Anabolic steroids are medicines that require a prescription, yet most of the people who take them do so without medical advice. They take steroids for the purpose of increasing their muscle mass as well as improving their athletic performance.
How Do Steroids Work?
Anabolic steroids mimic the effects of testosterone, a male hormone. They are performance-enhancing drugs, decreasing fat in the body as they increase muscle mass. Sound ideal? Not really. There are a lot of weightlifters and athletes who regularly take steroids to improve their physical performance, but there are also a lot of teenage boys who take steroids because they think their bodies do not look good.
These young men often have reverse anorexia which makes them feel like they are not physically strong enough and their bodies are not big enough. They believe anabolic steroids will make them healthy and strong. What they do not realize is that taking these harmful steroids is a very dangerous and addictive habit.
Anabolic steroids are often injected directly into the muscle, but they are also available in tablets, or sometimes as creams or gels that can be applied to the skin. More than one type of steroid may be used at the same time. Users claim that doing this technique of “stacking” helps improve the effectiveness of the steroids.
What are the Dangers of Steroids?
Some of the most common side effects of anabolic steroids in men are reduced sperm count and infertility, erectile dysfunction, shrunken testicles, severe acne, baldness, stomach pain, breast development, and an increased risk of having prostate cancer.
When women take anabolic steroids, they can cause a deepened voice, severe acne, facial hair growth, hair loss, swelling of the clitoris, increased sex drive, loss of breasts, and period problems, among others.
Worse than those, however, are the psychological effects of misusing anabolic steroids like mood swings, manic or aggressive behaviour, and delusions or hallucinations. Medical conditions may also develop. These include blood clots, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, fluid retention, heart attack or stroke, and liver or kidney tumours.
If using anabolic steroids, adolescent boys who haven’t yet experienced the growth spurt that comes with puberty may suffer from premature aging of the bones, as well as restricted growth.
Like most substances, steroids can be very addictive. Your body can crave the drug. It also requires continuous use if you want to keep the effect it has on your body. When you suddenly stop taking them, you will experience terrible withdrawal symptoms like depression, anxiety, insomnia, anorexia, fatigue, headache, and muscle and joint pain, among others. It is important that you ask for the help of a professional on how you can safely stop taking steroids.
Visit Sloan Natural Health Center for a consultation. You can ask about our programs that are all created to provide you with the best possible health and strength with no need for steroids.
