What it all comes down to is that we need to educate both ourselves and all intercollegiate athletes about the risks involved with steroid use. Anabolic-androgenic steroids are chemical derivatives of the male sex hormones. Anabolic refers to the constructive or building-up process of the body s metabolism. Androgen refers to male-life or masculinizing characteristics. Estrogenic steroids produce female or feminizing characteristics, and corticosteroids originate in the cortex of the adrenal glands and have a shrinking effect.
Users take steroids in cycles lasting six to twelve weeks or more.
Stacking, or the use of more than one type of steroid, helps to maximize strength gains, minimize side effects, and avoid detection. The two main reasons that athletes use steroids are to improve athletic performance and to improve their appearance. In 1985, Anderson and McKeag did the first study of college athletes correlated with steroid use. They interviewed 2039 male and female athletes and discovered much new information. Nine percent of football players used anabolic-androgen steroids.