Tala Hammond

Gustavo Ibarra
Life, Society, & Drugs
4 December, 2015
Journal 8: Anabolic Steroids
Anabolic steroids are quite popularly known and used. There are many
misconceptions about them. Anabolic steroids are drugs that are structurally
related to the cyclic steroid rings system and have similar effects to
testosterone in the body.
When taken, it acts in the brain by increasing protein within cells,
especially in skeletal muscles. A message is sent to the muscles to increase
protein. When testosterone is in the brain, it activates the androgenic center.
A lot of people think steroids are just a way for guys to cheat their way to
muscle mass but actually it has lots of medical applications. Those include
treating delayed puberty in boys and for replacing testosterone in men with
low testosterone levels, anemia, strokes, breast cancer, low muscle mass
due to AIDS or HIV.
Theres a lot of chronic issues that can occur from continual use. Such
as issues to the hormonal system, causing men experience shrinking of their
testicles, breast development, infertility, and male-patterned baldness.
Women experience an enlargement of their clitoris, reduction of breasts,
excessive growth of body hair, and male-patterned baldness. Another chronic
effect is damage to the musculoskeletal system, causing rising levels of

testosterone and other sex hormones normally trigger the growth spurt that
occurs during puberty and adolescence and provide the signals to stop
growth as well.