Incredibly, steroid is a naturally occurring compound that can be detected in almost every living creature on earth. In fact, these compounds are part of all living, developing cells. However, when a particular type of steroid is purposely synthesized and injected in large, unnatural amounts into the body, then this becomes an avenue for steroid abuse. Synthetic steroids, particularly anabolic steroids which are one of the subclasses of steroid hormones, increase the protein production in human cells which creates a build up of tissue. This compound affects the muscles primarily which is why this type of substance abuse is quite prevalent among athletes and those individuals who (think they) need to increase muscular bulk. In some reports, it is even said that anabolic steroids increases human strength and lengthens endurance; but that can be attributed to the development of more muscles and the subsequent development and use of those muscles by people taking steroids.
It should be noted that in sports, though, that the use of anabolic steroids is banned in most countries. But that does not actually stop steroid users from reaching for the needle or pill. There are actually many side effects to steroid abuse, everything from hormonal imbalance to liver damage and everything else in between. But this article will focus mainly on the hormonal imbalance part of steroid abuse.
Hormonal imbalance is one of the most visible signs of steroid abuse. This is due to the fact that most over-absorption of steroids in the body causes normally dormant cells into hyper drive; which in turn, creates an androgenic growth on the body. In most cases, testosterone is the one component of the human body that goes into over production. Although testosterone is not necessarily bad (since males have them in spades and shovels,) too much of this component causes the body to adapt to the extra cellular growth – and not all adaptations turn out for the best.
For women, the ingestion or injection of steroids can lead to the development of muscles and the reduction of body fat. However, steroid abuse can lead to abnormal menstrual cycle (and in some cases, the complete stoppage of menstruation which can lead to barrenness); breast reduction (as evidenced by women body builders with very small breasts); deepening of the voice; and enlargement of the genital area (particularly the clitoris). One paradox to this kind of substance abuse is that over production of testosterone causes excessive hair growth all over the female body, particularly the face area. And yet, baldness or sudden loss or thinning of head hair happens at the same time.
For men, added testosterone in the system should have no adverse effects – especially when done in moderation. Anabolic steroids do help to further develop the muscles, but abusing this substance can also leads to hormonal imbalance. Some of the more adverse effects of too much testosterone in the male body include: baldness, difficulty in urinating and the development of female-like breasts. Furthermore, there have been a lot of documented cases wherein steroid abusers exhibited prostrate enlargement while their testicles have shrunk dramatically in size. There is also a heavy reduction of sperm count. Needless to say, impotence and barrenness soon follows.
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i was wondering, does steroid abuse lead to dual diagnosis issues with steroids being the substance abused in this case?
jane doe
Comment by jane doe — June 20, 2008 @ 5:55 am