What are steroids?

Synthetic anabolic steroids were developed in the 1930s and are primarily derivatives of testosterone. All steroids provide muscle growth, increased strength, and other desirable results.

One of the biggest differences between steroid users and natural athletes is speed.

By disrupting normal hormonal processes, anabolic steroids can have both positive and negative consequences. Your testicles may stop producing natural testosterone and your liver may be affected.

Even possession of natural vs steroids is a crime in specific locations and can lead to imprisonment. But in the US and Canada it’s less limited, with anabolic steroids being the daily staple for athletes.

Simply put, steroids give you an unfair advantage over natural methods. It can give you a better figure than people who work out naturally.

Despite the risks, anabolic steroids and testosterone are widely used in medicine today. More than a hundred studies have shown its effectiveness in various diseases, such as hypogonadism. Dozens of new research articles are published each year to highlight completely new key facts on these topics. Harvard Medicine, for example, has a good overview of testosterone and can be found below.

What does testosterone do and what doesn’t it do?

When you think of testosterone, what do you imagine? Masculinity? A type A personality, aggressive and impatient? King of Rage? Or just violence?

The role of testosterone in bad behavior is a myth. Testosterone has other amazing roles in health and disease. Did you know that testosterone is associated with prostate cancer? Or that women also need testosterone? Smart men are just one aspect of testosterone.

The role of testosterone

The essential male sex hormone, testosterone, is responsible for:

Development of penis and testicles
Puberty and deepening of the voice
Size and muscle strength.
Bone development and strength.
Sexual desire or increased libido
sperm production
Teenagers with low testosterone may not grow properly. Possible symptoms are a decrease in hair growth on the face and body and a lack of depth in the voice.

Testosterone keeps everyone in a good mood every day. This hormone may have other basic functions that have not yet been discovered.

Signals from the brain to the pituitary in the lower part of the brain control the production of testosterone in men. The pituitary gland then sends instructions to the testicles to produce testosterone. The “feedback loop” controls hormone levels in the blood, where the brain tells the pituitary gland to stop producing testosterone when levels get too high.

It would be a mistake to think that testosterone is vital only in men. The ovaries and adrenal glands produce testosterone and are one of many androgens in women. In women, these hormones are thought to affect:

• ovarian function
• bone strength

Normal libido and improved sexual behavior (although the evidence is inconclusive)
The ovaries need the right balance of testosterone (and other androgens) and estrogen to function properly. Although the details are unknown, androgens may play a role in proper brain function, including mood and cognitive function.

Did you know

The body makes testosterone from cholesterol. But high cholesterol doesn’t mean you have high testosterone. The pituitary gland in the brain regulates testosterone levels too precisely for this to happen.

Too much testosterone can hurt you

It is rare for men to have too much natural testosterone. Given the obvious signs of excess testosterone, road rage, father-son fights at “Little League” games, homosexuality may come as a surprise.

That “normal” testosterone levels and “normal” behavior are hard to define. Testosterone levels fluctuate greatly throughout the day, and what appears to be excess testosterone may be a sign of something else.