5 Things You Need to Know About Anabolic Steroid Abuse

1. Bulk up With Drugs

Anabolic steroids are a man-made form of testosterone, a male hormone. Their use encourages the growth of muscles, making it easy for people to bulk up quickly. Athletes wanting to enhance their performance are the first people who overused anabolic steroids. People still use them to improve performance and build a lot of muscle in a short time.

2. Oral and Injectable

You can take anabolic steroids in a pill form by mouth or you can have them injected straight into the blood stream. People who abuse steroids don't need to take them every day. Instead, they usually take them for a few weeks or months and then stop. They wait to take the steroids for a while, then they start up with them again and repeat the pattern. This is called cycling. A system called stacking is when steroid abusers take several different types of steroids all at once.

3. Steroid Abuse is Unsafe

Steroid abuse is dangerous for young people because it represents an easy way to achieve a positive body image, but it can also have dire effects. Injecting steroids can lead to hepatitis or HIV when you use shared or unclean needles. Other negative health effects of steroid abuse include kidney failure, stroke, tumors of the liver and heart attacks. Men can suffer from breast development, baldness and testicle shrinkage. Women can also experience baldness, increased hair growth and an increase in the size of the clitoris. Most steroid abusers suffer from severe acne, retain water and develop an oily scalp.

4. Don't let Them go to Your Head

Anabolic steroid abuse can adversely affect behavior. Users experience irritability and are more prone to violent behavior than people who don't use anabolic steroids. People who abuse steroids often turn to other illegal drugs to counter some of the effects of the steroids, such as an inability to sleep and being easily exasperated. Steroid abusers can experience periods of rage, manic episodes and can suffer from delusions.

5. Be Sure to Know the Law

Possession of anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes is punishable under Federal law. Since 1990, the Federal Controlled Substances Act has listed steroids as a Schedule III controlled substance. This results in a punishment that includes a substantial monetary fine and time in prison for anyone possessing or distributing anabolic steroids for any reason other than medical use.