Anabolic Steroid Use Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment

The anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are a family of hormones that comprise the natural male hormone testosterone and its many synthetic relatives. Once used almost exclusively by elite athletes, AAS have now spread to the general population, with some tens of millions of users worldwide. Contrary to popular belief, most AAS users are not competitive athletes, but take these drugs simply to gain muscle. Because widespread AAS use did not arise until the 1980s in the United States and about a decade or more later in other countries, even the oldest AAS users – individuals who started AAS as youths in the 1980s or 1990s – are only now reaching middle age. Thus, the long-term adverse effects of AAS are only beginning to be recognized, as more individuals enter the age of risk for these effects.