what ways are steroids commonly misused?
435630
Officially anyone one who uses them to enhance performance in any area are abusing them.\n\nUnofficially people who don't know what they are doing or who do know and still go way too far. Responsible and knowledgeable steroid use will help you perform better and increase muscle mass as well as feel better overall.
913251
listen i go to the gym and let me tell you theres a lot of answers to this question\n\nfirst its possible that some are using steroids like the first person said but if your gonna say that everyone who benches more than you uses steroids then thats totally ignorant on that guys part and uneducated\n\nsecond your right some of them do have horrible technique....i know a guy at the gym who has horrbile techinique and is just doing it for show....hes kinda my friend but he just packs on the plates and doesnt do the exercise correctly....you know the constant cheaters....bends his back in bench press and swings and throws the weights around\n\nbut lastly my answer is simple....SIZE DOES NOT EQUAL POWER AND STRENGTH.....you see power lifters in the olympics and there 2 times smaller than regular body builders.......body builders arent stong....they train for the competition and the stage....the show....but its for looks.......powerlifters have to lift heavy weights.....listen there are two types of hypertrophy.....sacromere and sacroplasmic i think(to learn more about this click the link below)\n\nsacromere is a smaller diameter in the muscle but a higher density.......on the other hand sacroplasmic gives a larger diameter but softer density\n\nmeaning that if you train for the pump(12 to 15 reps) your gonna get bigger but not very strong but if you train with lower reps(6 to 10....usually around 8 reps) then your gonna get big but not that big and your gonna get much stronger.....also if you train ultimate strength low reps like around 4 then your gonna get very stong but not big\n\nppl train differently for different reasons and sports....good luck and dont get discouraged about other ppl benching more
95972
A steroid is a lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings. Different steroids vary in the functional groups attached to these rings. Hundreds of distinct steroids have been identified in plants and animals. Their most important role in most living systems is as hormones.\n\n \nSteroid skeleton. Carbons 18 and above can be absent.In human physiology and medicine, the most important steroids are cholesterol, the steroid hormones, and their precursors and metabolites.\n\nIn conversations, the term steroid is often used more restrictively in specific contexts. For instance, steroid in common medical usage by non-endocrinologists usually refers to corticosteroids, nearly always glucocorticoids. In an athletic or body-building context, steroid commonly refers to anabolic steroids.\n\nCholesterol is an important steroid alcohol, being a common component of animal cell membranes. However, a high level of it can cause various conditions and diseases, such as atherosclerosis. Most other steroids are synthesized from cholesterol. Also, various hormones, including vertebrate sex hormones, are steroids created from cholesterol.\n\nThere are also various specific categories of steroids, including:\n\nAnabolic steroids - used by athletes to increase performance \nCorticosteroids - affects metabolism and electrolyte excretion \nSex hormones - androgens, estrogens, and progestagens \nProhormones - precursors to actual steroid hormones. They were manufactured by bodybuilding supplement companies until they were banned from the supplement market. \nPhytosterols - steroids naturally occurring in plants. \nSteroid hormones produce their physiological effects by binding to steroid hormone receptor proteins. The binding of steroid hormones to their receptors causes changes in gene transcription and cell function.
444572
Only if you take steroids!
377539
Let’s start here; first and foremost steroids are not magic! They are not the sole ingredient that will make a super physique. Now don’t get me wrong, steroids do work, but not in the way the media hype would have you to believe. The way steroids are portrayed in the media is absolutely false. They make it seem as if taking AAS is what led the athlete to be as “great” as he or she was…again, false. Did they help the athlete? Absolutely, but without an already established diet and training program they would not have produced the results that they did. \n\nLet’s now turn to competitive bodybuilding, since that is the easiest place for me to argue my points. As a competitive BB myself, I have used AAS for sometime now. When I first started I started out very slow, low doses usually one compound per cycle, just to see how my body would react to various compounds…but I did not do this until I had first spent several years in the gym and several years researching AAS…there is a lot to be said for reaching and establishing a good “natural” base, and even more to be said about establishing a firm grip on the reality of AAS before starting to use them. \n\nNow do I think that taking AAS is dangerous? It can be, but I am a firm believer that with responsible use they can be a very useful tool in aiding any competitive bodybuilder. When you hear all of the horror stories in the news about AAS you can 9 times out of 10 pin point what really caused the problem. For example, inadequate information about the proper way to use AAS by the user, lack of knowledge about how to come off AAS cycles, i.e. PCT, use of recreational drugs and or alcohol while on an AAS cycle, poor hygiene habits in using AAS…the list could go on and on. \n\nNext off you might ask, should AAS be part of the plan for a competitive bodybuilder? Maybe, maybe not, but they are a reality of the sport and because of this reality they are necessary for anyone who wishes to be truly competitive in the sport. \n\nWhat about long term affects? In the post above mine the individual states that taking AAS will damage you later in life. Is this true? It may be, but if proper precautions are taken I would say this is false. For example, if you have two 50 yr old men, 1 took AAS for years, the other didn’t, and will the user be worse off then the non-user? In terms of testosterone levels absolutely not. By age 50 whether you have used AAS or not your test levels will be approaching the bottom end of the spectrum…after all, why do you think so many men over 50 now find themselves on HRT. \n\nAs far as other risk, sure there may be some down the road; no one has ever said that the AAS game is perfect and that no harm will come. With that in mind it is up to each individual to weigh these risks themselves to determine if AAS is right for them. It may or may not be a risky game, but so many things in life are a risk and to reach certain goals risk are often part of the equation \nHonestly I’m not exactly sure what all you are looking for here, so I hope some of this helps out. If there is anything at all you’d like to know or ask about AAS please feel free to PM me with questions and I will be glad to help you out.
272226
Yes - there are a couple different ideas I've seen for it.  One is giving a testosterone-like drug - this wouldn't reduce performance but once you come off it it can take a while for your body to start making its own testosterone again, especially if you've been on it for a long time.  I've also heard of a androgen(testosterone-like)/progestin(female hormone) combination - that I could see causing some performance issues.  And yes, I doubt you could get men to remember to take it.
150616
Prednisone is used in the management of inflammatory conditions or diseases in which the immune system plays an important role\n\nPrednisolone is used to achieve prompt suppression of inflammation in many inflammatory and allergic conditions
625970
try "the drug"\n\nlike instead of "steroids can cause many health problems..."\n\ntry... "the drug can cause many health problems..."
61
I would say a good majority are, but the question is whether the steroid is considered a performance enhancing steroid or not. Andro was legal while Mark McGuire was using it, but subsequently banned. BALCO was reported to manufacture steroids that are desgined to avoid being detected during testing.
575777
See an opthamologist or get a second opinion. Steroids should not be used in the eye for any long period of time. It may not be too late to reverse the effects..
915658
Steroids.  That's their intended purpose.
1101877
The answer is probably not. They primarily use them for muscle bulk, but they have the added side effect of promoting other types of growth.\n The main issue now with steroids is the issue of pharmocogenetic medicines, which are particularly adapted to certain genetic types, promoting certain positive functions within the body. This has led to the issue of gene doping where a foreign DNA strand  could be introduced through a specially designed drug. For example, a drug could be developed to promote oxygen saturation in the blood, which at present many athletes use Ethryopoetin, a kidney drug, to do. \n It is unlikely that steroid and general drug use will ever be stopped in sport. The development of synthetic hormones and better masking agents will make detection even more difficult. Also, at present testing for some drugs such as ethryopoetin (EPO) is incredibly difficult, with a EPO test requiring 180 seperate tests and needing highly speciallised equipment and testing. \n This situation may be explained by the particualar focus that the media have on some sports, such as cycling. With more minority sports, with less athletes competing in worldwide competition, it may appear that the problem is more serious than actually is the truth.\n If you can read French then Massacre a la Chaine is worth a read. It focuses primarilly on the Festina affair, where a staff member of a cycling team was discovered with doping products in the car he was using in the Tour De France. It details not only the actual events in the 1998 scandal, for which his team, Festina, were disqualified, but also his own cycling career and drug use then. But I beg you, please don't think all cyclists are like that- most cyclists and tifosi (cycling fans) are ashamed.
722539
Nothing has been proven but the steroids Bonds has been alleged to have taken:\nThe Cream- Used in conjuction with other steroids to mask them from tests\nThe Clear (Tetrahydrogestrinone, THG)- An anabolic steroid\nInsulin\nTestosterone Decanoate (Mexican Beans)- A fast acting steroid\nTrenbolone- It is used to improve muscle quantity of cows\n\nArnold Schwarzenegger used steroids in his body building career before the US deemed them illegal. The primary steroid he used was Dianabol although he probably used others in conjuction
867989
Because anabolic steirods are seriously harmful if abused.\n\n  They can cause...........bone deterioation, diabetes, agressive behavior, Physical violence, unstable reactions,Naked Agression.  Steriods are bad unless used as a teatment, not a therapy.
722638
Very interesting reading:\n\n\nAnabolic-androgenic steroids are man-made substances related to male sex hormones. “Anabolic” refers to muscle-building, and “androgenic” refers to increased masculine characteristics. “Steroids” refers to the class of drugs. These drugs are available legally only by prescription, to treat conditions that occur when the body produces abnormally low amounts of testosterone, such as delayed puberty and some types of impotence. They are also prescribed to treat body wasting in patients with AIDS and other diseases that result in loss of lean muscle mass. Abuse of anabolic steroids, however, can lead to serious health problems, some irreversible.\n\nToday, athletes and others abuse anabolic steroids to enhance performance and also to improve physical appearance. Anabolic steroids are taken orally or injected, typically in cycles of weeks or months (referred to as “cycling”), rather than continuously. Cycling involves taking multiple doses of steroids over a specific period of time, stopping for a period, and starting again. In addition, users often combine several different types of steroids to maximize their effectiveness while minimizing negative effects (referred to as “stacking”).\nHealth Hazards\nThe major side effects from abusing anabolic steroids can include liver tumors and cancer, jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids), fluid retention, high blood pressure, increases in LDL (bad cholesterol), and decreases in HDL (good cholesterol). Other side effects include kidney tumors, severe acne, and trembling. In addition, there are some gender-specific side effects:\n\n    * For men — shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts, increased risk for prostate cancer.\n    * For women — growth of facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, enlargement of the clitoris, deepened voice.\n    * For adolescents — growth halted prematurely through premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes. This means that adolescents risk remaining short for the remainder of their lives if they take anabolic steroids before the typical adolescent growth spurt.\n\nIn addition, people who inject anabolic steroids run the added risk of contracting or transmitting HIV/AIDS or hepatitis, which causes serious damage to the liver.\n\nScientific research also shows that aggression and other psychiatric side effects may result from abuse of anabolic steroids. Many users report feeling good about themselves while on anabolic steroids, but researchers report that extreme mood swings also can occur, including manic-like symptoms leading to violence. Depression often is seen when the drugs are stopped and may contribute to dependence on anabolic steroids. Researchers report also that users may suffer from paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability, delusions, and impaired judgment stemming from feelings of invincibility. 1\n\nResearch also indicates that some users might turn to other drugs to alleviate some of the negative effects of anabolic steroids. For example, a study of 227 men admitted in 1999 to a private treatment center for dependence on heroin or other opioids found that 9.3 percent had abused anabolic steroids before trying any other illicit drug. Of these 9.3 percent, 86 percent first used opioids to counteract insomnia and irritability resulting from the anabolic steroids.
130605
Here are a couple of sites on the side effects...If I were you, DO NOT take Steroids!
343362
It depends what you mean by steroids.If you are taking about glucocorticoids such as prednisone,there is a danger that you will have a flare up of the disease for which you were taking the drug.i.e. an autoimmune disease.If you are taking about anabolic steroids you should taper slowly so that your testes will start producing it again otherwise you will have no sex drive.