Steroid Use With Women

When it comes to discussing steroid use in the world of sport, the discussion is not often centered around female athletes. That may be due to the fact that female sports don’t get as much attention as male sports in general. However, it could also have a lot to do with the fact that steroid use in females is perhaps more controversial than PED use in general.

Steroid use among women has become increasingly more popular in recent years. With this increase in use comes an even larger concern for the effects that these drugs are having on their bodies. Anabolic steroids are designed to mimic the effects of testosterone which is the “magical” hormone produced in the male body. Due to a lack of natural testosterone in the female body, they are not designed to function in an environment of high androgen activity which anabolic steroids bind to. Women naturally will tend to develop common male side effects like voice deepening and more hair growth, but their basic anatomy is also a concern for more serious side effects.

Steroids have historically been used in women to treat issues like breast cancer. Steroid use in women for the purpose of sport is a relatively new phenomenon compared to men. What makes this subject so taboo though is the fact that females who have been found to be using performance enhancing drugs, and specifically anabolic steroids, tend to dominate their competitors to a much larger degree than that of male users. While men have natural levels of testosterone in their bodies that assist in muscle gain and agility, the introduction of this synthetic testosterone in the female body can put them at an extreme advantage over their clean competitors. However, use of these drugs in female sport still continues to rise and will be interesting to see how female sports could change due to this fact.

Source: https://www.steroidal.com/women-steroids/

• Jacob Groat