Male hormones, principally testosterone, are a main ingredient in the sudden changes that occur developmentally during adolescence and puberty. Male hormones have androgenic and anabolic effects. The androgenic effects have to do with primary and secondary changes in sexual characteristics, such as growth of the male genitals, voice changes and hair growth. The anabolic effects relate to accelerated growth of muscle, bone, red blood cells and enhanced neural conduction. In an effort to improve muscle mass and increase sports performance, some individuals take anabolic steroids. Understanding how anabolic steroids affect muscle tissue is important, along with understanding any associated risks.
Muscle Grows
Anabolism is the building process in which simple substances are converted to more complex
compounds, such as muscle and bone tissue. Catabolism is the process in which the body breaks down these these substances. Your body is normally in a constant state of building and destroying. There is a balance that occurs as your body replaces the old tissue with new tissue. Anabolic steroids reverse the short-term catabolic effect, leading to a positive nitrogen balance. This translates to faster gains in muscle mass. You must create a positive nitrogen balance for the steroids to have a positive effect, and exercise does this. At the completion of exercise, during recovery, your body has a temporary state of positive nitrogen balance. This period is when the anabolic steroid is able to halt the normal catabolic process, and you end up netting more muscle tissue.
Muscle is Trained
There is some evidence that anabolic steroids might cause you to feel like exercising more often and pushing yourself harder. The psychosomatic effects of feeling stronger from the use of the drug might cause you to push harder than you ever have. The principle of overload is the basic way that muscle tissue is improved. As you push your body and muscles harder, you find that they respond by getting stronger. There is, however, a higher incidence of injury and muscle tearing in those who use steroids, and it might be that over-training is a big part of that problem.
Muscle Equalizes
Maintaining a positive nitrogen balance, and thus benefit from anabolic steroid use, is short-lived. Unless you increase the dosage of steroids, you will usually only see a benefit for one to two months. Your body becomes tolerant to the hormone and begins to equalize. In a sense, your body resets the thermostat. Rapid tolerance to steroids occurs in the muscle as your body attempts to maintain homeostasis. The risk of serious side effects is increased as the athlete takes higher and higher doses of anabolic steroids to maintain continuous benefits. Many of those who take anabolic steroids stack several other substances together with the hormone to gain benefits from each one in an attempt to build more muscle. As higher doses and more drugs are used, the risks of health problems grows exponentially. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, side effects can include liver damage, jaundice, fluid retention, high blood pressure and increases in LDL cholesterol. Other reported effects include renal failure, severe acne and trembling.
