Carol Williams
Anabolic steroids are used by sportsmen as ergogenic aids to increase strength, muscle growth, and performance. With steroid use, there is a wide spectrum of short and long-term side effects. Several welldocumented side effects of these hormones can manifest quickly (e.g., impaired reproductive function) or take months or years to manifest (e.g., increased risk of cancer) (i.e. liver carcinoma). Recent research has found that anabolic steroid use is associated with glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, higher cardiovascular disease risk profiles, brain risks, musculoskeletal injuries, prostate cancer, psychosis, and schizophrenic episodes, among other things. At this time, there is no data to support the idea that athletes are less sensitive to side effects than others who get hormone therapy in a clinical context. There is a need to: (a) develop a comprehensive battery of specific and sensitive markers of adverse effects, particularly those that would be able to detect the onset of adverse effects; and (b) conduct control/ed long term longitudinal studies to fully understand the extent UIIU mechanisms involved in the occurrence of adverse effects, based on information gathered primarily from crosssectional, short term longitudinal, and case studies.