What are Steroids?
Steroids are lipids that function as sex hormones in the body.
They occur naturally as carbon atoms and help in the development of muscles and the formation of testosterone which triggers other male behavior.
Testosterone is a natural hormone in humans, and it’s responsible for secondary sexual characteristics such as the growth of facial hair and deepening voice.
Testosterone also plays a role in the development of muscles and increases strength.
Types of Steroids
Steroids are hormones responsible for secondary growth and characters.
There are basically two categories of steroids – Organic steroids and Synthetic steroids.
Organic steroids are found in food and are naturally ingested into the body while synthetic steroids are industrially produced to enhance growth and performance.
There are three types of steroids – Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, Glucocorticosteroids, and Minerocorticosteroids.
What is an Anabolic steroid?
While there are three types of steroids, our focus today is on anabolic steroids which can also be referred to as testosterone, and which helps in the development of muscle, deep voice, facial and pubic hair, and enhance libido.
Anabolic steroids are produced in the laboratory to promote the tissue-building effect of testosterone without its masculine quality.
For example, anabolic steroids can be used to treat female breast cancer and to fight different causes of anemia.
Benefits of Anabolic Steroids
The usefulness of anabolic steroids in sports can not be overemphasized, although it’s not legally accepted to be used in athletics.
However, anabolic steroids are used to improve performance in athletics and sports, both team sports, athletics, and combatant sports.
Anabolic steroids are also used for bodybuilding and exercise. The user should seek medical advice hereby to prevent side effects when used for a long period.
Anabolic steroids are used mainly by athletes who want to quickly pull their performances and muscle, increase their strength, speed, and muscle size.
About 10% of high school males and 2% of higher school females have used anabolic steroids.
Some even use it for social and cosmetic reasons simply to look big and good.
Side effects of Anabolic steroids
The short-term effects of using it can result in behavioral and physical problems for males and females.
Some of the short-term effects are the following.
- Acne
- growth of facial skin
- Aggressive and violent behavior
- Changes in body chemistry
- Swelling of feet and lower legs
- Water retention in body muscles
Long Side-effects of Anabolic steroids
Long term effects of anabolic steroids are many, hence, it’s usually discouraged to be used for a long period.
- It can cause deep or coarse voice
- It can lead to excessive hair growth on your skin
- Anabolic steroids have casued infertility in some patients.
- It can also lead to baldness in males
- Enlargement of the prostate is now a common side effect of using anabolic steroids
- Anabbolic steroids can cause high blood pressure
Other side effects of using anabolic steroids for a long period are shrinking of the breast, oily skin, cancer of the liver, depressed sperm production, and high cholesterol level,
Anabolic steroids can also be trigger of other diseases such as kidney disease, mental disorder, heart diseases, and liver diseases.
Today, however, the medical needs of anabolic steroids have declined with the development of new treatments, stem cells, therapy and others.