Athletes and Anabolic Steroids Essay -- Women Athletics Essays

Women Athletes and anabolic SteroidsI. Introduction Anabolic steroids gull been or so since the 1930s. While they started out solely for medical purposes, they have now ferment widely accepted for recreational endeavors and heigh ten-spoted athletic performance. Though highly accepted, they be still very illegal without a written prescription. While they have surpassed their medical uses and found their way into top athletes and body builders, they have too crossed the gender barrier. Men are not the only users anymore. more and more women have felt the effects of anabolic steroids and before you imagine they are the thing for you maybe you should read this first. I. What are Anabolic Steroids? Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances that mimic the male sex hormones known as androgens. This is where the true name anabolic-androgenic steroid is derived, but for familiarity purposes they are referred to only as anabolic steroids (no purely anabolic agent has eve r been synthesized). Specifically, they are synthetically produced to act as the male hormone testosterone. Testosterone has a 17-carbon core, like its replication- the anabolic steroid, and is credited for the promotion of festering of skeletal muscles and the development of male cozy characteristics. It has both androgenic (masculinization) and anabolic (tissue-building) effects in the human body. Functions of testosterone implicate increased numbers of red blood cells, improved calcium down payment in the bones, muscle enlargement, increased body hair, thickening of vocal chords, and growth and development of the prostate gland (Hickson, Ball, Falduto 1989). Women have naturally occurring testosterone already donation in their bodies, but in such sm... ...g women rape victims. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 40, 273-277 Hickson, R.C., Ball, K.L., Falduto M.T. (1989) inauspicious effects of anabolic steroids. Med Toxicol Adverse Drug Exp, 4, 254-271 Hughes, T.K. Jr., Rady, P.L., Smith, E.M. (1998) Potential for the effects of anabolic steroid abuse in the immune and neuroendocrine axis. diary of Neuroimmunol, 83, 162-167 Malarkey, W.B., Strauss, R.H., Leizman, D.J., Liggett, M., Demers, L.M. (1991) ductless gland effects in female weight lifters who self-administer testosterone and anabolic steroids. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 165, 1385-1390 Strauss, R.H., Liggett, M.T., Lanese, R.R. (1985) Anabolic steroids use and perceived effects in ten weight-trained women athletes. JAMA, 253, 2871-2873 Wu, F.C. (1997) Endocrine aspects of anabolic steroids. Clinical Chemistry, 43, 1289-1292