A 2010 survey published in the journal "Drug and Alcohol Dependence" shows that 1 out of 10 outpatients from a rehabilitation clinic abused anabolic steroids. These medications, which act on the testosterone system, may enhance athletic performance and improve body composition. The outpatients also used the drugs to increase self-esteem and mask drug intake. Performance enhancing drugs may have positive effects in the short term, but they also cause negative reactions.
Body Size
Anecdotal reports suggest that steroids increase body size. These "stories" have increased the use of performance enhancing drugs by both professional and recreational athletes. Yet scientific investigation of such claims remain rare. Anabolic steroid use is often done illegally, and it's frequently associated with side effects. Thus evaluating the effects of steroids in humans remains controversial. Studies in animals, however, demonstrate the effectiveness of anabolic drugs.
A 2009 experiment described in the journal "Steroids" looked at several common performance enhancing drugs available over the counter. Testosterone and nandrolone precursors were administered for four months to male guinea pigs that had been castrated. Castration typically stunts growth, yet steroid intake increased muscle, organ and tissue growth. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed these animal findings, which likely generalize to human populations.
Trauma Recovery
Anabolic steroids have legitimate medical applications in addition to their illicit use by athletes. Steroid intake may hasten recovery from sports injuries, and they play a similar role in trauma cases. A 2003 study offered in the periodical "Burns" tested the healing power of oxandrolone in burn victims. Patients used that steroid nightly for several weeks following their trauma. Burn patients receiving steroids recovered two to three times faster than control subjects. They also maintained this recovery for at least six months after stopping the treatment.
Mental Health
Men and women typically take anabolic steroids to improve physical parameters such as strength and size. The psychological effects of performance-enhancing drugs are frequently overlooked. A 2006 case report presented in the journal "European Psychiatry" describes these effects in identical male twins. By choice, one twin used steroids and one twin did not. The twins had an otherwise similar lifestyle. Across six months of daily use, the twin taking steroids exhibited more aggression, hostility, anxiety, and paranoia. The twin not taking the drugs maintained a stable mental health profile.
Organ Damage
Performance enhancing drugs may also have adverse effects on internal organs. A 2010 report in the "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology" evaluated kidney function in 10 bodybuilders taking anabolic steroids. Nine of the athletes showed extensive kidney damage, which greatly improved after the steroid abuse ended. One patient's symptoms reappeared upon drug relapse.
References
- "Drug and Alcohol Dependence"; Substance Abusers' Motives for Using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids; A. Petersson et al., May 17, 2010
- "Steroids"; In Vivo MRI Evaluation of Anabolic Steroid Precursor Growth Effects in a Guinea Pig Model; H. Tang et al.; August 2009
- "Burns"; Oxandrolone Induced Lean Mass Gain During Recovery from Severe Burns is Maintained after Discontinuation of the Anabolic Steroid; R. H. Demling et al.; December 2003
- "European Psychiatry"; Psychiatric and Hostility Factors Related to Use of Anabolic Steroids in Monozygotic Twins; T. A. Pagonis et al. December 2006
- "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology"; Development of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis after Anabolic Steroid Abuse; L. C. Herlitz et al.; January 2010
