Anabolic Steroids

Question 1

What are anabolic steroids?

Answer 1

Anabolic steroids are synthetic, or human-made, variations of the male sex hormone
testosterone. The proper term for these compounds is anabolic-androgenic steroids. “Anabolic”
refers to muscle building, and “androgenic” refers to increased male sex characteristics.

Question 2

What are some common names for anabolic steroids?

Answer 2

Some common names for anabolic steroids are Gear, Juice, Roids, and Stackers.

Question 3

Why do some health care prescribe steroids?

Answer 3

Health care providers can prescribe steroids to
treat hormonal issues, such as delayed puberty.
Steroids can also treat diseases that cause muscle
loss, such as cancer and AIDS.

Question 4

Why do some athletes and bodybuilders use steroids?

Answer 4

Some athletes and bodybuilders misuse these drugs in an attempt to boost performance or improve their physical appearance.

Question 5

Who are the majority users of steroids?

Answer 5

The majority of people who misuse steroids are

male weightlifters in their 20s or 30s.

Question 6

Which groups of people do not misuse steroids?

Answer 6

Teens and Women

Question 7

How do people misuse anabolic steroids?

Answer 7

People who misuse anabolic steroids usually take them orally, inject them into muscles, or apply them
to the skin as a gel or cream. These doses may be 10 to 100 times higher than doses prescribed to treat
medical conditions.

Question 8

Commons patterns for misusing steroids include:
• cycling—

There is no scientific evidence that any of these practices reduce the harmful medical consequences of these drugs.

Answer 8

taking multiple doses for a period of time, stopping for a time, and then restarting

Question 9

How do anabolic steroids affect the brain?

Answer 9

Anabolic steroids work differently from other drugs
of abuse; they do not have the same short-term
effects on the brain. The most important difference
is that steroids do not directly activate the reward
system to cause a “high”; they also do not trigger
rapid increases in the brain chemical dopamine,
which reinforces most other types of drug taking
behavior.

Question 10

Misuse of anabolic steroids might lead to negative

mental effects, such as: (5)

Answer 10

• Paranoid (extreme, unreasonable)
jealousy
• Extreme irritability and aggression
(“roid rage”)
• Delusions—false beliefs or ideas
• Impaired judgment
• Mania

Question 11

What are other health effects of anabolic steroids?

Answer 11

Aside from mental effects, steroid use commonly
causes severe acne. It also causes the body to swell,
especially in the hands and feet.

Question 12

What are the long term effects of steroids? (4)

Answer 12

Anabolic steroid misuse might lead to serious, even
permanent, health problems such as:
• kidney problems or failure
• liver damage and tumors
• enlarged heart, high blood pressure, and
changes in blood cholesterol, all of which
increase the risk of stroke and heart attack,
even in young people
• increased risk of blood clots

Question 13

What are the effects on specifically men? (5)

Answer 13

o shrinking testicles
o decreased sperm count
o baldness
o development of breasts
o increased risk for prostate cancer

Question 14

What the effects on specifically women? (6)

Answer 14

o growth of facial hair or excess body hair
o decreased breast size
o male-pattern baldness
o changes in or stop in the menstrual cycle
o enlarged clitoris
o deepened voice

Question 15

What the effects on teens? (2)

Answer 15

o stunted growth (when high hormone levels from steroids signal to the body to stop bone growth too early)
o stunted height (if teens use steroids before their growth spurt)

Question 16

Some of these physical changes, such as shrinking sex organs in men, can add to mental side
effects such as ____ _____.

Answer 16

Mood disorders

Question 17

Are anabolic steroids addictive?

Answer 17

Even though anabolic steroids do not cause the same high as other drugs, they can lead to a
substance use disorder. A substance use disorder occurs when a person continues to misuse
steroids, even though there are serious consequences for doing so.

Question 18

What is the most severe form of substance disorder?

Answer 18

The most severe form of a
substance use disorder is addiction. People might continue to misuse steroids despite physical
problems, high costs to buy the drugs, and negative effects on their relationships. These
behaviors reflect steroids’ addictive potential. Research has further found that some steroid
users turn to other drugs, such as opioids, to reduce sleep problems and irritability caused by
steroids.

Question 19

People who misuse steroids might experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop use,
including: (6)

Answer 19

• fatigue
• restlessness
• loss of appetite
• sleep problems
• decreased sex drive
• steroid cravings

Question 20

How can people get treatment for anabolic steroid addiction?

Answer 20

Some people seeking treatment for anabolic steroid addiction have found a combination of
behavioral therapy and medications to be helpful.
In certain cases of addiction, patients have taken medicines to help treat symptoms of
withdrawal. For example, health care providers have prescribed antidepressants to treat
depression and pain medicines for headaches and muscle and joint pain. Other medicines have
been used to help restore the patient’s hormonal system.

Question 21

What is stacking?

Answer 21

combining two or more different steroids and mixing oral and/or injectable types

Question 22

What is pyramiding?

Answer 22

slowly increasing the dose or frequency of steroid misuse, reaching a peak
amount, and then gradually tapering off to zero

Question 23

What is plateauing?

Answer 23

alternating, overlapping, or substituting with another steroid to avoid developing a tolerance