Abstract: With the increase in competition has also come the need to become bigger and stronger than your opponent. Steroid use among athletes has changed the focus of the game. An athlete no longer wants to win by doing his best, but wants to become bigger and have an advantage over his opponent. Ultimately, all athletes feel they need to use performance-enhancing drugs to compete at the same level. Despite all the warnings and information about performance-enhancing drugs, athletes continue to use them and overlook the potential health risks associated with steroids. With the growing concern of getting bigger and stronger among athletes, the focus of the game has gone out of sight. . It's almost as if it's more important to be bigger than better than the other team. As more and more athletes use muscle-strengthening drugs and other forms of steroids, athlete performance and health come into question. Many people may begin to wonder if an athlete is capable of the same results achieved without the help of a steroid. Could these same drugs cause an asterisk to be added next to a record, due to the fact that the athlete was using an enhancement drug? Does this mean that today's athletes are better than those of the past only thanks to performance-enhancing drugs and not skill? The answers to these questions should be carefully thought out along with the consequences of steroid use. Are the long-term effects of steroids worth the hits that will soon be forgotten over time? Steroids have been used for decades by doctors treating men whose bodies don't produce enough testosterone naturally. Steroids can also be used to treat asthma. It......middle of paper.......1999Hayden, Thomas and Karen Springen. "McGwire's Feeder." Newsweek September 7, 1998. October 10, 1999Kuhn, Cynthia, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson. Buzzed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998. Longley, Jennifer. "Danger warning." People. October 12, 1998. November 2, 1999Marks, Alexandra. “Schools Struggle with 'Bulk in a Bottle'.” Christian Science Monitor. September 30, 1998. October 15, 1999Narcotic Educational Foundation of America. Anabolic steroids. (booklet) 20 June. 1991 Schrof, Joannie M. and Brendan I. Koerner. "McGwire takes pills." US News & World Report. September 7, 1998. October 28, 1999 Sibbald, Barbara. “Sports medicine doctors want steroid supplements off the shelves.” Journal of the Canadian Medical Association 159. 9 (1998): 1075.Zorpette, Glenn. "Andro Angst." Scientific American 279.6 (1998). October 30th. 1999