Anabolic steroids are artificial versions of a hormone that’s in all of us — testosterone. Both girls and boys have testosterone in their developing bodies. Testosterone not only brings out male sexual traits, it also causes muscles to grow.
Some people take anabolic steroid pills or injections to try to build muscle faster. (“Anabolic” means growing or building.)
These steroids also have other effects. They can cause changes in the brain and body that increase risks for illness and they may affect moods. While anabolic steroids can make some people look stronger on the outside, they may create weaknesses on the inside.
For example, anabolic steroids can weaken the immune system — the body’s defense against germs and diseases. They can also lead to liver damage or cancer, even in young people. They can also permanently stop bones from growing in teenagers. This means that a teenage steroid user may not grow to be his or her full adult height and will be shorter for life.
Effects on the Brain:
- Steroids in the brain may trigger really aggressive behavior and severe outbursts have become known as “roid rages.”
- Steroid users have been known to violently turn on people close to them, like family and friends.
- The limbic system influences moods, as well as memory and learning functions. Steroids act on the limbic system and impair learning and memory.
- Steroid use can lead to mood changes, like feelings of depression or irritability.
Brain and Body Confusion:
Teenagers are notorious for not liking their bodies, the way they look or other perceived shortcomings…not tall enough, not athletic enough, not good looking enough, etc. Both young men and women will go to almost any length to make rapid body changes so they will fit into whatever group they want to join. This makes the attraction of steroid use very seductive. They do not consider that, while trying to change heir bodies, they are condemning themselves to irreversible body damage.
The hypothalamus is a group of nerve cells at the base of the brain. This group of nerve cells controls testosterone production in young bodies and helps to control appetite, blood pressure, moods and reproductive ability.
Steroid use can change the messages the hypothalamus sends to the body and disrupt normal hormone function. This means different things to developing boys and girls.
In guys, anabolic steroids can interfere with the normal production of testosterone. They can also act directly on the testes and cause them to shrink. This can result in a lower sperm count and reproductive ability. Boys might grow breasts. Steroids can also cause an irreversible loss of scalp hair. A high price to pay for “bulking up,” don’t you think?
In girls, anabolic steroids can cause a loss of the monthly period by acting on both the hypothalamus and reproductive organs. They can also cause loss of scalp hair, growth of body and facial hair and deepening of the voice. Their breasts might shrink. These changes are also irreversible. Is steroid use worth the price?
Healthy exercise, walking, running, push-ups and a non-fat, healthy diet of protein, fruit and vegetables, milk, etc, will do a lot to help develop young bodies in a natural manner, without the horrible side effects.
Teenagers will hear all kinds of blather that will make it seem okay to use steroids, including that doctors prescribe anabolic steroids to help young people build muscle. Teens are exposed to hundreds of untruths and incomplete descriptions from their friends every day and most believe them, if it fits the picture they hold in their minds or facilitates some goal they have.
The truth is that doctors do prescribe anabolic steroids to treat some types of anemia or male disorders that prevent normal testosterone production, but never, ever to build muscles in young people. As discussed above, that would permanently disrupt their normal growth and development.
One way to help your children develop normally is to begin building their self esteem at an early age. Loving them unconditionally and promoting open communication will help build a normal sense of who they are. It is never too early to start weaving a protective web of love, openness, communication and truth around your loved ones. If not you, who?
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Pat Graham is the author of the eBook: “Child Drug Addicts – Save Them While You Can”
Get a copy at www.ChildDrugAddicts.com …plus free articles and more information.
© 2011 by Pat Graham – All Rights Reserved
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