What are Anabolic Steroids?

The effects of anabolic steroids mimic those of testosterone. Naturally synthesized hormones, such as testosterone, are types of lipids. They have a four-ring carbon skeleton and are synthesized in the adrenal cortex, ovaries or testes.

Production of testosterone takes place in the male testes and the female ovaries; it is present in the male at significantly higher levels than in females, two of the main effects being androgenic and anabolic.

Androgenic changes involve secondary sexual characteristics in the male (e.g. facial hair and deepening of the voice).

Anabolic changes include the growth and development of many body tissues, perhaps most obviously muscles.

The production of testosterone is itself stimulated by another hormone, luteinizing hormone, produced in the  pituitary. As well as controlling the growth, development and function of the male sex organs, testosterone and
the other hormones present are responsible for the ‘masculinizing’ or ‘virilizing’ effects of male puberty. When males reach the end of puberty, the amount of testosterone rises suddenly and stays at a high level for four to six months before returning to normal. During this time, the growth plates in the long bones of the arms and legs close, the voice deepens, facial hair begins to grow and the male sex organs grow in size. It is this surge in testosterone that completes the sexual maturation of males.

At one time, researchers thought that anabolic and androgenic steroids were different. It was thought that chemists could create new versions of steroids to build up muscle tissue without causing masculine side-effects.

However, they discovered that anabolic and androgenic effects were both caused by the same drug action on different tissue types. Thus, any anabolic steroid that builds up muscle tissue also causes masculinizing side-effects.

Because of the possible impact on women and children prescribed anabolic steroids therapeutically, synthetic steroids are manufactured to enhance their anabolic but diminish their androgenic properties, although they cannot be entirely suppressed. Therefore, it is more correct to call this group of drugs anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS); however, we continue to call them anabolic steroids (AS).