When we think about steroids, for most of us, the image of muscle bound men come to mind. In truth, steroids are commonly used among many athletes as well as boys in their adolescent years, and women models. Sometimes, those who have physically demanding jobs, such as police officers, military personnel, and even barroom bouncers use them too. Steroid use is more widespread and common than most of us think.
Anabolic androgenic steroids, often shorten to “anabolic steroids” are the steroids that are most commonly used. Athletes use them to increase their strength and endurance. No longer is steroid use limited to body builders and football players. Baseball players, wrestlers, runners, and even swimmers have resorted to steroid use to give them a little “edge” on the competition. Young boys in their adolescent years take anabolic steroids to rush the process of puberty and the maturing of their body’s. Female models use them to improve the way their body looks. Others, such as the barroom bouncers and military personnel use them to increase their strength for their jobs.
What exactly are anabolic androgenic steroids? They are synthetic derivatives of testosterone. Testosterone is the male hormone. They are taken for the purpose of building muscle, increasing strength, improving body appearance, and increasing physical endurance. There are many common names for these steroids. A few of these names are, Anatrofin, Anaxvzr, Annadrol, Bolasterone, and Therabolin. Some slang terms for steroids are, Gym Candy, Pumpers, Stackers, A’s, Anabolics, GHB, Oxys, Balls, Bulls, Roids, and Juice.
These steroids are taken either in a pill form, which is swallowed, or intravenously, meaning, the user injects him or her self with a needle into a vein to inject the steroids directly into the blood stream. Most of these steroids are gotten illegally and without a doctor’s prescription, therefore; the user has to rely on the word of others to attempt to determine the right dosage amount. Often times, these dosage levels are not safe. When prescribed by a doctor, steroids are typically given in doses of only 1 to 5 milligrams a day. Steroid users often take hundreds of milligrams of the drug daily. When taken orally, steroids may stay in the body for several weeks after usage. If injected, they may remain for several months.
When taken in such massive amounts, steroids can have many adverse side effects. Because testosterone is a male hormone, steroid use can cause a deeper voice, facial and body hair. Aside from those side effects, there may also be psychological effects, and effects to the cardiovascular system, reproductive system, and to vital organs of the body. There are also many other side effects that generally effect a person’s body.
Psychologically, steroid use can cause temporary personality changes. Some users become uncontrollably aggressive and have violent behavior. This is known as “roid rage”. Steroid use can also cause severe mood swings and depression. Many users also suffer from extreme irritability, paranoid jealousy, delusions, and false feelings of invincibility. When they are not using the steroids, people who regularly use steroids may go through withdrawal symptoms that only worsen any psychological effects.
Steroid use can cause the heart to become enlarged, which is known to lead to heart failure. High blood pressure, higher cholesterol levels, heart palpitations, heart attack, stroke, and anaphylactic and/or septic shock are other effects they have on the cardiovascular system. Hardening of the arteries, also known as atherosclerosis, which leads to heart disease, is yet another side effect of steroid use.
If there is too much testosterone in a man’s body, his body will convert it into estrogen. Estrogen is a female hormone. In the male reproductive system, this can cause many problems. Some of these problems are; enlarged prostate, sexual dysfunction, becoming sterile, baldness, breast enlargement, and testicular atrophy, or the shrinking of the testicles. In a woman’s body, the reverse is true. Women may have irregular menstrual periods, a deeper voice, baldness, sexual dysfunction, hair growth on the face and other areas of the body, become sterile, breast size may decrease, genitals may swell, and steroid use can damage an unborn baby.
Steroid use can also harm other vital organs in the body. The liver can become permanently damaged. This can lead to cancer, jaundice, hepatitis, and bleeding. The kidneys can also be damaged, causing kidney stones and kidney disease.
Steroid use can lead to the user’s death. Aside from the detrimental problems they cause to the body and its vital organs, users may also commit suicide. Homicide is another cause of death for users. Liver disease, cancer, heart attack, stroke, and many other fatal things can happen as a result of steroid use.
Common things to look for in a person if you think they are using steroids are rapid weight gain and muscle development, increased acne, fluid retention, jaundice, or yellowing of the skin. This is most commonly noticed in the whites of a person’s eyes first. Mood swings, depression, aggression, and losing hair. These people may also lose interest in daily activities; complain of energy loss or boredom. They may also develop problems with relationships, family, and friends.
Other problems include the person having a hard time limiting steroid use. They may actually increase usage because they feel that it is necessary to gain the results they want. Male anorexia may also occur. This is when a user is unhappy with the way their body looks and cannot seem to see the changes in it as others do.
Many times, young, adolescent boys are introduced to steroids through peers. Steroids become appealing because of the dramatic physical changes they can have on the body. Many young users are unhappy with the way their body looks, think that others they may compete with are using them, or they just feel pressured to use them. Young adolescents do not think that steroids are harmful at all, in fact, more often than not; they believe that steroids are safe. Unfortunately, it is very common for those who begin to use steroids to go on to other drugs later on.
Anabolic androgenic steroids are prescribed by doctors to help treat some forms of anemia, some breast cancers, osteoporosis, endometriosis, and a hereditary swelling disorder, called hereditary angiodema. No doctors prescribe anabolic androgenic steroids for cosmetic or athletic purposes. These steroids have actually been classified as a controlled substance due to the negative side effects and the potential for abuse. The law has penalties in place for those found to be selling, possessing, or using these steroids. Most athletic organizations test the athletes for steroids, and penalize them for using them.
