Steroids and Women: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on the female athlete

There has been a lot of misinformation pooling around the blog about women and the effects that steroids has on them. Some say look at their body and you know she is on the roids. Others say hey do not judge she could be a woman with a Y chromosome. Others just like to shout steroids don't do that and don't do any research to prove it does or it doesn't. In this post we will look at the positive and negative effects of steroids on the female body. In addition I will provide the sources that I have used in completing this post.

Lets ask the queston; What are the positives of steroids in female athletes? A female athlete will "have reduced body fat, an increase in lean body (muscle) mass and increased strength.( www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology)." She may also develop a sense of euphoria and increased self-esteem. This will help her in improving her body and perhaps even help in winning bodybuilding contests or other intense athletic activities. In general, a woman who uses will have much more energy. She may not feel so weak and after using anabolic steroids she may feel like she can now protect herself in a dangerous situation since she will look and feel more intimidating. A woman even has heightened sexual arousal. (www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology). These are the positvies of steroids on the female athlete, however there are serious side effects. Lets look into those.

What are the negatives of steroids on the female body? Steroids are taken in two forms either orally or intravenously. The negative effect can be both visible and invisible. In women and men orally taken anabolic steroids have a serious negative affect on the liver. In clinical trials, treatment with anabolic steroids resulted in a decreased hepatic excretory function. Sometimes resulting in bleeding that could lead to death. It should also be noted that if your liver is not working properly at the begining of takeing steroids the adverse affects are much greater (www.sportsci.org/encyc/anabstereff/anabstereff.html).

Also, other studies further indicated that anabolic steroids significantly inhibited the production of corticotrophin in blood lymphocytes immediately following a viral infection. In other words your immune systems fails to work properly and does not develop antibodies that result from fighting viral infections. Thus leaving you susceptable to the same viral infection over and over again. In addition the are other severe risks. "Cardiovascular risk factors include the alteration or diminishing of her glucose tolerance and hyperinsulinism (become resistant to insulin), a change in lipoproteins (carry cholesterol in blood) fraction which can cause cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis (deposition of fatty substances onto inner walls of arteries causing blockage), increased triglyceride levels, hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure), changes in her myocardium (middle muscular layer of heart wall), and increased concentration levels of several different clotting factors." (www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology)

Finally the ugly. There are various physical effects and changes to a woman's physical appearance that are a direct result of Anabolic Steroids. The side effects of anabolic steroids on women are acne, hair loss, receding hair line, male pattern baldness, deepening of voice, facial hair growth, and breast atrophy. The lowering of the voice, decreased breast size, clitoris hypertrophy and hair loss are for the most part irreversible. Females using Anabolic Steroids may develop masculine facial traits, male muscularity, and coarsening of the skin. The thickening of the jaws appears to be an effect of the incresed testosterone that develops in the body with the use of anabolic steroids.

These are the severe side effects that occurs to women athletes who have decided to use steroids. With the positives comes the negative and although the outward negative is what we tend to concentrate on. We cannot ignore what occurrs inside of a woman's body due to the use and abuse of Anabolic Steroids

Visit this blog for a story about female bodybuilder from a guy who dated one. http://www.muscleenhancers.com/steroids/roids78.htm

Here is a pic of extreme results of steroid use.

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