A 2009 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that 2 percent of teenage girls surveyed have taken steroids without a doctor's prescription. These numbers are trending downwards but still remain a concern. Anabolic steroids, which affect the body's testosterone system, enhance athletic abilities and reduce recovery time. Yet steroids cause short-term side effects and produce long-term consequences. Most studies have tested men, but comparable data in women show similar adverse reactions.
Hormonal Profiles
Women have circulating testosterone levels one tenth those of men. A 1991 experiment published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology shows that using anabolic steroids increased these levels thirty-fold. This study also found that steroid intake decreased sex hormone-binding globulin and follicle-stimulating hormone. Such changes may produce very serious negative consequences: High levels of testosterone and low levels of sex hormone-binding globulin correlate with an increase in breast cancer. And low levels of follicle-stimulating hormone correlate with an increase in ovarian cancer.
Menstrual Irregularities
The steroid-induced changes in hormone levels may impact reproduction. Decreases in follicle-stimulating hormone often contribute to menstrual irregularities, including missed menses and infertile periods. Most women tested in the 1991 experiment described above experienced menstrual irregularities while taking anabolic steroids. And similar results have been obtained in laboratory animals. For example, a 2009 study in European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology showed that the commonly abused steroid nandrolone changed uterine physiology and suppressed reproductive capacity.
Dermatological Effects
A report by the National Institutes of Health notes that women using anabolic steroids may experience the growth of excessive body hair yet lose scalp hair. And a review offered in Clinical Chemistry offers a graphic depiction of a female athlete covered with steroid-induced body hair. This world-record holder had to regularly shave her body to avoid detection and embarrassment. Taking testosterone, a natural anabolic steroid, may also cause unusual amounts of hair growth in women. A 2008 experiment presented in the New England Journal of Medicine tested the potentially positive effects of testosterone replacement in postmenopausal women. Yet twice as many women using testosterone patches experienced hair growth than women not using them. Such hirsutism caused several women to withdraw from the study.
Psychological Changes
Steroid intake may appear to correlate with increased aggression; yet a cause-effect relationship between these variables remains difficult to establish. A 2010 study published in the journal Nature tested this supposed association in healthy women. Subjects received a single oral dose of testosterone and quickly started a bargaining game. Results indicated that testosterone intake increased positive social behavior during the game. Women receiving testosterone had fewer bargaining conflicts. Yet they did so without showing increased altruism. Such data suggest that testosterone can increase status seeking. They also may explain why testosterone intake often increases aggression as violent behavior can indicate high status. For example, female prisoners with greater testosterone are more aggressive and considered more dominant.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance---United States; 2009
- "American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology"; Endocrine Effects in Female Weight Lifters Who Self-Administer Testosterone and Anabolic Steroids; W. B. Malarkey et al.; November 1991
- "European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology"; Administration of the Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Nandrolone Decanoate to Female Rats Causes Alterations in the Morphology of their Uterus and a Reduction in Reproductive Capacity; H. R. Mobini Far et al.; April 2007
- "New England Journal of Medicine"; Testosterone for Low Libido in Postmenopausal Women Not Taking Estrogen
- "Nature"; Prejudice and Truth About the Effect of Testosterone on Human Bargaining Behaviour
