Anabolic Steroids and their Effects

Running Head: ANABOLIC STEROIDS AND THEIR EFFECT
Anabolic Steroids and their Effect
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1Anabolic Steroids and their Effects
Introduction
Anabolic steroids are human made or synthetic steroid hormones that resemble
testosterone (male sex hormone). Anabolic steroids are prescribed to patients who are either
suffering from male hormonal imbalance or sudden weight loss. Anabolic steroids are also
misused by athletes for enhancing their performance and it subsequently gives rise to
negative psychological effects such as aggression, delusions and manias (Reardon and
Creado 2014).
Background
Testosterone (anabolic steroids) was first manufactured in Germany in the year 1935
for the treatment of depression. The invention was followed by misuse among the
professional athletes during 1954 Olympics (National Institute on Drug Abuse 2019).
Discussion:
Anabolic steroids are used to treat male hormonal disturbance issues such as hindered
puberty and muscle loss. The drug is also prescribed by the doctor in cases of cancer and
AIDS (Gov.uk 2019). It is also consumed by fitness obsessed individuals to boost their
performance within a stipulated period of time. The misuse or overdose of steroids can lead
to negative implication on health. Short term effects associated with the overuse of steroids
include negative psychological effects such as, aggression, extreme irritability, impaired
judgement ability, delusions, jealousy, feeling paranoid and mania. Apart from the short term
effects, long term effect such as, renal failure, liver tumours or damage, high blood pressure
and high blood cholesterol level are also observed in individuals indulging in overuse of
steroids. High blood cholesterol level leads to a high risk of cardiac failure and stroke. It also
interferes with the normal mechanism of blood clotting (McVeigh and Begley 2017). Use of
the steroids may also give rise to age and gender specific effects. In male, it leads to