Abuse of anabolic steroids

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Anabolic steroids are synthetic, or man-made, variations of the male sex hormone testosterone. A wide range of side effects can occur with abuse of anabolic steroids, ranging from mild to harmful or even life-threatening. Most recover if the user stops taking the drug. However, others may suffer these side effects to be permanent or semi-permanent.

1. What are anabolic steroids?

Anabolic steroids are synthetic variants of male sex hormones, for example testosterone is the most powerful hormone in men, anabolic steroids are considered a drug that stimulates testosterone growth in men.
Anabolic steroids are used to enhance physical performance and increase muscle mass, thereby affecting chemical processes occurring in the body such as contributing to growth, sex drive, and growth. beard, hair, hair, stimulate physiological functions of the body and at the same time prevent fat accumulation, develop energy. In males, levels of this hormone will increase during puberty, to promote the development of sexual characteristics in males.
Although some people always think that anabolic steroids should only be used in men because they increase testosterone, in fact, in women there is also testosterone hormone in much smaller amounts. It also plays a number of important roles for women, mainly increasing bone density and healthy sex drive.
There are many types of anabolic steroid drugs including testosterone and any drug that is chemically and pharmacologically related to testosterone promoting muscle mass growth, however most of them have similar functions. During exercise, athletes or bodybuilders often develop small tears in the muscle fibers. When muscles are regenerated and recovered after training, those muscle groups will gradually get larger and continue to repeat the same training process as above so that the muscle groups are developed as desired. This is the way to create large muscle mass for bodybuilders.
Increasing the male sex hormone testosterone facilitates muscle growth, anabolic hormones do the same job but better and faster. They also speed up muscle recovery by blocking catabolic hormones. In addition, anabolic steroids are catabolic and improve protein utilization, and they are sometimes administered to burn, bedridden, or other debilitated patients to prevent deterioration of the mass. muscle. Testosterone has been shown to benefit muscle repair and injury. Sometimes, anabolic steroids are also used by doctors in the treatment of cancer or AIDS patients. However, there is little guidance on how to properly supplement androgens, which leads to many potential disorders for users.

2. What are the effects of anabolic steroid abuse?

In the sports world, some athletes or in bodybuilders always want to have a desirable body shape and muscle size, so besides strength training exercises and combined with nutrition then the use of anabolic steroids in various forms will help improve training performance. Some people who use anabolic steroids do not really understand their function, but only think that they help to lose fat, gain muscle in the time of stopping and overusing them.
In fact, steroids will help improve protein synthesis inside the body, promote muscle and bone growth, reduce recovery time between sets and help exercisers gain weight. However, it should not be used because of wanting to promote muscle growth in a short time, so it should be used improperly, often at high doses and without supervision, this is the cause of some adverse reactions. abnormal and unreasonable behavior, causing adverse health effects in the future.
Some common side effects when using anabolic steroids abuse such as acne, premature balding, hair loss, rapid weight gain, mood swings, psychological impact on users. become aggressive, increase the risk of tendon and muscle injury, even increase the risk of developing metabolic heart disease, stroke, ... For women, using too much anabolic steroids will lead to phenomena such as the development of masculine characteristics in terms of voice and body ; menstrual cycle changes , ...

Some people use anabolic steroids cyclically, meaning they take the steroid for a period, then stop and then use it again. Some people use two or more different types of anabolic steroids, called “pooling”. Others use a "pyramid" pattern, which means starting at a low dose, then gradually increasing the dose, or gradually increasing the number of anabolic steroids, then tapering off to complete a cycle of use. use. These people believe that compounding enhances the effects of each drug, pyramiding helps the body get used to the high doses of steroids, and the period of absence helps the body recover from the effects of the drug. drug use. However, there is no scientific evidence to prove the correctness of these views.
Many people tell themselves they will only use steroids for a semester or a season. Unfortunately, however, steroids can be addictive and it can be very difficult to stop using them.
Once users stop using it, it can cause symptoms including loss of appetite, fatigue, restlessness, insomnia, mood swings and depression.

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References: Drugabuse.gov; msdmanuals.com