get.

For many athletes
anabolic steroids seem

like their proverbial
fountain of youth.

>> Steroids have
profound effects.

You could see results
in as little

as two weeks, maybe even less.

You'll start to actually
see an increase

in muscle size pretty rapidly.

If you train for endurance,
your muscles are going to take

on endurance like
characteristics.

If you train for strength,
your muscles are going to take

on strength characteristics,
and if you're going to train

for size your muscles
are going to take

on size-like characteristics.

>> Most athletes have a
small window of opportunity.

In some sports, it may
only be a few years.

>> I can understand when
an athlete comes to me.

A 19-year-old kid comes
to me on the brink

of signing a 50 million dollar
contract, numbers that most

of us can't even imagine
at 19 years of age.

What is your choice
is going to be?

It's clear cut.

And as bad as that sounds, as a
coach I'm telling the kids how

to try to do this naturally.

>> That's when some athletes
turn to anabolic steroids

for an extra edge to beat the
clock and cash in on success.

But the risk of indiscriminate
steroid use remained undefined

and many experts fear that
these users may eventually pay a

medical price.

In 1991, one athlete
became the poster boy

for steroid dangerous.

Former NFL player Lyle
Alzado announced he was dying

of central nervous
system lymphoma.

He blames steroids.

Yet, even in this confession,
Alzado diluted the dangers.

>> And there was a double-edge
sword to his comments

that he made in Sports
Illustrated.

What he told the world, is yes
steroids caused my problem.

But there is a safe
way to take steroids.

>> But not without a
doctor's supervision,

experts agree the
abuse of steroids comes

with several undesirable
side effects.

Men may experience a number of
short term cosmetic changes.

They can include severe acne on
the back as well as on the face.

Gynecomastia, the
accumulation of fat

under the nipples causing
the breasts to swell,

and even testicular atrophy,
the shrinking of the testicles

to half their normal size.

For women, the androgenic

or masculinizing side
effects are more pronounced,

including male patterned
baldness, growth of facial hair

and even a permanent
deepening of the voice.

The breasts may also shrink
and the clitoris enlarged.

Other side effects
are debatable.

One is a spiking aggression from
steroid use known as Roid rage.

>> Atlanta authorities are
investigating the bizarre murder

suicide involving professional
wrestler Chris Benoit

and are asking if steroids
could have played a part.

>> Animal and human
studies show high doses

of testosterone increase
aggression.

Yet few anabolic steroid users
undergo a change of personality.

>> Steroids make unstable
person more unstable.

They make an aggressive
person more aggressive.

>> It's usually been a
person who's had problems.

So it hasn't been Jekyll and
Hyde where you've been kind,

caring, dazzle, friendly
person and turn them

into an aggressive monster.

>> Studies suggest only a
minority of users turn violent.

Between 1993 and 2000,

four double blind clinical
trials administered high doses

of steroids to 109 men.

Roughly 5 percent
experienced reckless

or aggressive behaviors.

You can have five different guys

who take the same
doze of steroids.

Four of whom will have virtually
no psychiatric changes and one

of them will go completely
berserk.

>> Yet some doctors feel
Roid rage is exaggerated.

>> You give me State
Collage, Pennsylvania

and Ann Arbor Michigan
on a football Saturday.

And I will show you as many
cases of alcohol induced rage

as you will see in the
United States in 50 years

from anabolic steroids.

[ Music ]

>> [Background Music] Roid
rage isn't the only side effect

under debate.

>> People take steroids, men
and women because it works.

But it comes at a price.

>> The price, perhaps
life itself.

Professional bodybuilder Steve
Michalik was once Mr. USA

and Mr. America and
Mr. Universe.

He was also a devout
steroid user.

Michalik began using
steroids in 1975 to prepare

for the Mr. Universe
competition.

He kept using them for 10 years.

He believes steroids helped
buy something priceless,

the pinnacle of bodybuilding.

>> I used them a ton.

But you know, whatever comes up,

must come crashing
down eventually.

Finally I collapsed on the
stage and went to the hospital

and I had two great
prune-sized tumors on my liver.

>> Michalik embodied what
many scientists believed.

In the short term, steroids
may build your body.

But in the long run,
you pay a price.

On the outside a steroid
user might just look bigger,

more masculine.

But on the inside, doctors
believe this could happen.

One type of oral steroid
has been linked to tumors

and cancers of the liver.

Others have suffered a
rare condition called

peliosis hepatitis.

Where blood-filled cysts
formed on the liver

and can rupture causing
internal bleeding.

Some studies also suggest
that tumors can form

on the kidneys decreasing
function.

As the body loose its
stability to filter the blood,

toxins build up leading
to fluid retention,

increased blood pressure and
eventually kidney failure.

But even more alarming is the
effect of steroids on the heart.

Steroids can dramatically alter
cholesterol levels increasing

the risk of heart
attack or stroke.

A catalogue of life-threatening
diseases Steve Michalik has had

them all.

Liver tumors, pancreatitis,
gallbladder disease,

a heart attack, a stroke,
and the list goes on.

>> All my organs were shutting
down one by one, piece by piece.

And all my arteries
were clogged.

All seven in my heart had no
blood going though my heart.

The doctor opened me up.

He said he saw more
blood in dead person

than he saw in anything alive.

>> Steve has company.

>> Bear the pain,
spare the shame.

Let's go. My group of
champion bodybuilding '70,

'80s bodybuilders are now just
starting getting bypass surgery,

is getting valve replacement
surgery who has liver problems,

kidney problems who
died from heart attack.

That's what will happen.

[Background Music] No one
ever smoke or didn't drink

or diets were impeccable.

We exercise as well as an
aerobic, cardiovascular work.

We follow every natural
rule and law

to keep us healthy and alive.

>> Except they all
used steroids.

>> That's the difference,
it's that one variable,

it's only one variable
amongst all of us.

>> But while Michalik
blamed steroids,

science has reservations.

>> For the last 70 years that
these drugs have been used

in medicine I'm not aware

of any study that's evaluated
their long term effects.

You know a lot of
what you see on some

of these issues is case
studies or anecdotes.

Well, this person used
steroids so had a liver cancer,

he had a kidney tumor.

And from a methodology
stand point,

that's the lowest of the low.

I mean you cannot
prove cause and effect.

I mean you just can't do it.

>> [Background Music] Proving
cause and effect is made harder

by steroid users who
often mix other drugs,

including growth
hormone, insulin,

thyroid hormone and
amphetamines.

>> So you have this
caldron, this witches' brew

and then people ask me, well,

anabolic steroids
is in that caldron.

What effect do they
have in combination

with all these others drugs?

Got me. But it's interesting
because it's always the steroids

that are pinpointed
as the culprit.

>> For scientist,
pinpointing the dangers

of steroids has been difficult.

The evidence maybe there
but has proven elusive.

>> Science still doesn't
know what is going to happen

in the long term with steroids.

On one hand, there are
hundreds of thousands of people

who have used the drugs, who
don't appear superficially

to be particularly
the worse for wear.

But then on the other hand,
there are every few months,

stories about another old
time bodybuilder or athlete

who abruptly died under somewhat
mysterious circumstances.

>> [Background Music] Pro
wrestler Brian Pillman died

at 35 of a heart attack.

Wrestler Eddie Guerrero died
at 38 from heart disease.

And Davey Boy Smith
was dead at 39.

Three deaths in the last decade
all from heart disease and all

with a common suspect.

For years doctors
have suspected a link

between steroids
and heart disease.

Steroids lower the level of HDL
cholesterol in the bloodstream,

also known as good cholesterol.

Doctors believe HDL protects
the cardiovascular system

from heart disease.

While steroid users may
look perfectly healthy

on the outside, the inside
can tell a different story.

Steroids can also dramatically
raise bad cholesterol or LDL.

This can cause a
hardening of the arteries

and a significant build up of
plaque along the artery wall.

As plaque clogs the artery,
blood flow is restricted.

If left unchecked, it
can cause a heart attack.

Likewise, if any plaque
breaks up, it can lodge

in smaller blood vessels causing
a heart attack or stroke.

And the damage can be done after
only a few years of steroid use.

Exhibit A is Danny Mcdermott.

Now a 54 year old
financial advisor.

Danny was once a
champion bodybuilder.

>> Back when I was competing,
and you want to be at the,

you know, national level,
the international level,

you could bet your
competitions using steroids.

>> So was Danny.

At 36, seven years
after quitting steroids

and bodybuilding,
he took a body blow.

>> Doctor [inaudible] you just
had a massive heart attack

and you're lucky to be alive.

[ Music ]

>> Mcdermott is now a
patient of Dr. Larry Santora,

a director of cardiac CT

at California's Orange
County Heart Institute.

In the fall of 2006, Santora
published the first ever

observational study on
steroids and heart disease.

It was also the first study to
use an electron beam CT scanner

to see how much plaque had
build up in steroid users.

>> A significant amount
had a severe plaque

at a very early age
in their 30s.

It's hyperplaque
that you might see

in somebody in their 70s or 80s.

[Background Music] All three
of your major arteries,

you have atherosclerosis
or plaque on each of those.

To get to this level
of bodybuilding

and a professional athlete to
use it performs, they're going

to need to take it
for several years.

And that's when you're going
to start to see the effect.

And these guys have been
doing it for 10, 12, 15 years.

And they're going
to die suddenly.

You're going to see people
instead of dying in their 70s

or late 60s, in their 40s, 50s,
and maybe in their mid 30s.

>> I'm lucky that I got
through all that so far.

But I don't think I
would do it again.

Knowing what I know today,
I would not do it again.

>> Despite his findings,
Santora can't prove his fears.

His study group was too small
to draw big conclusions.

>> The problem was studying
elicit drug use in general.

And with steroids in particular
is that you just can't go out

and do a laboratory study.

You can't intentionally put
people on steroids for 20 years

to find out what happens to them

because the human studies
committee would not permit that.

So for ethical reasons,
the only way

that you can study these
phenomena is just to go

out there in nature and
see what you can find,

and when you do that,
there are all kinds

of methodological
limitations which make it hard

to get convincing solid
results without the risk

of some sort of distortion.

>> [Background Music] As
doctors search for answers,

some steroid users
ignore the danger signs.

Some doctors blame
their own profession.

>> It took the medical
community an amazingly long time

to actually conceive
that steroids do work.

Even today, you can still find,

for example on the
Physicians Desk Reference,

statements that steroids
have no value

for enhancing athletic
performance

so that having failed on that
count, they were also discounted

when they started talking about
potential dangers of steroids

because they had already
lost their credibility.

>> And with the loss of medical
credibility came increased use.

>> They're going to always
be part of power lifting

and bodybuilding and
strongman's sports like that.

But now, you could go down
to any high school that has,

you know, big time
sporting program

and someone's going
to have Roid.

>> All of the danger signs.

Everything we needed to know
was right in front of us.

[ Music ]

>> In the Tour de France,

blowouts usually
happen during the race.

In 2006, the big blowout happen
three days after the race ended.

>> The Tour de France has
taken yet another blow

as American Floyd Landis has
tested positive for steroids.

It is the--

>> Officials announced they
had found an abnormal ratio

of testosterone in the
urine of Floyd Landis,

the American who won the tour.

Landis was stripped
of his title.

It wasn't the tour's
first steroid scandal.

In 1998, so many
riders were found

with performance
enhancing drugs.

The race was dubbed
the Tour of Shame.

>> I said, years ago and
people raise their eyes,

you can't win the Tour
de France without drugs.

It's been dirty since
its inception.

Not too many people were
raising their eyebrows

about that statement anymore.

>> From cycling to baseball,
steroids can be found

in almost every sport.

Now, steroids are
moving into arenas

where the stakes are small but
the risks are just as high.

>> They're going to always
be part of power lifting

and bodybuilding and
strongman's sports like that

but they really have no business
in my opinion being in baseball

and football and these
games that kids start

out playing in their backyards.

The most detrimental thing

that a teenager can
do is take steroids.

>> But they are, and Taylor
Hooton was one of them.

>> One, two, three, win!

>> Taylor was a great kid,
always had a smile on his face,

cracking jokes, very,
very popular at school

and he must have been
a good-looking kid,

girls over here all the time but
he make great grades in school.

He was carrying a
3.8 grade average.

He had made super
scores on his SATs and he

and I were getting ready
to make college visits.

>> Taylor Hooton was an average
16-year-old high school student

until January 2003, that's
when he decided to tryout

for the varsity baseball team.

In less than three months,
he gained 30 pounds along

with acne, a puffy
face and bad breath,

all side effects of steroids.

According to the Centers for
Disease Control, between 700

and 850 thousand teens have
used steroids, 1 in 20.

>> All you need to do is
read Jose Canseco's book.

A clear message gets sent
that at least in his opinion,

steroids were a panacea
to success.

What can be bad about
earning millions of dollars,

being on the TV every
night, setting records,

having the women
fawn all over them?

Very little downside has
befallen our professional

athletes, those that have
chosen to use steroids.

>> According to experts,

few teens understand
the dangers lurking

in a growing steroid market.

Today, steroids can be easily
purchased online from labs

and places like Mexico,
Thailand, and India.

>> We've heard stories of
those vials being filled

with flaxseed oil all the way to
those vials containing motor oil

and these kids, our
children, are taking these

and injecting them
into the vein.

>> Soon after Taylor
began taking steroids,

his personality changed.

>> But what we saw in
Taylor was something

that was much more severe
than normal mood swing.

On two occasions, he took his
pitching hand and drove it

through a sheetrock wall.

All of the danger signs,
every thing we needed

to know was right
in front of us.

But we didn't recognize
it as steroids

because neither we nor our
family doctor have been trained

to know what to look for.

>> While quitting
steroids Taylor slit

into a deep depression.

On the morning of July 15th,
2003, he went into his room,

put a belt around his
neck and hanged himself.

>> Stuff like this is
not supposed to happen

in middle America, well-educated
community but the fact

to the matter is it is going on.

>> For Taylor Hooton,
steroids exacted a price

out of all proportion
to his goal.

He wasn't aiming for a
major league contract

or a seven-figure salary,

he just wanted what any
team wants, to belong.

After Taylor died, several
of the kids, in particular

that were on Taylor's team
admitted to my wife and I

that they have been doing
steroids and for a period,

most of them were
scared straight.

But something happened
over time,

something that's
really, really scary.

A number of those kids went
back to using anabolic steroids

within a few weeks after we
put Taylor on the ground.

>> [Background Music]
The temptation

to use steroids seemed to
outweigh the perceived risks.

But what could cause a healthy
team to take his own life?

The answer lies deep
in the brain.

>>When you take steroids,
your hypothalamus

and your brain sees all
of this steroid coming

in from the outside.

And so, it sends a message
down to the testes, saying,

we've already got plenty
of steroids on board,

don't manufacture anymore of
those, ample on supply already.

>> Overwhelmed, the
testes shut down,

a condition called hypogonadism.

Taylor stopped taking steroids
cold turkey, leaving him low

on testosterone and
high on risk.

>> They get profound depressions

and they even get
suicidal during that period

when their testosterone
level is low,

before the testes
can get back on line.

>> In one survey of
adults who use steroids,

four percent reported attempting
suicide during withdrawal.

Other experts believed
the numbers are far lower.

But for Don Hooton,

the statistics don't
change his reality.

>> His home run ball
from June 16th of 2001

and reason that's
important, that was his first

and at the same time
his very last home run.

I got to go chasing this out in
the weed, but after he hit it,

very much like a dad would do

when your kids just
did his first home run.

>> Don Hooton, now runs a
foundation in Taylor's name

to protect other
teams from steroids.

In 2007, Texas passed
Taylor's Law,

the nation's largest
steroid screening program

for high school athletes.

But today, the fastest
growing group

of steroid users are
not high school students

or professional athletes.

The stereotypical
perception is giant freak

with a syringe sticking out
of his forehead and you know,

he's going to eat my children
for lunch and, you know,

that's-- the people will
like, they're like-- aahhh--

that's their perception.

The reality is that
there's millions of people

that use steroids that are
out in the general public

that you would have no idea that
resemble an every day person.

>> It's estimated
that over 50 percent

of all steroid users are
not athletes of any kind.

>> The more typical
steroid user is not someone

in the upper levels of athletics
and may not even compete

in any athletic performance
at all,

but who uses the drugs
largely for the purposes

of personal appearance,
rather than to succeed

at any specific competitive
endeavor.

>> A 2007 study suggest

that many steroid users
may actually be educated,

working professionals
in their 30s.

Everyday people journey to
steroids just to look better.

>> My gosh.

They're living in a generation
of young men and women

that have been brainwashed
by Madison Avenue to be buff.

We're living in a generation

where all they know is
instant gratification.

>> Something they hope
steroids can deliver.

>> From Mr. Universe
to the boy next door,

anybody can be tempted by
steroids, even the very best.

[ Music & Noise ]

At the 2000 Summer Olympics
in Sydney, the American track

and field Marion
Jones won five medals.

Sports writers crowned her
the greatest female athlete

in the world.

However, in 2007, she admitted
using steroids while training

for the summer games.

Her world records
were invalidated,

her medals forfeited.

At age 31, one of the world's
female athletes announced her

retirement from her sport.

>> As a trainer, do I want
my athletes on steroids?

Well, obviously not.

But as a consumer,
you're demanding,

you're demanding the very
best out of athletes.

And those athletes are
going to do what they can

to get that to happen.

And when they do that, they
start to push that limit

and that's a limit that, you
know, unfortunately is found

in that anabolic steroid.

>> If athletes still
use steroids

in the most drug-tested
competition,

where won't they use them?

Oddly, in the very sport
where they maybe most abused.

In an ocean of steroids,

a handful of athletes are
swimming against the tide.

In Portland, Maine
begins a competition

with unusual athletes,
natural body-builders,

rebels in the sport
infected by steroids.

These athletes reject steroids,
both the benefits and the costs.

And no one knows the cause
better than their coach,

former Mr. Universe and
ex-steroid user, Steve Michalik.

>> OK guys, this is
what it's all about.

All that hard work you put
in the gym, just amounts

for a few minutes on stage,
so just really enjoy yourself.

>> From Watertown,
Massachusetts,

please welcome contestant
number eight, Michael Manavian.

[ Cheering & Applause ]

>> The most formidable
challenger here is unseen.

Temptation.

Winning is intoxicating.

And steroids are enticing, even
to a man they nearly killed.

>> I will have suffered through
the stroke, the heart attack,

the liver disorders, the mental
disorders, the mental anguish,

but will I personally
do it again?

Yes. That's-- listen to
the juror of that stuff.

For one moment in time Steve
Michalik was the best there was

on planet earth, number one.

That's a hard thing to discount.

>> Everything you've got.

>> At Michalik's
gym on Long Island,

he trains a new generation of
bodybuilders to do as he says.

Not as he did.

>> These kids, these
grown-men need a leader.

They need someone
who's been there.

They need someone who can take
them to the place they want

to go without getting
sick or ill.

Bear the pains, bear
the shame, let's go.

So what I try to do
with the guys in here,

I will teach them how to
exercise and have a degree

of muscle that their genetics
will allow them to have.

And make them understand
that that's as good

as you're going to get.

>> Punch, come on.

I'm looking, I'm
watching your muscle,

they got to learn
in [inaudible].

There you go baby, all right.

It's very difficult for
them to win in the arena

of the steroid contest
and bodybuilding.

You can win clean in a national
contest and you can win clean

up to certain levels
in pro-contest.

>> All right, from
golfer to body-builder.

>> So it's after that, you
cannot, that's the truth.

>> It's a harsh reality
for athletes.

For many, steroids
can be priceless.

The difference between
a salary and a fortune.

Between mediocrity and stardom.

>> One of our patients
was able to summarize it

in just a single word, namely,
why should I be Clark Kent,

when I can be Superman?

>> There was a drug available
to allow a journalist

to win the Pulitzer or allow
me to win the Nobel Prize.

I pretty well think I'd be
injecting that drug on the steps

of all Maine here at Penn State.

>> Other experts
placed blame elsewhere.

>> I think the people to blame
are us, the consumers of sport.

We want to see numbers.

We want to see performances.

We want to see more home runs.

We want to see faster
100 meter dashers.

But the fact to the matter
is you want our athletes

using steroids.

>> And as the debate
continues, and science looks

for the answers, one
ominous fact remains,

steroid use is spreading

and they may not be
going away anytime soon.

[ Music ]