Lance Armstrong’s two-night interview with Oprah Winfrey was about two specific topics: Is he being honest now and is he sorry. After the cameras were turned off, other players in the story weighed in with their responses and shared additional details that made it even harder to determine the truth.
As much as we speculate, we will probably never really know who knew what when, and on some level it doesn’t really matter. The road ahead will be a long one for Armstrong who went from being an international sports hero to a divisive figure. He was stripped of his Tour de France medals, and he may face litigation from sponsors as well as corporations and individuals who he successfully sued after they made claims of doping.
What very few people are talking about is the effects of Armstrong and other pro athletes taking drugs for an extended period of time. While we know doping is illegal in professional sports, we are not hearing about steroids’ negative effects on those who take these banned substances or the long-term damage that can be done.
While athletes may be carefully monitoring their intake and are under a doctor’s care, they are still putting their bodies at risk, gambling their long-term health for short-term gain. We don’t know all the long-term effects that could arise from using steroids or the much-discussed erythropoietin (EPO), and only time will tell if there are residual physical effects from performance enhancing drugs.
If you or someone you love needs treatment for steroid or other drug abuse, call La Paloma at the toll-free number on our homepage. Someone is there to take your call 24 hours a day and answer any questions you have about treatment, financing or insurance.
