Anabolic steroids are steroidal androgens similar to testosterone and work to increase cell protein in the skeletal muscles. Since being manufactured around the 1930s, they have been widely used to stimulate the growth of muscles, improve appetite, induce puberty in males, and treat conditions like AIDS and cancer. When used with a proper diet, these steroids can grow body weight, strengthen muscles, and develop lean mass. Sportspeople, athletes, and bodybuilders often use these steroids to enhance their performance. Let’s find out more.
Uses of Anabolic Steroids
- In medical terms, steroids are often used to stimulate the bone marrow, stimulate growth, increase appetite, increase muscle mass, prevent bone loss, aid weight gain, and treat conditions like delayed puberty, erectile dysfunction, cancer, AIDS, osteoporosis, and others.
- Their androgenic effects help improve libido for men, inducing male puberty and stimulating male sexual characteristics in transgender and intersex people, such as increasing muscle and bone mass, producing body and facial hair, enlarging the clitoris, deepening voice, etc.
- Steroids can enhance performance by athletes and ordinary people for cosmetic purposes. Both male and female athletes use steroids to improve performance and gain a competitive edge in their sports, mainly weightlifting, bodybuilding, shot put, baseball, cycling, wrestling, boxing, martial arts, cricket, football, and others. Some also use them to accelerate their recovery after an injury.
Administration
Medically used steroids are testosterone along with its esters such as testosterone cypionate, testosterone undecanoate, methyltestosterone, dihydrotestosterone, trenbolone acetate, etc. The use of designer steroids like methasterone, methylstenbolone, desoxymethyltestosterone, and trenbolone is illegal and is often made available through the black market. Steroids are available in injections, oral pills, skin patches, and topical creams or gels. Oral medications are absorbed quickly and are the most convenient form to use. Steroid injections drink slowly but with better effects on the muscle. Skin patches convey a steady dosage of the steroid into the bloodstream. Topical creams and gels are applied to the skin every day for constant benefit.
Side Effects
Some of the side effects commonly experienced by users include:
- Oily skin, stretch marks, acne vulgaris, excessive hair growth on the body, scalp baldness, fluid retention
- Decreased or increased sex drive
- Erectile dysfunction, unplanned erections, prostate cancer, testicular atrophy, and others in men
- Masculinisation, menstrual disturbance, clitoral enlargement, uterine atrophy, breast atrophy, and teratogenicity in females
- Precocious puberty in boys delayed puberty in girls.
- Neurological changes like mood swings, violent behavior, aggression, irritability, cognitive impairment, euphoria, anxiety, withdrawal, and delusions
- Musculoskeletal effects like muscle strain, muscle hypertrophy, and tendon ruptures
- Cardiovascular effects include hypertension, myocardial hypertrophy, stroke, myocardial infarction, increased LDL and reduced HDL levels, and sudden death.
- Glucose intolerance, immune dysfunction, and insulin resistance
- Jaundice, elevated liver function tests, cholestasis, and hepatotoxicity
How Do Anabolic Steroids Work?
Anabolic steroids are fat-soluble hormones permeable to the membrane that affect the cell nucleus by directly working upon them. The steroids start working when an exogenous hormone enters the target cell membrane and is attached to its AR in the cytoplasm. After diffusing the nucleus, the hormone receptor changes gene expression. They may also stimulate the process of sending signals to the other cell parts. Affinities differ per the AAS binding to the AAR, which largely depends on the chemical composition. As far as increasing muscle mass is concerned, steroids work by boosting protein production and blocking cortisol effects on muscles by reducing the recovery time.
Anabolic and Androgenic Effects of Anabolic Steroids
Steroids have two types of effects on the body: anabolic and androgenic. Anabolic effects promote cell growth, while androgenic effects affect masculine characteristics in the user. Some of the anabolic effects include increased appetite, bone marrow stimulation, increased RBC production, and enhanced bone growth and remodeling. Steroids stimulate muscle cell formation, due to which skeletal muscles increase in size and lead to enhanced strength. Androgenic effects include pubertal development, sebaceous gland production, increased libido, less production of sperm, suppressed sex hormones, and a deeper voice. However, most of these depend on the duration of use and are irreversible. Female users may experience a deepening of the vote, hair growth on the face, and decreased breast size. Male users may experience enlarged breast tissue, reduced sperm count, testicular atrophy, and gynecomastia.
Improvement in Body Strength and Size
Within ten weeks of use, men’s body weight may increase by 2 to 5 kgs, mainly due to increased lean mass due to the steroids. New muscle fiber starts forming without any effect on the water content of lean mass. However, blood volume may increase a bit. Most products are primarily noticed in the body’s upper part, such as the shoulders, neck, upper arms, thorax, and neck. These effects remain noticeable even after 6-12 weeks of stopping usage, but after that, the results start fading away. Improvement in physical strength largely depends on the steroids being used and their dosage and duration of administration. It works by improving lean muscle mass.
Legal Status of Anabolic Steroids
Steroids are legally prohibited in many countries, but rules in some countries are stricter than others. For instance, in the US, possessing any steroids without a medical prescription is a punishable offense for as much as one year under the Controlled Substances Act. In Canada, selling or buying them is illegal, but possessing them is not a punishable offense. There are penalties and imprisonment for importing or exporting them as well. Using steroids without a medical prescription is also illegal in countries like Brazil, Australia, Portugal, Argentina, and the UK. However, you can easily get them without a prescription in Thailand and Mexico. Pharmaceutical laboratories are often responsible for producing legal anabolic steroids. Still, in countries where their production is prohibited, they are manufactured in hidden labs from other countries’ raw materials. In many countries, steroids are produced illegally and sold on the black market. Some of these steroids are manufactured in foreign nations and smuggled from there. In countries like Europe, Canada, and the US, steroids are often sold as illegal drugs, mostly in competitions and gyms. Some veterinarians, pharmacists, and physicians are also involved in the trafficking of these drugs.
Use of Steroids in Sports
All anabolic agents are prohibited to enhance performance, including sports bodies of tennis, baseball, football, basketball, hockey, wrestling, and others. In Italy, if an athlete has any banned substances in their blood, they may be entitled to be imprisoned for as long as three years. Similar rules are applicable in countries like Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, and France.
Whether used alone or with progestogens, steroids are often associated with an increased risk of male hormonal contraception. Progestins and dual AAS like dimethandrolone undecanoate and trestolone are also potential male contraceptives. Topical application of androstanolone on the abdomen effectively decreases female abdominal fat, thus improving body shape.
