Is Your Teenager Taking Anabolic Steroids?
If your teenage boy is building muscle mass faster
than his peers, has continuous unpleasant breath
odor, is more prone to tantrums and has excessive
acne he might be taking anabolic steroids. While
the swelling physique of your child may be a source
of family pride, the abuse of anabolic steroids
may damage your son's health for the rest of his
life.
Taking steroid hormones is drug abuse, just like
crack, heroin or methamphetamines. As a parent,
your children's health and welfare should be a
top priority. Do you ever overhear them talking
about "roids, hype, pump" with their
friends? Then they may be taking, or considering
taking steroids.
Anabolic steroids are powerful muscle builders
but are not good for building supportive tissues
like tendons and ligaments. Steroids promote growth
of skeletal muscle (anabolic effect) and the development
of male sexual characteristics (androgenic effects)
Testosterone administered by mouth is rapidly
absorbed, but converts to inactive metabolites,
of which only about 1/6 is available in active
form.
Oral synthetic forms of testosterone are cleared
more slowly by the liver, but tend to be liver
toxic. In whichever way it is taken, orally or
through injections, steroid dosages commonly used
within athletic abuse may result in liver failure
or stomach bleeding. On top of this, the added
power of the steroid boosted muscles puts severe
demands on the heart which can lead to enlarged
heart, a condition that is permanent and life
debilitating.
Anabolic steroids are chemical derivatives of
the male sex hormone, testosterone. Testosterone
has both androgenic and anabolic effects. The
androgenic effect influences male voice, hair
growth, libido, body build and bone structure.
The anabolic effect mainly deals with conversion
of nutrients and protein into muscle mass. The
anabolic state is what the person wanting rapid
muscle growth is after.
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