Factors That Foretell Future Trends In Androgenic Anabolic Steroid Use

Incidence of anabolic androgenic steroids for non-therapeutic use is highly prevalent among young people.

Previously, AAS was only used widely among athletes who require greater muscular strength. Nowadays, even teens in their high school years were found to be long-term steroid users.

Improvement of appearance is the top motive for AAS use among bodybuilders, weightlifters and other athletes. For adolescents, it is the second most important motive.

Some of the side effects associated with non-medical steroids use were chronic liver damage, heart problems, and changes in secondary sexual characteristics, not to mention increased aggression, depression, irritability and mood swings.

A group of researchers obtained survey samples from a group of Norwegian high school students age 15 to 19 and conducted the study within a four-year period.

Results showed that involvement in power sports, frequent alcohol intoxication; cannabis use, sexual debut before the age of 15 and previous AAS use were indicators of future AAS use.

Researchers also found that males are more likely to use AAS than females.

Young age is also one predictor of anabolic androgenic steroid use.

This research is actually the first to conduct studies on predictors of future AAS use.

Immunity Levels Increased By Steroids

Pamela Fraker, MSU Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a lead scientist, said that the neuro-endocrine system plays a big role in the human immune system and body overweight.

A number of factors such as poor diet, certain steroids, chronic stress do affect the immune system of the body.

Researchers studied the relationship between metabolism, the immune system and the neuro-endocrine systems. The study showed that the leptin, which is the hormone secreted by fat cells, administered the effect of white blood cell production in the body, enhancing body’s immune function.

From Brightsurf:

Scientists know that a number of factors can affect the body’s immune system: poor diet, certain steroids, chronic stress. Now researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that an appetite-controlling hormone also affects the immune system, while natural versions of certain steroids do not.

“Many investigators have been trying to unlock the key to obesity for years,” said Fraker. “The more fat a person has, the more leptin there is in the bloodstream. In obese people, it seems that the body becomes leptin-resistant — the signals get jammed. So giving obese people leptin doesn’t help them lose weight.”

MSU scientists further demonstrated the effect of leptin on immune system by working on mice. This effect was genetically programmed to have non-functional leptin. One of the mice groups was genetically programmed under this study to have non-functional leptin receptors. It was seen that mice that were given leptin had witnessed double the number of B cells, a type of white blood cells produced in the bone marrow that fights infection by making antibodies.

Fraker and his team is further investigating on the fact that that the steroids may help even obese people to increase their immunity. The studies may be released soon and so do the effect of steroids on immune system.

Texas Legislators Wants To Abolish Steroid Testing

In Austin, Texas, lawmakers are having mix thoughts whether to continue or just abolish the steroid testing for high school student athletes.

The various opinions are brought about by the large expenses incurred by this program.

In the steroid testing conducted during the first two years, only 11 high school students were tested positive for steroid use out of around 29,000 students who undergone the test.

From Chron.com:

AUSTIN — State lawmakers, skeptical about continuing to spend $3 million a year to test high school student athletes for steroids, are considering abolishing the program or at least scaling it back.

The Senate and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is the main supporter of a random testing program for steroids, want to maintain the current program.

The House wants to abolish it.

“It’s not needed. House members think that we should not do the test at all,” said House Appropriations Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie.

Pitts will lead House members in their negotiations with Senate counterparts.

The tests revealed that most male student athletes in football or wrestling were the ones positive for steroid use. Few of those who want to continue the program are Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Rep. Dan Flynn, who proposed the program two years ago. On the other hand, the House wants to stop the steroid testing program.

Since there are various opinions on the program, the Senate and the House will discuss on the budget including the scope and the pace of this steroid testing because some believe that it is a failure and just a waste of money. Meanwhile some believe that steroid testing on high school student athletes must be continued to protect the health and lives of these young people.

Finally, every concerned individual including Lt. Gov. Dewhurst is willing to have the program be scaled-down or adjusted.

Teen Boys Are Becoming Addicted To Steroids

It seems that steroids’ attraction is also making its influence over teenage boys. In their quest for getting the perfect body, teenage boys are increasingly ending up in hospitals after injecting anabolic steroids.

According to the official figures, the admittance of under-18′s in cases of poisoning from anabolic muscle-building drugs has increased by almost half in five years, from 97 to 138. On the other hand, the number of 11 to 15-year-olds teenages using steroids soared by doubling between 2001 and 2007, from 6,800 to 13,300!!!!!

The figures were discovered as a part of a U.K. parliamentary answer given by health minister Dawn Primarolo to Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Tom Brake. Dawn said, “The dramatic increase in the number of children being admitted to hospitals for steroid misuse is extremely concerning.” He further added, “It’s clear that many children feel increasingly pressured by society’s obsession with the perfect body and some are using steroids to try to deal with it.”

In this regard, DrugScope chief executive Martin Barnes said that steroids might be viewed as a shortcut to the perfect body image, but the reality could be quite different.

From Steroidology:

Teenage boys are increasingly ending up in hospital after injecting anabolic steroids in the search for the ‘perfect body’.

The number of under-18s admitted for poisoning from the muscle-building drugs has soared by almost half in five years, from 97 to 138.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg, according to official figures.

The number of 11 to 15-year-olds taking steroids almost doubled between 2001 and 2007, from 6,800 to 13,300.

Children using the drugs are most likely to be young boys who want to emulate sporting and fashion heroes. Anabolic steroids are chemically produced class-C drugs that mimic testosterone. For males, the sideeffects can be withered testicles, sterility and breast growth. In women it can be the growth of facial hair.

Studies like this usually make us think twice about using steroids, but in many cases such studies are biased to begin with.

If you are a teen who is contemplating steroid use, please don’t start.

But if you are dead set on doing it anyway, please at least do your homework!