For many people, especially bodybuilders, the quickest and easiest way to gain strength is through the use of anabolic steroids. These synthetic substances known as anabolic steroids are much like the male hormone testosterone.
Many doctors prescribe these drugs to treat problems like delayed puberty as well as other health problems that allow the body to produce low testosterone levels.
Steroids cause the muscles to grow bigger and also make bones stronger. In addition, they cause puberty to start. Anabolic steroids can be taken in the form of a pill, injection, or even cream.
How do anabolic steroids make you stronger?
Anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone, the body’s natural sex hormone. They help athletes by facilitating efforts to gain muscle mass and strength for increased muscular endurance, speed and power.
Male hormones like testosterone and its metabolite di-hydrotestosterone are in charge of the developmental changes that take place within the male body through puberty. Steroids possess both androgenic and anabolic properties.
Although steroids contain both properties users are mainly concerned with the anabolic properties of steroids, which include faster growth of the muscles, bones, connective tissues, and red blood cells.
Steroids were initially formulated to treat certain health conditions where the above anabolic benefits would immediately help with the recovery of the patient.
While they function in various ways, they primarily procedure includes receptor stimulation within muscle cells which will activate particular genes.
When a steroid is taken either orally or by using injection, it moves to the androgen receptors found in the various cells.
Once this connection is activated, certain cells within the body increases protein production and thus the body produces even more cells.
While anabolism is regarded as the main action of steroids, as they help build strength and muscle, they also create many other desirable and undesirable effects.
Do anabolic steroids work?
While the stimulus provided during weight training is essential for maximum muscle growth, steroids possess the natural ability to develop muscle with or without these types of training.
By increasing the user’s strength, steroids help athletes train much harder and for longer time periods. In addition, they help speed up muscle recovery.
This makes it possible for athletes to continually make progress at a pace far beyond normal capacity.
When consumed as prescribed by a physician, anabolic steroids are usually safe and effective.
Patients with low levels of testosterone for a number of reasons can reap the benefits of using steroids to maintain normal levels of testosterone.
It can even improve symptoms quickly without any serious side effects.
The dangers of steroid abuse
In general, doctors would usually prescribe steroids to patients that suffer from specific medical conditions such as AIDS or cancer, in an effort to help them gain body mass that was lost due to their illness.
Furthermore, anabolic steroids are also helpful in treating certain hormone deficiencies. However, if anabolic steroids are not prescribed by a licensed doctor, it is usually known as “steroid abuse”.
The reason for this is very straightforward. Steroids are very potent hormones and can lead to adverse reactions.
Furthermore, they can lead to several health problems, some which may even be life- threatening. Abusers of these steroids can face several health issues.
Some steroids can lead to several health problems for both men and women.
Certain steroids convert to estrogen. When men have high levels of estrogen within the body, it can lead to female-like breast.
Women who abuses steroids can also expect to grow a deeper voice such as those of a male. Certain steroids also cause a reduction in sperm count, which can affect your ability to reproduce.
Some steroids immediately cause a short-term loss of sexual interest and lack of libido, while others enlarge the prostate gland in men, which increase their risk of prostate cancer.
The use of steroids has also been medically associated with an increased occurrence of strokes. Steroids can bring about heart attacks.
When you misuse anabolic steroids, you also face several different possible heart related problems, which include a higher risk of heart attacks and possibly coronary disease.
Because anabolic steroid users usually don’t have access to proper amounts of clean and sterile needles, or tend not to follow proper injection protocol, they are usually faced with a higher risk of being infected with HIV as well as other bloodborne pathogens.
Anabolic steroids can also lead to premature hair loss and may also speed up the process of male baldness.
With that being said, the continuous abuse of steroids can ultimately lead to death.
While anabolic steroids may seem like the miracle drug to gain muscle and strength, if not used as instructed, it will surely weaken you as time passes.
