Public Issues and Personal Problems

PUBLIC ISSUES AND PERSONAL PROBLEMS Most of the time, we dont think of problems we go through as social issues, but when we comp are ourselves to others we stub see that many of the everyday problems of just mickle occur on a larger basis in our country. Some are easier to imperfection such as unemployment, even though it affects each person laid off once the grade get to a certain point it is obvious that the rates are due to economical factors non the characteristics of each individual (Mills 1). I have found that a problem that is becoming more clear in our daily life is a growing enjoyment of dangerous supplements in teenage athletes.When I was thirteen I started in my first inculcate sport. I became a runner. I fell in love with the sport. As I grew older it was some liaison that dominated my life on and off the mat. I practically found myself in class wishing I were running. Naturally as I became older I also became more a competitive athlete, as did the rest of my fr iends that ran or played any proud develop sport for that matter. Talk of being a competitor at state championships or who was fortunate at the next match often filled the hallways. Generally this competition appeared a good thing to me. I was a crack athlete because of that competition.Being a runner I often heard people talk just about why would you do that to your body? referring to dropping weight. At first the idea seemed absurd. The conversations with others about what supplements I was taking or not taking took place almost every day. As I spent more time conversing with wrestlers from other school I found the phenomenon was far from isolated to my school or even my state. Pills such as Xenadrine, DHEA, and Androstat where almost a necessary thing. To keep up with the bell shape curve of students taking the same things everyone had to do it. Instead of sticking with these already dangerous or at the very least unhealthy pills people often felt pushed to try even bigger and better things. Over time the use of very unhealthy supplements to drop or gain weight or to gain any kind of edge became almost common. Sadly many of these pills, drinks, and even injections where available to anyone at most health food stores. The long term use of these can have a withering effect on teens. I have seen the best wrestlers walk off the mat and into the locker live to puke. Thankfully I have never known anyone personally to suffer any long-term effect but I ave often seen on the news and read in the paper about athletes that have. I tardily saw on the news that a pitching prospect for the Oriels, Steve Belcher, died from taking Xenadrine RFA-1. It is true that this was not the only factor, but it was defiantly a major(ip) contributor. I am familiar with this particular medicate as I probably went through two hundred dollars worth in high school. The major ingredient is Ephedrine. Ephedrine is the principal extract from Ma Huang. Ephedrine is a beta-adrenergi c agonist, which means it increases heart rate, blood pressure, and thermal life force by burning fat for energy.My experience with this is it is very effective but unless a person is already in good health (which is unlikely if they are taking a fat burning formula) this can be a very dangerous chemical. Such as in the case of Steve Belcher. The company that occupys Xenadrine recently released a new formula of the supplement with out Ephedrine in my opinion because this is because Ephedrine is being evaluated by the agribusiness and may become illegal over the counter. As I made it though high school and I no longer take part in the rush for the hot new supplements to make me perform better I have found that I havent even fancy about it in a long time.At the time I didnt even give it a second thought but now I see that supplements that are meant for short term use by grown adults or that are just plain not healthy to use for anyone are finding their way to the hands of athletes more often. The need to gain an edge and be the best drives them to do whatever it takes for them to win. I find myself relegated to telling my little brother of the dangers and hoping that these supplements will be pulled from the shelf in front more harm is done. Bibliography Works Cited Mills, C. Wright The Promise Mapping the Social Landscape, Ed Susan J. Ferguson McGraw Hill, 2002. 1-6.