Anabolic Steroids: Types, Uses, and their Availability

In this growing world, people have become more concerned about the nutritional value of their diet. People are more aware of the nutrition value they might have and the nourishment of their bodies. In the same scenario, we can see people getting awareness to beautify their own body leading to a boom in trends like gyming and fitness.

While we talk about gymnasiums, things that create images in our mind are – exercises, weights, machines, muscle building, supplements, etc.

Supplements are a category of products that we eat or drink to aid good health and supplement the diet. Anabolic steroids are such supplements too.

We are going to talk about AAS in a step-by-step manner:

1. What is an Anabolic steroid?
2. Usage of AAS
3. Directions to use
4. Types of AAS
5. Other uses
6. Changes through AAS
7. Availability

What is Anabolic Steroid?

Anabolic steroid or anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) is an artificial “Testosterone supplement”, that helps boost the testosterone level in a man’s body, to cope up with the low testosterone levels. Even women have some count of testosterone in their body but in smaller quantities as compared to men. Testosterone is what makes a human, a man, i.e., giving them that facial hair growth, big broad body frame, deep voice, etc. 

Types of AAS

There are many types of AAS available in the market which are consumed in different ways depending on the intakers.

Some prefer oral steroids, while others prefer injectable steroids. Other ways available to take them are implantation under skin and skin cream/gel.

AAS which are taken orally are as follows-

1. Anadrol (oxymetholone)
2. Dianabol (methandrostenolone)
3. Oxandrin (oxandrolone)
4. Winstrol (stanozolol)
5. Cheque (Mibolerone)
6. Virilon (Methyltestosterone)
7. Proviron (Mesterolone)
8. Halotestin or “Halo” (Fluoxymesterone)
9. Anavar (oxandrolone)
10. Restandol (testosterone undecanoate)
11. Prednisolone
12. Betamethasone
13. Dexamethasone
14. Hydrocortisone
15. Deflazacort
16. Stanozolol
17. Norethandrolone

AAS which are injected are as follows-

1. Equipoise, or “EQ” (Boldenone undecylenate)
2. Primobolan, or “Primo” (Methenolone enanthate)
3. Finajet, or “Tren” (Trenbolone acetate)
4. Testex (Testosterone propionate)
5. Andro-Estro (Testosterone enanthate)
6. Depot (Testosterone cypionate )
7. Durabolin, or “NPP” (Nandrolone phenylpropionate)
8. Deca Durabolin, or “Deca” (Nandrolone decanoate)
9. Agovirin (testosterone propionate)
10. Retandrol (testosterone phenylpropionate)
11. Equipoise (boldenone undecylenate)
12. Trenbolone HBC
13. Testosterone undecanoate
14. Stanozolol

Usage of AAS 

There are several ways by which AAS can be used. Some people use it continuously, whereas others try to minimize its usage by using gates, in a different pattern.

1. Stacking – In this user combines different types of steroids and uses them all in a combination to Maxima the effectiveness of steroids.
2. Cycling – In this, the Person takes AAS in a cycle of 6 to 4 weeks and so on.
3. Pyramiding – In this, they increase the dosage till peak like increase in the slope of pyramid till peak then decrease their dose.

Medicinal usage

In Medical form, AAS is used for: 

1. Delaying puberty
2. Condition of muscle loss because of cancer, stage 3 HIV/AIDS.

Directions to use

AAS is taken:

1. By mouth
2. By implantation of pellet under the skin
3. By injection
4. Through skin as cream/gel.

Additonal Uses

1. Anabolic

• Bone marrow stimulation – Used for therapy for hypoplastic anemias due to leukemia, kidney failure, or aplastic anemia.
• Growth stimulation – pediatric endocrinologist uses it for the treatment of children with growth failure.
• Prevention of bone loss in elderly men – 
• Treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women
• Aiding weight gain after surgery, mental trauma, during chronic infection.
• Treating idiopathic short stature, hereditary angioedema, alcoholic hepatitis, and hypogonadism.

2. Androgenic

• Androgen replacement therapy, improving libido for elderly males.
• Inducing male puberty: Androgens are given to guys with an extreme delay of puberty. 
• Masculinizing hormone therapy for transgenders, by producing masculine secondary sexual characteristics such as a voice deepening, increased bone and muscle mass, masculine fat distribution, facial and body hair.
• Treatment of breast cancer in women.

Changes through AAS

Most of the people using AAS are nonathletes. 1% of the USA population (between 1 to 3 million) have come through or used AAS at least once in their life. Studies show most of the AAS users are middle-class heterosexual men with an average age of about 25 who are noncompetitive bodybuilders and non-athletes using these drugs for cosmetic purposes that are beautifying their body.

There is a 25 % hike of people in the age group of 12 – 17 years from 1999 – 2000 stating that they use it for styling than sports. A recent survey tells us that 78.4 % of steroids users were non-competitive bodybuilders and athletes. 13 % were reported having unsafe syringe sharing whereas a 2007 study found that sharing of needles was extremely uncommon among individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes, less than 1%.

The study found that people using AAS for non-medical purposes had a higher employment rate and household income than the general non-user population. AAS users tend to research and read about the drugs they are taking than other safer drugs and the consulting mediums are friends, blogs, non-medical books, forums, and fashion magazines.

AAS users are unhappy about the bad reputation of AAS in the media and politics and don’t trust physicians saying bad things about it. Most of them at least 56% don’t even disclose to their physician about using AAS.

Following counts will tell you about their mindset on using AAS.

• 66% of individuals using AAS for non-medical purposes are willing to take the advice/supervision on the use of their steroids.
• 58 % lacked trust in physicians.
• 92 % felt that the medical community know nothing about its non-medical use.
• 99 % think that the public has a collective view of the side effects of using AAS.

 AAS has been used by men and women for many different professional sports to get a competitive advantage and to recover from injury. These professional sports include bodybuilding, weightlifting, shot put and other, baseball, cycling, mixed martial arts, wrestling, cricket, football, and boxing.

Availability

Over 1 % of the USA population had lifetime prevalence i.e. at some point in time they had characteristics of it. Recent surveys say that people can buy steroids online, without the prescription of doctors.

The study is focused on determining the ease of purchase for AAS, on the Internet from the perspective of a typical consumer. A Google search was performed to evaluate the top sites individually for selection of AAS offered purchase offer and other additional information related to AAS to support the sale of AAS to the customer.

The current study revealed that 87% of the sites offered commonly used AAS, injectable testosterone. 75 % offered post cycle recovery agents followed by the therapy and 62% offered at least one erectile dysfunction medication. In none of the site they asked for prescription by the doctor and 75% accepted the payment of the order of AAS by all the common forms like a credit card, debit card, online payment, and all sites are getting these inventories filled by unregulated international Pharmaceutical institutes and they provide shipment to home addressed alarming you about that consumers are liable to local laws. 75 % of sites recommend specific cycles and stacking whereas 62 % recommend post cycle recovery.

In conclusion, AAS and injectable testosterone are readily available and remarkably easy to purchase on the Internet without a prescription. It is of foremost importance that clinicians are aware of this considerable public health problem given the detrimental physiologic effects causing sexual dysfunction and infertility. And clinicians should teach responsible selling of steroids for sale found in the market, given these risks.