Questions About Steroids

QUESTION: I have a lot of questions about steroids that come from hearing
all about the things that happened at the Olympics. Are these the same
steroid that are used for skin rashes and allergies? Isn't true that the bad
side effects have probably been overstated by the press? I can't believe any
sane person would take the risks some of the reporters talked about. Please
give us the straight "dope"!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWER: Pun noticed and accepted. To begin with we are talking about another
type of steroid than those included in creams and medications for rashes and
allergies. Such medicines are called corticosteroids, and resemble the
natural hormone "cortisone" produced by the adrenal gland. They have nothing
in common with anabolic steroids, which are more closely related to the male
hormone testosterone. Therefore these drugs have both an anabolic, or
building effect, as well as an androgenic or masculinizing effect. Whether
taken orally or by injection, it is the liver which must handle the chemical
actions and changes that occur within the body. After change, and being used
by the body (metabolized), the left over fragments of the chemical
(metabolites) are excreted by the kidneys, and may be found in the urine tests
used to check the Olympic Athletes. Let's look at some of the side effects,
and I will let you be the judge of the press reportage of possible dangers.
Among the minor side effects are psychological disturbances, including
abnormal aggression, mood swings, and even psychiatric problems. Add in sleep
disturbances, changes in sexual activity and libido, acne, masculine traits in
women (chest and lip hair, enlarged clitoris and baldness) for completeness,
and now to the major side effects. They include liver tumors, peliosis
hepatis (a condition of the liver where many small blood filled cystic spaces
develop in an area that liver tissue has died), hepatitis, leukemia, and
imbalance of the types and amounts of cholesterol in the blood. Overstatement
by the press? Not in my book. Both the press and the International Olympic
Committee are to be complimented in taking the hard stand against the misuse
of potent and dangerous drugs. As to the "why" of these actions by athletes,
take a look at the tremendous dollars involved in product endorsements, and
try to calculate the pressures they exert on many young people who are
striving to rise above their disadvantaged beginnings. I, for one, am glad
this is now in the open, giving us all a chance to re-examine our own
attitudes.