Steroids a short form used for corticosteroids. Steroids are a synthetic medication that resembles cortisol, a hormone that our adrenal organs deliver normally. Corticosteroids are different from the steroid compounds used by some athletes.
Here are some interesting facts about Steroids you must know
- ‘Corticosteroids’ are generally used for medical treatments and should be taken only when prescribed. Drugs which are taken illegally and are used to resemble human sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone are called ‘anabolic steroids’. These drugs are often taken illegally. Anabolic steroids are prescribed by doctors rarely in the treatment of cancer, delayed puberty or AIDS. It should never be taken by self. People who often take these steroids are:
- Body builders who are keen to gain muscle weight quickly.
- Athletes who want to improve their performances.
- People who are trying to recover from some fatal injury
- Models who want zero size figure.
- Generally, people who use steroids illegally as drugs use double the amount that would have been prescribed by a doctor to treat an ailment or a medical condition.
- Teenage girls who feel inferior about their body sometimes fall in the trap of steroids. But they are not aware of the adverse effects like permanently deepened voice, male pattern baldness, enlarged clitoris, and changes in the menstrual cycle and breast shrinking that is caused by the use of these steroids.
- Among men side effects caused by steroids are breast growth, hair loss and increase in the risk of prostate cancer, shrinking of testicles, decreased sperm count, painful erections, impotence and infertility.
- Steroids have direct effects on various organs of the body. They may damage your kidney to an extent of kidney failure or kidney impairment, damages your liver and liver cancer is also a risk, steroid increases the risk of heart attack. The muscles f heart may also enlarge which can decrease pumping activity, rhythm changes, increases palpitation and chances of sudden cardiac death increase. Sugar and cholesterol can also increase.
- Steroids are just like drugs to which one gets addictive. Once addicted to steroids it is hard to stop taking them. Discontinuing taking steroids will give you withdrawal symptoms. You may go into depression; this will diminish your general physical desire and social interaction. Aggression, roid rage and violent episodes in behavior can also be noticed.
- Since most steroids are illegal, steroids users take in steroids themselves without the presence of any medical expert. Generally, steroids are taken by users through injection directly it into the muscles. Since the injections are not always sterile it increases the chance of falling into the trap of some life-threatening diseases like hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
- Unfortunately, steroids are mostly used by teenagers. There has been an increase in the numbers of teenagers who take steroids. In 2010, 2% of students from high school confessed to taking steroids. Unfortunately, in 2013 this number has shown some increase and it went up to 2.1%. A lot of awareness programs are being conducted in high schools, school sports team to aware them about the danger of taking steroids and how they can ruin their life if they use these drugs.