The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a branch of the National Institutes of Health in the United States, along with seven national partners has launched an initiative to cut off the link between teens and steroids.
The NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner at a Washington, D.C., press conference to announce the initiative, The most recent data from our Monitoring the Future survey tell us that the trends in teens and steroids are going in the wrong direction.
The statistics on teens and steroids are really stunning. NIDA says, More than a half million 8th- and 10th-grade students are now using these dangerous drugs steroids), and increasing numbers of high school seniors say they don't believe the drugs are risky."
Anabolic steroids are synthetic compounds imitating the actions of the male sex hormone testosterone. Undoubtedly, these steroids have some medical uses, but they are often abused by some athletes and sports enthusiasts to increase muscle mass and improve performance. However, the teens abusing steroids are just opening themselves out to serious risks and side effects.
According to NIDA, anabolic steroid abuse in adolescents can halt bone growth and has been associated with damage to the heart, kidneys, and liver. Steroid abuse in males can lead to impotence, shrunken testicles, and breast enlargement. The abuse of steroids may lead to menstrual irregularities, growth of body hair and loss of scalp hair, a deepened voice, and reduction in breast size in females. Some of these biological effects are irreversible. The use of anabolic steroids also has been linked to increased and unpredictable levels of aggression in human and animal studies.
