The Effects of Steroids on the Human Body and Steroid Abuse by Athletes

The Effects of Steroids on the Human Body and Steroid Abuse by Athletes For many years, the use and abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids have been linked closely to athletes. Steroids come in different forms. They can be taken in pill form or injected straight into the user’s muscles by a needle. There are many sports that are associated with steroid abuse like weightlifting, basketball, and track and field. Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic forms of male sex hormones, like testosterone. They speed up the growth and development process of muscles in the body. Steroids were originally developed around the 1930s in order to treat hypogonadism, which is a disease that prevents the male testes to not produce enough testosterone for its functions. Once scientists began to test steroids on animals, the same effect of increased muscle size was present in the animals. This immediately led to the abuse of steroids by body and weight lifters, and then closely followed by athletes from all kinds of different sports to enhance their performances. Whether the user is male or female, certain sexual mannerisms of the male body will begin to produce in their body. There are several temporary and permanent side effects of abusing steroids. Temporary side effects include acne, increased breast size in men, and aggression. The

sebaceous glands in the skin become inflated with excessive steroid use. Once this happens, the oils in the glands are increased which causes the skin to break out with acne. Another effect would be gynecomastia (increased breast size in men). This occurs when the body converts extra testosterone into female hormones, like estrogen, and female breast tissue is sometimes formed creating breasts on the man. Females will also experience male characteristic changes to their bodies. They might notice that their voices may be deepening because the testosterone from the steroids sends male signals to the brain. Facial hair and