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11/13/09
The use of androgen has reaching a level that is a cause for alarm. This is because most people, especially bodybuilders are misusing it instead of using the hormone properly. The sale of the hormone to athletes and bodybuilders through the black market is the most worrying thing. There have been several studies of high school juveniles and the findings in all the cases were equally alarming. The worst fears that experts have been anticipating. It was found out that 8 per cent of all the students had used the hormone at one time or another.
The other fear has been that of over prescriptions by medical officers and pharmacists, most of who lack the specialized know how to guide their decisions. This has being going on for almost half a century. Most of the conditions that the physicians purport to cure using the drug could be managed and controlled by cheaper and more efficient drugs. Despite the unprecedented increase in both legal and illegal use of androgen, the scientific knowledge of the effects of this hormone has been a let down for failing to give conclusive evidence of the way in which they affect human life. If such information was availed, it could go a long way to enable the policymakers enforce tough measures and put water-tight guidelines on the use of androgens.
The issue of the use of androgen as a replacement therapy for estrogen problems is a case in point where the biologists haven’t lived up to the expectations of the citizens. For very long time, women have been using contraceptives but it is only the other day than an equivalent contraceptive for men was tested in science laboratories and is yet to make a break through in the market. This shows that bodybuilders are yet to know what benefits, if any, could accrue from the use of this hormone. For these information-thirsty bodybuilders, the closest they get to knowing about androgen is the intellectual discourse that passes across their ears like a distant echo because no one breaks down the terminology used which is too complicated for non-specialists to comprehend.
The few findings have been very slow and far between in coming. For instance, most people have linked bodybuilding to hypogonadism. The remedy for this problem has been found in the prescription of androgen in very controlled doses. The problem is that it also stimulates the production of male hormones which are responsible for masculinity. This creates the impression that they are a godsend to bring about an overnight transformation. In order to see the clear connection between bodybuilding and the use of androgens, it is worth taking a look at the physical changes that take place in young boys in the period leading up to adolescence.
Before this period, the level of testosterone is very low. When puberty sets in, the testis is induced by other body hormones to produce testosterone which results in the emergence of sex characteristics. For men, this means more masculinity, deep voice and sexual attraction to the members of the opposite sex. This masculinity is natural and should not be induced by excessive administration when one is past this stage. This is what bodybuilders do with the illegally acquired androgen.
