Anabolic Steroids

A Threat to Mind and Body

Using Anabolic Steroids

Valid Medical Uses

Steroids are drugs derived from hormones. Anabolic steroids comprise one group of these hormonal drugs. In certain cases, some may have therapeutic value.

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of selected anabolic steroids for treating specific types of anemia, some breast cancers, osteoporosis, endometriosus, and hereditary angioedema, a rare disease involving swelling of some parts of the body.

Some medical specialists believe that anabolic steroids can improve the appetite and improve healing after surgery, but the FDA has withdrawn approval for such uses since the claims are vague and largely unsubstantiated.

What Are Anabolic Steroids?

Anabolic steroids - or more precisely, anabolic/androgenic steroids - belong to a group known as ergogenic, or so-called "performance-enhancing," drugs. They Some medical are synthetic derivatives of testosterone, a natural male hormone. "Anabolic" means growing or building. "Androgenic" means "masculinizing" or generating male sexual characteristics.

Most healthy males produce between 2 and 10 milligrams of testosterone a day. (Females do produce some testosterone, but in trace amounts.) The hormone's anabolic effects help the body retain dietary protein, thus aiding growth of muscles, bones, and skin.

The androgenic characteristics of testosterone are associated with masculinity. They foster the maturing of the male reproductive system in puberty, the growth of body hair and the deepening of the voice. They can affect aggressiveness and sex drive.

Do They Really Work?

Anabolic steroids are designed to mimic the body building traits of testosterone while minimizing its "masculinizing" effects. There are several types, with various combinations of anabolic and androgenic properties. The International Olympics Committee to date has placed 17 anabolic steroids and related compounds on its banned list.

Athletes who have used anabolic steroids-as well as some coaches, trainers, and physicians-do report significant increases in lean muscle mass, strength, and endurance. But no studies show that the substances enhance performance. Anabolic steroids do not improve agility, skill or cardiovascular capacity. Some athletes insist that these substances aid in recovery from injuries, but no hard data exists to support the claim.

"There is little compelling scientific evidence
to support the concept that steroids
enhance athletic performance."

"I wanted to be the best swimmer
and black female athlete ever."

"Athletes would rather confess to
cocaine use than to steroids use."

- Dr. Charles E. Yesalis, Pennsylvania State University

A Brief History

Winning Through Doping

The drive to compete-and to win-is as old as humankind. Throughout history, athletes have sought foods and potions to transform their bodies into powerful, well tuned machines.

Greek wrestlers ate huge quantities of meat to build muscle, and Norse warriors-the Berserkers-ate hallucinogenic mushrooms to gear up for battle.

The first competitive athletes believed to be charged with "doping taking drugs and other nonfood substances to improve performance were swimmers in Amsterdam in the 1860s. Doping, with anything from strychnine and caffeine to cocaine and heroin, spread to other sports over the next several decades.

Enter Anabolic Steroids

The use of anabolic steroids by athletes is relatively new. Testosterone was first synthesized in the 1930's and was introduced into the sporting arena in the 1940's and 1950's. When the Russian weightlifting team thanks, in part, to synthetic testosterone-walked off with a pile of medals at the 1952 Olympics, an American physician determined that U. S. competitors should have the same advantage.

By 1958 a U.S. pharmaceutical firm had developed anabolic steroids. Although the physician soon realized the drug had unwanted side effects, it was too late to halt its spread into the sports world.

Early users were mainly bodybuilders, weightlifters, football players, and discus, shot put, or javelin throwers-competitors who relied heavily on bulk and strength.

During the 1970's demand grew as athletes in other sports sought the competitive edge that anabolic steroids seemed to provide.

By the 1980's, as nonathletes also discovered the body-enhancing properties of steroids, a black market began to flourish for the illegal production and sale of the drugs for nonmedical purposes.

"There may be a greater number of
cases of anabolic steroid-induced
psychiatric illness in this country than
had been assumed...these effects may pose
a danger not only to the steroids user
but to the public at large.

-David Katz and Harrison Pope, Harvard University

The Position of the Medical Community

The American Medical Association condemns the use of anabolic steroids by athletes. Other medical associations have joined with the AMA in deploring steroids abuse, including the:

American Academy of Pediatrics
American College of Sports Medicine
American Osteopathic
Academy of Sports Medicine