Addictions

Drug Addiction – Information on Steroids By Marcus Essex

Steroids are basically derived from male testosterone. They usually come in the form of an injection or a pill. Steroids do have legitimate medical application for those who suffer from motor diseases of the body, such as bone or muscle wasting diseases; steroids are used to counter the effect, as well as males suffering from testosterone deficiency. Since the 1980's steroids have become the 'gain muscle quick' drug of bodybuilders. In the bodybuilding world, steroid abuse/misuse is at its most rife.

The most common way someone gets accustomed/addicted to using steroids is the newcomer to bodybuilding who is ill-advised that if he/she takes steroids for only a few months and works out, they will generate almost unbelievable muscle mass within a very short space of time, muscle mass which would usually take years to develop. This is true; steroids do develop muscles very quickly. The problem is the effects on the body which they have, and also the fact that due to the very nature of bodybuilding itself as a constant progression, it is very hard for some bodybuilders who have used steroids to finally give them up or realise it is time they stopped using them.

The effects of steroid usage on the body are different for both males and females. Below is a brief summary of the effects:

Effect on Males

Because steroids are basically testosterone, the body is having not only its own internally occurring natural dose of testosterone delivered to it, but an additional source. The body knows it cannot regulate the outside dose (the steroids) of testosterone, so as a countermeasure it produces less of its own testosterone. For males, this can have a multitude of negative results. Impotence can occur as the testicles (production centre of testosterone) shrink; sperm count can be reduced significantly or almost completely and also severe hair loss. Also, due to the fact that not everyone’s heart is naturally capable of carrying the new huge body mass which has quickly been developed by the steroids, and also is not adequately equipped to easily supply the new body mass with blood, this can put extreme pressure on the heart, which can eventually lead to heart problems and death.

Effect on Females

Females don’t produce testosterone; therefore introducing testosterone in the levels inherent in steroids into the female body can have absolutely horrifying results. You may have seen on television before, female bodybuilders who are hard to distinguish from men not only because of their body's muscle but because of their faces and their voices and general all round non-feminine appearance. When a woman has used steroids for a long time their body starts to exhibit masculine traits, such as the development of facial hair, a deep male pubescent sounding voice and breast shrinkage. This is why many female steroid abusers are generally mistaken for transsexuals, or simply men. Add these outward results to the heart, liver and kidney and abundance of other health problems linked to prolonged steroid use and it’s not hard to see taking steroids for a non-medical reason is very damaging.

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