History of Steroids and Anabolic Steroids

The history of anabolic steroids cannot be explained without looking back to when the very beginnings of testosterone were first discovered. It's been widely accepted since ancient times when the testicles were known to be required for male sexual characteristics and development. Then, in the mid-19th century, scientists discovered that removal of the testicles from birds caused a disappearance of male sexual properties.

This led to a lot of different experiments to help scientists figure out how exactly testosterone worked. By the mid-1930's three different scientists had synthesized testosterone making it the first anabolic steroid. Testosterone was tested on dogs to result in them bulking up after which experiments were carried out in men.

It didn't take long for people to realize how using testosterone would help athletes. In 1954, the American Weightlifting Team began using testosterone and the team's doctor, John Ziegler, began working with pharmaceutical companies to refine the substance to be more efficient in enhancing strength.

In 1967, anabolic steroids were banned by the International Olympic Council (IOC) and many sport organizations began following suit. This was the beginning of the ever-continuing struggle between sports organizations and the athletes. Soon, the IOC had a test to determine if athletes had used testosterone steroids, but it didn't take long for the athletes to develop different types of steroids that would work around the tests – the first being a steroid that would leave the body quickly so that it wouldn't so up on the test.

Perhaps the most adept at this was the German Democratic Republic who conducted much of the research in how to use steroids and still remain undetected. In fact, the fact that the government was both research and concealing steroid use in the country's athletes remained unknown until the late 80's.

This scandal is what has given steroids a bad name. Ironically, however, this is about the same time that the medical community found the benefits of using anabolic steroids for medical purposes in the treatment of certain illnesses and ailments.

Steroids are not out of the public light yet, however. We mostly hear about steroids when professional athletes test positive for using the substance. Steroids are still being widely used in the United States – for both medical purposes as well as by athletes (including high school athletes).

Steroid Abuse

All drugs can be used and abused and the same is true with steroids. According to the law, there are legitimate, approved medical uses of steroids and other, non-legal uses of steroids are often considered abuse by most people. While people who use steroids illegally might be abusing them, this is not necessarily the case.