Anabolic Steroids are synthetic compounds formulated to be like the male sex .
Many athletes use anabolic steroids male and female alike, such as .
body builders, weightlifters, baseball players, football players, swimmers, and runners. .
They do so because they mistakenly believe that they will gain strength and size. In a male, .
testosterone is released by the cells in the testes. .
The testosterone has two main functions androgenic and anabolic. Androgenic is .
the development of male sex characteristics. Anabolic is the development of muscle tissue. .
To treat patients who suffer from a natural lack of testosterone pharmacoligists alter one .
form of testosterone slightly, increasing the length of time the drug is active. Testosterone .
was first isolated in 1935; soon forms of testosterone such as dianabol, durabolin, deca-.
durabolin, and winstrol were produced. One of the main effects of anabolic steroids is to .
increase the number of red blood cells and muscle tissue without producing much of the .
androgenic effects of testosterone. There are only four legal uses for steroid treatment for .
certain forms of cancer, pituitary dwarfism, and serious hormone disturbances. There are .
two forms of anabolic steroids those taken orally and those injected. The immediate .
effects of both are mood swings of many different kinds. In one study, physicians Ian .
Wilson, Arthur Prang, Jr., and Patricio Lara found that four out of five men suffering from .
depression when given a steroid suffered from delusions. A research team from Great .
Britain Found that a patient given steroids became dizzy, disoriented, and incoherent. It .
was stated that they "had a case of a young man who was diagnosed as schizophrenic, and .
took steroids to help with his weightlifting. After taking these drugs he suffered severe .
depression and anxiety and had trouble sleeping"(Layman and Annitto 126). Most people .
who use steroids do not have side affects this severe.
