There comes a point in time when every serious athlete, bodybuilder, or weightlifter reaches a plateau in which that individual feels that they can no longer continue to improve. When that time comes, that individual's impatience may lead to desperation for a source of improvement. Many athletes (especially teenagers) are pushed by not only themselves but dedicated parents and coaches asking them to be one second faster or one pound lighter. Sometimes the only way these individuals find fast improvement in their sport or physique is through the use of anabolic androgenic steroids. The use of these drugs is known to increase strength and muscle mass, but with these improvements come many negative and potentially life threatening issues. Is the use and benefits of anabolic androgenic steroids worth the risk? No they are not. The use of anabolic steroids can create issues in many aspects of life. Some of these issues pertain to: psychological function, legality, and physical changes. Training with the use of anabolic androgenic steroids will not create better or safer results than training naturally.
The use of steroids for medicinal purposes such as treatment of delayed male puberty, hypogonadism, and even breast cancer are all very beneficial and greatly help doctors in saving lives. It is important that early in a child's education they are taught to respect steroids as a useful tool in the medical field, which should stay in the medical field. F.C.W. Wu, a researcher at the University of Manchester examined that some of the reasons people use to explain why they should use anabolic steroid (1290). Some of the reasons steroids users make are based on rather broad assumptions (1290). Wu states some of the considerations anabolic steroids users use are that males have more body mass due to their male hormones (1290). Some users associate steroids effects with that of the effects of testosterone on teenagers during puberty (1290).