If you ever plan on taking anabolic steroids, you should first do your research, spend a few hours reading, and become an expert on the endocrine system. This group of organs controls your body’s hormone production. If you plan to use steroids, you plan to alter your body’s hormone production levels. You also plan to help your body to resets its own hormone production level (particularly testosterone) following the steroid cycle. These are all related to the endocrine system.
There are several organs, which comprise the endocrine system, and they either regulate, or control the regulation of, hormones in the body. These organs include the pituitary gland, the thyroid, the pancreas, the ovaries, the adrenals, and most notably among bodybuilders, the testicles. For bodybuilders using steroids, the function of the pituitary gland is most noteworthy. The pituitary gland controls how much testosterone is produced by the testicles, based upon the levels in the body. When levels are too low, the pituitary gland orders the testes to start producing. When the level of testosterone is artificially raised through the use of steroids, the pituitary gland orders the testes to stop production.
This halted level of production doesn’t bother the steroid user, as the elevated levels are far higher than his natural levels were. However, when the steroids are removed from the system (when the steroid user cycles off, as is required for long-term health), the pituitary gland doesn’t suddenly signal the testes to restart production. It can take weeks, months, or even years for the endocrine system to restore testosterone production. In the meantime, the user will be living a quality of life far below his pre-steroid use levels.
That is just a single example. There are many other functions of the endocrine system, which are directly influenced by steroid use. Women and men alike can become infertile from the use of steroids. You’ll often hear the tales of professional bodybuilders celebrating the conception of their first child, after trying for over a decade. Artificially high levels of hormones often take years to reset to a point where the body can reproduce as before.
Additionally, diabetes and other diseases can occur as a result of altered levels.
Before you touch your first steroid, do your research into the effects that steroids have upon the many systems of the body, including the endocrine system. If you ever with to have children, do your research and talk to other males who have used steroids, and see what their reproductive abilities and recovery times were. While various doses obviously have varied side effect, one constant remains: Steroids affect the endocrine system.
