Anabolic Steroidsby Ryan Cunningham |
 Printer Friendly |
This article has multiple sections:
View All < Prev | 1 | 2 | Next >
Hey, this is Ryan writing to all of you about the negative effect illegal, and unregulated steroids can have on your mind, and your body. I’ll also give you some useful facts to hopefully discourage you from taking steroids.
A steroid is a hormone like substance. Steroids are closely related to the prime male hormone testosterone. Hormones are our body’s chemical messenger that directs body tissue and organs to act in certain ways. Testosterone is one of the main factors that determine male’s secondary characteristics such as facial hair deepening of the voice, and muscle size. Women also produce small amounts of testosterone, just like men develop a little of the prime female hormone, estrogen. Estrogen is responsible for women’s secondary sex traits.
There are two different types of steroids. First, there are catabolic steroids, which are those that are prescribed to you by a physician to reduce swelling, fever and other signs of inflammation. There are about 100 different kinds of legal steroids available to you only by a doctor. I am here primarily to talk about anabolic steroids, which are the illegal substances that act on muscle tissues to build them up and make them stronger. In fact, the word anabolic comes from a Greek word meaning “To build up.” There are over one hundred different kinds of anabolic steroids developed so far.
Natural steroids come in three different forms. They are cortocosteroids, estrogen/proestrogen, and testosterone. Natural cortocosteroids are produced by the adrenal cortex, which influences your body’s activities such as carbohydrate and protein metabolizing rates. It also makes sure your water and electrolyte levels are balanced. Plus your adrenal cortex helps keep your cardiovascular system, skeletal muscles, kidneys, and other organs functioning properly. These cortocosteroids, when legally prescribed, are found in creams and ointments to help heal rashes.
There are three types of muscles in the human body: cardiac, smooth, and skeletal muscles. Muscles make up 40% of a males body and 23% of a females body. Steroids trigger muscle cells to produce an excessive amount of proteins from raw materials in the body to increase muscle strength and mass.
Steroids prescribed to you by a physician can help to heal and strengthen the human body, but there is bad news about all steroids. The symptoms are dangerous and sometimes even deadly to a person both mentally and physically.
As I already said there are mental and physical side effects of taking either kind of steroid. Some physical effects in men are lowered sperm count, decrease testicular size, and enlarged breasts. In women the effects are a disruption in the minstrel period, increased facial hair, and decrease in breast size. There are more side effects that apply to men and women such as acne, irreversible hair loss, bladder problems, and rapid weight gain or loss. The mental problems can consist of mood swings, aggression, depression (especially upon stopping the use of steroids) and violent or suicidal behavior.
The use of steroids also has an effect on the human body over a long-term basis. Such as the liver has to strain to eliminate steroids in your system causing cists and perhaps cancerous tumors. The use of steroids can change how your kidney eliminates waste in your blood stream. Steroid users also have an elevated risk of having high cholesterol count which you probably already know can cause heart attacks and stroke and be deadly. Users may also get cardiomyopathy, which is a progressive weakening of the heart. When you have this disease your heart also enlarges thus being unable to act as a sufficient pump to get oxygen to your body via the blood. The disease is fatal. Steroids raise the blood pressure elevating your risk for a clot. Studies show that steroids suppress the body’s immune system which leads to an elevated risk of you catching an infections and viruses. Steroids tell the bones to slow the growing process which causes decreased stature and stunted bone growth.
Steroid users also will have other effects to their body. Since users have an elevated risk of high blood pressure they sometimes get a reddish pigment to their skin. They might also have a yellowish tint to their skin due to their liver producing too much bilirubin, which leads to a disease called Jaundice occurs. As stated before, most people who take steroids suffer from acne, and this is caused by their hormonal imbalance. Men might also develop a disease called gynocomastia a condition where their breasts enlarge. Women might encounter a loss of breast mass for the same reason. Steroids are also linked to having stiffer bones and ligaments.
I feel that it is important to say that anabolic steroids were originally developed and continue to be developed for legitimate medical reasons. Researchers created these substances in the 1930’s to treat a condition called hypogonadism. Hypogonadism is the disease where a male’s body ceases to produce enough testosterone for normal growth, sexual function, and development of your secondary characteristics.
This article has multiple sections: View All < Prev | 1 | 2 | Next >
Published 5 June 2007 by Kustom Fitness with permission from author, Ryan Cunningham.
Publication inquiries should be sent to ryan_wally_cunningham@yahoo.com.