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Anabolic Steroids
Author(s) -
Brower Kirk J.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
the american journal on addictions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.997
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-0391
pISSN - 1055-0496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1521-0391.1992.tb00015.x
Subject(s) - anabolism , aggression , addiction , adverse effect , substance abuse , mood , testosterone (patch) , medicine , psychiatry , mood disorders , psychology , clinical psychology , endocrinology , anxiety
Anabolic steroids (ASs) are synthetic derivatives of testosterone that have both anabolic (tissue building) and androgenic (masculinizing) effects. ASs are increasingly used for the nonmedical purposes of enhancing athletic performance and physical appearance. As illicit AS abuse patterns increase, so do reports of adverse health consequences, including physical and psychological dependence, major mood disorders, psychoses, and violent aggression. Thus, psychiatrists and other addiction professionals increasingly may be seeing AS users in their practices. The authors review laboratory abnormalities as a means of detecting AS abuse and its adverse effects. Most health consequences resulting from ASs appear to be reversible after cessation of use, but life‐threatening events have been reported. In the absence of well‐controlled, longitudinal studies, neither safety nor catastrophe can be predicted for the chronic abuse of high‐dose ASs.