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Anabolic Steroids

A Review for the Clinician

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Abstract

The number of athletes self-administering ergogenic pharmacological agents to increase their competitive edge continues to be a problem. Most athletes using anabolic steroids (AS) have acquired a crude pharmacological database regarding these drugs. Their opinions regarding steroids have been derived from their subjective experiences and anecdotal information. For this reason, traditional warnings regarding the lack of efficacy and potential dangers of steroid misuse are disregarded. A common widely held opinion among bodybuilders is that the anabolic steroid experts are the athletic gurus who for years have utilised themselves as the experimental participants and then dispensed their empirical findings. This review will address the common anabolic steroid misconceptions held by many of today’s athletes by providing an evaluation of the scientific literature related to AS in athletic performance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors had no funding for this article and have no conflicts of interest that could affect its content.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Missouri Mental Health Center, Kansas City, Missouri, 64108, USA

    Eric C. Kutscher

  2. Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy Division, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Eric C. Kutscher, Brian C. Lund & Paul J. Perry

  3. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Paul J. Perry

Authors
  1. Eric C. Kutscher
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  2. Brian C. Lund
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  3. Paul J. Perry
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Correspondence to Eric C. Kutscher.

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Kutscher, E.C., Lund, B.C. & Perry, P.J. Anabolic Steroids. Sports Med 32, 285–296 (2002). https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200232050-00001

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