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Steroid Abuse
Illegal use of anabolic steroids to improve athletic
performance can have dangerous side effects — some
of them permanent. By Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, D.O.
A
nabolic-androgenic steroids ferent anabolic steroids that can be taken
(often just called anabolic ste- together (a process known as stacking),
roids) are man-made hormones in cycles lasting a few weeks or months.
chemically related to the natural male sex However, anabolic steroids — especially
hormone, testosterone. Among their many when taken in the high doses used by ath-
effects, they increase the amount of pro- letes — have many dangerous side effects.
tein the body makes and thus can increase They disrupt the body’s natural hormonal
muscle mass. In small doses, they can be balances, cause acne, and hasten male-
useful in the treatment of some medical pattern baldness. Steroids also can have
conditions, such as the wasting syndrome sexual effects that can be permanent (last-
Steroid Abuse Is
of AIDS or in patients with decreased ing even after steroid use is discontinued).
Risky — and Illegal
testosterone production. In addition to In men, steroids can decrease testicle size
a73 Anabolic steroids increasing muscle mass, steroids also aid and sperm production and cause infertility;
cause dangerous medi-
tissue repair after exercise and speed re- in women, they affect menstrual cycles and
cal effects, and posses-
sion without a medical
covery between exercise sessions. have masculinizing effects such as deepen-
prescription can result in
Testosterone was isolated around 1930 ing the voice, decreasing breast size, and
serious legal penalties.
and found to increase muscle growth in increasing hair growth on some body areas
animals — and to have masculinizing ef- while causing hair loss on the head.
fects. By the 1940s and 1950s, bodybuilders Anabolic steroids can stop bone growth
and weight lifters were using steroids to prematurely, leaving a child permanently
increase strength and muscle mass. In the shorter than otherwise. They also can con-
1960s, athletic use of steroids spread to tribute to a range of other problems that
include some Olympians. Though it is now affect the heart, liver, and kidneys. Injecting
illegal to abuse steroids, some athletes are steroids presents the same infectious dis-
reputed to use them today. ease complications as any other needle use.
Use of anabolic steroids by professional These drugs also affect mood and can con-
athletes has garnered widespread media tribute to aggressive and violent behavior.
attention. Though it receives less public- Anabolic steroids have dangerous ef-
ity, between 1 percent and 3 percent of fects on nearly every body system. They
middle and high school students are esti- should be used only when prescribed for
mated to use steroids illegally. medical reasons. MO
Athletes who use anabolic steroids
take very high doses, potentially 10 to
— Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, USPHS-Ret.,
100 times greater than a medical dose.
D.O., M.A., is vice president, Health Sciences,
Steroids can be administered by various
Battelle Memorial Institute, Arlington, Va. Find
more health and wellness resources at www
means — orally, as skin patches or gels,
.moaa.org/wellness. For submission information,
and by injection. There are several dif- see page 18.
5 0 M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 8 PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
SSep_ask dr.indd 50ep_ask dr.indd 50 88/6/08 7:27:19 PM/6/08 7:27:19 PM
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