title: Anabolic steroids: a review for the clinician.
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.
authors.affiliation: Western Missouri Mental Health Center, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, USA. eckutscher@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Eric C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Kutscher
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004300:Doping in Sports / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014891:Weight Lifting / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D045930:Anabolic Agents