The term steroids can conjure an image of a dangerous substance for those who ingest them. There is a variety known to help individuals with chronic inflammatory conditions such as bronchitis. These, however, are classified as corticosteroids, not like their anabolic counterparts.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids or AAS referenced in the sports community often as ‘roids’ or ‘juice’ are a synthetic form of testosterone, the male hormone. The drug has its legal use in the medical industry for wasting diseases, including certain cancers and AID’s as well as a means to induce puberty.
Though these compounds have a use medicinally via prescription, there is a tendency for abuse of the substances by those hoping to alter their physical appearance or athletic performance, whether it be bodybuilding, weightlifting, or other sports pursuits.
Adverse Effects Associated With Steroid Use
In an attempt to improve physical performance and increase overall muscle growth, people often abuse anabolic steroids. With this misuse can come a host of unwanted adverse effects with the most common being:
- Fatigue
- Mood swings
- Acne
- Agitation and restlessness
- Impotence
- A decrease in appetite
- Difficulty sleeping
- A reduction in sperm count
Generally, the drug is injected into the body, leaving a site that becomes infected or swollen in some instances. A cream application has the potential for an unpleasant odor.
Anabolics are a synthetic form of the male hormone meaning there is an influence of gender characteristics in those who abuse the substance at levels exceeding medically appropriate doses by more than 100 times. Follow https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/anabolic-steroid-misuse/ to learn facts about substance misuse. These reactions can be more severe and include:
- Testicle shrinkage
- Women with excessive growth of hair
- Women’s voice deepening
- Men with breast tissue growth
- Issues with fertility
- Elevation in blood pressure
- Heart issues
- Stroke
- Mania
- Irregularities with menstrual cycles
Facts About Anabolics
Your body already produces an anabolic steroid, testosterone, naturally, regardless of your gender. The ovaries will generate a fraction of that of the testes, but the minute amount that they do produce will assist in building muscle all the same. An ‘anabolic’ defined as ‘building up’ is a drug responsible for ‘building’ protein. There is a multitude of other varieties of steroids that have nothing to do with the growth of muscles. But this particular version offers hope to a broad spectrum of patients who need assistance initiating puberty, suffer from wasting away diseases as with HIV and certain hormonal issues as opposed to merely being a method of cheating at sports. Click to read about uses, effects, and withdraw.
If We Produce It Naturally How Can It Be Bad
Compared to the many illicit substances people can involve themselves with, anabolics aren’t the worst, but that doesn’t deem them safe either. The notion is that technically you’re simply supplementing the natural process already underway within the body. The issue is the body’s formulation is complex, and the least little attempt to manipulate the hormonal system will result in adverse reactions.
When you try to add testosterone as a supplement in an effort to increase muscle mass, improve strength, enhance performance as with the bodybuilding community, the testosterone will encourage the muscles to grow and heal at a faster rate. In the process, however, the endocrine system doesn’t understand why there’s an influx of testosterone. The natural production then begins to decrease to make up for what deems to be an overproduction.
The reduction in natural testosterone production results in testicle shrinkage while on steroids with the potential for a drastic drop with fertility. In some men, elevation in levels of testosterone can cause the development of breast tissue as the body will naturally transform testosterone into estrogen, as is necessary. If everything is running smoothly, this won’t happen. But if you mess with the system, increasing the testosterone, which then raises the estrogen, you’re encouraging the growth of breasts.
At the end of a steroid cycle, there is the likelihood that your body feels it no longer needs to produce the hormone naturally, leaving an inability for an erection and a low sex drive. Because of this type of side effect, Post Cycle Therapy or PCT is a necessity to try to regain the body’s natural function after the course of steroid use. These usually last about the same amount of time as a cycle of the drugs and allows the body time to get back into its regular operation.
Is There A Real Danger With Anabolic Steroids
The answer to that question is ‘Yes.’ But assuming everyone is a full-grown adult capable of making their own decisions, knowing the risks and the potential for the harmful adverse reactions, it’s a personal choice for each individual to make. Sports, bodybuilding, weightlifting, these are challenging industries with expectations that are hard to meet in the traditional sense. That is in no way condoning artificial compensation. It’s a sympathetic gesture. It would be fantastic if there were a magic solution to cause muscles to grow without any sort of dangerous effects. Still, as the adults that we are, we know that fooling around with the body’s endocrine system is not going to go without any repercussions.
Hormones have a hand in so many aspects of the body that the reactions are widespread. Taking into consideration the length of time that an athlete indulges in the activity, serious health issues are a grave possibility. The decision that an athlete has to make is whether the added muscle mass, often temporary, is worth all the effects that a steroid can induce on the body. Liver failure, heart attack, and prostate cancer are a few of the extreme health-related associations with the
drugs. Go to https://medlineplus.gov/anabolicsteroids.html for an informational guide.
A person with the best physique in the bodybuilding competition or the best performance out on the sports field will feel pretty awesome for that moment. But it’s vital to be smart about your overall health and the well-being of your body. Put thought into the process. Don’t allow issues that you have about a physical image to damage the only body you have.