How do steroids work? They stimulate the production of protein in the muscles and make more cells grow. However, there are many different types of steroids.
When people talk about steroids, they are usually referring to anabolic steroids, which are the ones that bodybuilders use. Steroids are found in many living organisms, and they are naturally occurring chemicals. They are similar to hormones, and they help in the functioning of tissues, organs, and cells. They are also signaling molecules. Lipid fats and cholesterol are steroids. Testosterone and estrogen are steroids. They have many different purposes. There are also corticosteroids, which are responsible for suppressing the immune system and reducing inflammation and swelling. Many people with arthritis use cortisol, a version of a corticosteroid, to reduce the swelling in their joints and ease their pain. Cortisol is an active ingredient in asthma inhalers as well.
We are going to look at anabolic steroids, which are famous for helping bodybuilders become bigger and for helping athletes perform better. What are anabolic steroids? They are synthetic versions of the male sex hormone, testosterone. The “anabolic” part explains the process by which the steroid works. There are anabolic processes and catabolic processes. Anabolic processes are constructive and use energy to make something or to grow something. Catabolic processes are destructive and use energy to break something down. An example of a catabolic process is breaking fat down into fatty acids. So, anabolic steroids are a synthetic version of the hormone testosterone which encourages muscle growth.
The hormone testosterone does many things in the body, but one of its jobs is to build muscle. When we use our muscles, they get microscopic tears. When these tears heal, the muscle fibers fuse and more muscle cells grow, making our muscles larger. Testosterone is responsible for that. All of the muscle cells have tiny receptors that the testosterone molecules can attach themselves onto. Once it has bound with the cell, the testosterone increases the signals given off by the chemicals in the muscle tissues that activate protein synthesis. The proteins synthesize into a new, stronger muscle fiber. With low testosterone, the muscles will still fix themselves, but it will take longer. The testosterone also signals the body to increase levels of growth hormone. This process is called hypertrophy. The tears in your muscles are what makes them ache after you have worked out.
If someone has more testosterone, it will increase the speed that they can recover after exercise and the speed at which their muscles will grow. This is where anabolic steroids come in. Anabolic steroids are a synthetic testosterone, so they put extra amounts of the hormone into the body. The anabolic steroid can connect to the same receptors that the muscle cells have for testosterone, and they can trigger the same reaction. When someone who has taken anabolic steroids works out, their muscles rebuild much faster and become larger. Steroids can increase the overall muscle mass of bodybuilders or athletes to a level that they might not naturally be able to reach. Anabolic steroids can also be taken by people who have low testosterone or whose muscles have atrophied after a disease.
Anabolic steroids also help athletes recover more quickly after intense workouts. When we overstress our muscles, our body releases cortisol to reduce the swelling and to help the body heal. Cortisol instructs the body to stop using energy for growing but to use it for healing and it redirects the proteins that are needed for new muscle mass. Anabolic steroids can also block the release of the cortisol so that the muscles do grow. This is not great for the body.
Anabolic steroids come with a lot of problems as well. The first problem is that our bodies have evolved to balance themselves. If you take anabolic steroids, your body will either stop producing its own testosterone, or will start producing estrogen to counter the excess testosterone in the system. Because the body fights to balance itself, after the first spurt of muscle gain, many people have to increase their dosage of anabolic steroids to keep seeing results.
Testosterone has many other functions in the body and using anabolic steroids can cause a lot of other problems as well. Anabolic steroids can also cause high blood pressure, blood clots, heart attacks, strokes, liver damage, aggression, mania, depression, and several other things. If taken in small doses, for short periods of time, there are not necessarily any side effects. The problems come when people become dependent on them and constantly up their dosage. And this is what I learned today.
Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-man-s-muscles-5327571/
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catabolism
https://www.healthline.com/health/catabolism-vs-anabolism#bottom-line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroid
https://medlineplus.gov/steroids.html
https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/steroids/
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/5521-anabolic-steroids
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319151#building-muscle-through-exercise