there were among the world's most
controversial drugs not coke heroin or
crystal meth but anabolic steroids
steroids are incredibly effective
scientists realized the potential of
anabolic steroids soon after they
appeared in 1939 German scientist Adolf
Putin odds won the Nobel Prize for
chemistry for his pioneering work on
testosterone Hitler refused to let him
accept the prize but from World War two
the Cold War Germany pioneered steroids
research at the 1976 Olympics in
Montreal East German athletes 140 gold
medals including 11 in women's swimming
during the 70's East Germans had a
phenomenal record in the pool and it
wasn't until about 20 years later when
it finally emerged that they had a drug
program in place and they were just
taking all the medals literal guy who
eats badly sleeps badly smokes drinks
too much alcohol mrs. half of his gym
workouts and take steroids can blow away
the most dedicated most gifted athlete
who does not take steroids in terms of
sheer muscle gain athlete trains
intensely natural testosterone levels in
the body dropped precipitously sometimes
does that of a castrated man the body
also releases another hormone called
glucocorticoids to reduce inflammation
but glucocorticoids have a second effect
they are catabolic meaning they break
down muscle tissue it's a double whammy
against the muscle a drop in
testosterone and an increase in muscle
wasting hormones it's speculated that
steroids effect a hormone imbalance in
two ways
first they may replenish testosterone
levels after a workout accelerating
muscle repair they may also block the
muscle wasting effects of
glucocorticoids the result is a muscle
that quickly gets bigger and stronger
that steroids can push the physiologic
limits of the muscle making it bigger
faster and stronger than it could get
naturally these drugs will take you
places that you can flip for 50 years
and you'll never get to naturally there
that potent experts agree the abuse of
steroids comes with several undesirable
side effects men may experience a number
of short-term cosmetic changes they can
include severe acne on the back as well
as on the face gynecomastia the
accumulation of fat under the nipples
causing the breasts to swell and even
testicular atrophy the shrinking of the
testicles to have their normal size for
women the androgenic or masculinizing
side effects are more pronounced
including male pattern baldness growth
of facial hair and even a permanent
deepening of the voice the breasts may
also shrink and the clitoris and large
other side effects are debatable one is
a spike in aggression from steroid use
known as roid rage roid rage is
exaggerated you give me State College
Pennsylvania in ann arbor michigan on a
football saturday and i will show you as
many cases of alcohol induced rage as
you will see in the united states in 50
years from anabolic steroid users who
often mix other drugs including growth
hormone insulin thyroid hormone and
amphetamines
so you have this cauldron this witch's
brew and then people ask me well
anabolic steroids is in that color and
what effect do they have in combination
with all these other drugs i got me but
it's interesting because it's always the
steroids that are pinpointed as the
culprit in some of the cities that we
have done we have encountered guys who
are taking the equivalent of 100 times
the natural output of testosterone in
other words if you figure that the
normal male testas manufactures between
50 and 75 milligrams of testosterone a
week we have seen guys who are taking
five or six thousand milligrams of
testosterone or its equivalent per week
from injections or pill but there is a
safe way to take steroids but not
without a doctor's supervision actors
prescribed anabolic steroids in what
they call a physiologic dose the amount
of testosterone a man produces naturally
them in my practice as well I use it for
men usually older men who lose the
ability to make their own testosterone
other doctors prescribe steroids to
treat muscle loss anemia stunted growth
and delayed puberty anabolic steroids
are simply synthetic versions of
testosterone the primary male hormone in
short they're man-made versions of
natural testosterone produced in a lab
instead of the body Congress held
hearings on outlawing the non-medical
use of anabolic steroids those opposed
included the American Medical
Association the Food and Drug
Administration even the Drug Enforcement
Administration all testified that
steroids were in addictive and didn't
meet the criteria for becoming a
controlled substance despite this in
1990 Congress voted to make steroids
illegal without a prescription
