Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids are synthetic coumpounds formulated to be like the male sex hormone testosterone. Many athletes use anabolic steroids male and female alike, such as body builders , weightlifters, baseball players, football players, swimmers, and runners. They do so because they mistakenly believe that they will gain strength and size.

In a male testosterone is released by the leydig cells in the testes.

The testosterone has two main functions androgenic and anabolic. Androgenic is the development of male sex characteristics. Anabolic is the development of muscle tissue.

To treat patients who suffer from a natural lack of testosterone pharmacoligists alter one form of testosterone slightly, increasing th length of time the drug is active. Testosterone was first isolated in 1935, soon forms of testosterone such as dianabol, durabolin, deca-durabolin, and winstrol were produced. One of the main effects of anabolic steroids is to increase the number of red blood cells and muscle tissue without producing much of the androgenic effects of testosterone. There are only four legal uses for steroids treatment for certain forms of cancer, pituatary dwarfism, and serious hormone disturbances. There are two forms of anabolic steroids those taken orally and those injected. The immediate effects of both are mood swings of many different kinds.

In one study, physicians Ian Wilson, Arthur Prang, Jr., and Patricio Lara found that four out of five men suffering from dippresion when given a steroid suffered from dillusions. A research team from Great Britian Found that a patient given steroids became dizzy, dissoriented, and incoherent. Physicians

William Layman and William Annitto have had a case of a young man who was diagnosed as schizophrenic took steriods to help with his wieghtlifting. After taking these drugs he suffered severe deppresion and anxiety and had trouble sleeping. Most people who use steroids do not have side affects this severe.

Steroids make changes in the electroencephalogram (an image of brain ellectrical activity). Researchers believe that these changes are responsible for some of the behavior changes in users of steroids like increased hostility and...

... middle of paper ...

... I read from the researchers that anabolic steroids show few if any effects at all and I read from athletes that there is a very large effect on muscle gain and endurance. I came across only one book though that addressed this issue between researchers and atheletes. The book sayed that The

American College of Sports Medicine stated a report on the use and abuse of anabolic steroids. It stated that for many people any benefits of anabolic steroids are small and not worth the health risk. Yet almost all the athletes who use anabolic steroids feel that the steroids had a great effect and that they would not have been successful without them. The big gap between researchers and athletes has caused a big contraversy athletes say one thing and researchers say another. The researchers have found a reason that maybe is the cause that anabolic steroid users see efects that researchers say are not possible they call it the "placebo effect".

The placebo effect works by the power of suggestion athletes believe that the steroids will improve there performance so they do. The placebo effect is real the performance is improved and the gains are not imagi