For All Newbies!!! Read before you take the plung!!!
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NIDA Home > Publications > Research Reports
From the Director
Since the 1950s, some athletes have been taking anabolic steroids to build muscle and boost their athletic performance. Increasingly, other segments of the population also have been taking these compounds. The Monitoring the Future study, which is an annual survey of drug abuse among adolescents across the country, showed a significant increase from 1998 to 1999 in steroid abuse among middle school students. During the same year, the percentage of 12th-graders who believed that taking these drugs causes "great risk" to health, de-clined from 68 percent to 62 percent.
Studies show that, over time, anabolic steroids can indeed take a heavy toll on a person's health. The abuse of oral or injectable steroids is associated with higher risks for heart attacks and strokes, and the abuse of most oral steroids is associated with increased risk for liver problems. Steroid abusers who share needles or use nonsterile techniques when they inject steroids are at risk for contracting dangerous infections, such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and bacterial endocarditis.
Anabolic steroid abuse can also cause undesirable body changes. These include breast development and genital shrinking in men, masculinization of the body in women, and acne and hair loss in both sexes.
These and other effects of steroid abuse are discussed in this Research Report, which is one of a series of reports on drugs of abuse. NIDA produces this series to increase understanding of drug abuse and addiction and the health effects associated with taking drugs.
We hope that this compilation of scientific information on anabolic steroids will help the public recognize the risks of steroid abuse.
Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D.
Director
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Believe it or not...it is the young and stupid....
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyBodyIsMyTemple
"Many abusers who inject anabolic steroids use nonsterile injection techniques or share contaminated needles with other abusers"
WTF! this paragraph makes it sound like bros who use AS are comparable to crackheads and junkies.
who in the F would ever share a needle to inject AS
That is why this site is so important because we all know that a male at a young age that wants to use probably is wether or not it is in his or her best interest. So that is where we come in to try and help them make a more concious decision or at least provide them with the proper knowledge that will keep them safe. Peace