Steroid Side Effects: The Dangers

With the image of Barry Bonds' bulky body burned into our brains, the issue of steroids is once again on the sports shows and front pages. The book "Game of Shadows" chronicling Bonds' steroid use has been published to great publicity, and as he closes in on Hank Aaron's home run record, the public eye can't help be fixed upon the slugger who was once a comparatively frail rookie.

But with a role model like Bonds taking the spotlight under such scrutiny (and presumably under the influence of a performance enhancing drug), what will young athletes think, especially those who wish to bulk up?

With proper education and better role models, the hope is that athletes will consider alternatives to performance enhancing drugs, especially in light of the immense number of negative effects many steroids carry. Outlined below are just a few of those byproducts affecting both men and women users.


Physical side-effects

Men


For men using steroids, the physical side effects are largely sexual in nature. When a male uses steroids for an extended period of time, his body begins making less testosterone. This is the body’s natural reaction to the increased amount of the chemical, and can result in a diminishing of the size of the testes. A reduced sperm count, infertility, and even impotence can result from steroid usage, despite an initial increase in sexual desire.

Steroid use can also lead to baldness in men because of the increased presence of the chemical known as DHT. DHT is one of the factors that leads to baldness, and because steroids convert largely into DHT once inside the body, the spike in the presence of the substance can speed up the process greatly.

Men may also go through a period of feminization, especially after ending a steroid cycle. During this time, the natural presence of androgen is often low, and the female hormone estrogen easily overshadows it. When this occurs, men can have an increased tendency toward fatty deposits on the body, softer muscles, and even the development of breasts, a condition known as gynecomastia.


Women