Steroid Drug Test FAQ

Anabolic steroids help in increasing the muscle mass and physical strength, and are consequently used in sport and bodybuilding to enhance strength or physique. No wonder, one of the most common words in gyms & sports nowadays is "steroids"! So, other than prescribed medicinal users, there are many user groups who look towards steroids to assist them in attaining the physical attributes they crave for.

Some of the common steroid user groups are:

* Football or baseball players, wrestlers - players of sports that depend on strength and size
* Cricketers, Track-field athletes & swimmers - those who need endurance
* Bodybuilders
* Any person interested in building and developing their muscles

A typical Steroid User's profile:

Studies have shown anabolic steroid users tend to be mostly middle-class heterosexual men with a median age of about 25 who are noncompetitive bodybuilders & non-athletes & use the drugs for cosmetic purposes. According to a recent survey, 78.4% of steroid users were noncompetitive bodybuilders & non-athletes. The non medical use of anabolic steroids among college students was found to be less than 1%. Anabolic steroid users often are stereotyped as uneducated "muscle heads" by media; however, a 1998 study on steroid users showed that anabolic steroid users tend to research the drugs they are taking more than any other group of users of controlled substances.

Steroid Abuse is common among males aged between 15 and 30 that are looking to improve appearance through looking more muscular, those that are looking to counteract issues relating to impotence, as well as those that wish to improve their body's performance through increasing their strength, endurance and stamina. Although many steroid users will experience little or no side effects other will. This can depend upon the volumes in which steroids are consumed, the length of time that steroids are taken for, the type of steroids that are taken, and personal health factors such as how resistant ones body is to the drug.

Common side effects of steroids include:

Liver Tumors
Jaundice
Fluid Retention
High Blood Pressure
Baldness
Shrinking of the Testicles
Infertility and Low Sperm Count
Develop Breasts
Accelerated Puberty
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What are the adverse effects of anabolic steroids?
Most of its side effects are dose dependent. The most common are blood pressure with pre-existing hypertension, harmful changes in cholesterol levels. It increases the risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary artery disease, enlargement and thickening of the left ventricle, cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death.

What is a sex steroid?
Sex steroids, are steroid hormones that interact with vertebrate androgen or estrogen receptors. Natural sex steroids are made by the gonads, by adrenal glands, or by conversion from other sex steroids in other tissues such as liver or fat.

What is Prohibited List for Steroids, Agents, Stimulants & Narcotics?
List identifying the substances and methods prohibited in sport. The Prohibited List is one of the four WADA International Standards and is mandatory for signatories to the World Anti-Doping Code.