Talk:Steroid/Archive 1

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Request for protection/Vandalism

Wow. The last few months of the history are all anonymous IPs vandalising the page (with the usual reverts). Can we semi-protect the page if it keeps happening? Also, I notice the Synthesis section that used to be here got lost in the shuffle -- should I restore it? -lee 01:15, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Hello. I have requested protection for this article and it got rejected. Can someone else try it? What do people think about the rate of vandalism of this page? I personally find it outrageous. --Kupirijo 12:14, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Crazy, it's every day now. BTW, could folks please post warnings (as per [1]) on the vandal's talk pages? Cartwarmark 04:11, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree with [User:Kupirijo|Kupirijo]. This page is vandalized often by people going after sports teams. Ultim87 21:56, 7 May 2007

I've asked the admins for semi-protection. Beeblebrox responded and placed semi-protection on the page today, apparently another admin did previously for 6 months and the vandalism resumed after that point. LovelyLillith (talk) 21:12, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

Biochemistry Vandalism

PLEASE if you are not sure about something please discuss it here. Steroids include phytosterols. Phytosterols are not derived from cholesterol otherwise all vegan people would be in deep trouble :). In general there is a tendency to write comments from a human perspective. Please remember that compounds are found throughout nature and span many living organisms. That said I removed the anonymous person's comments that all steroids come from cholesterol, who he removed my previous comments on the HMG-CoA pathway. I added lanosterol and squalene instead. Thanks. --Kupirijo 23:40, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

corticosteroid v. anabolic steroid

Canof steroid hormones that are genericly refered to as "steroids" by different groups (corticosteroids by doctors, anabolic by athletes), end of similarity. The corticosteroids are actually catabolic, the opposite of anabolic.Novangelis 03:08, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

removed section and reasons

removed text

The first “Steroid” was a product developed in the 1930’s to give much needed testostarone to people whose bodies did not produce enough on their own. It just so happens that testosterone helps build muscle at an alarming rate. Once Steroids were proven effective on animals, Germany used these steroids on soldiers in WWII. The Germans saw that their POW’s (Prisoners of War) were suffering from malnutrition, so they made the decision to treat them with steroids. The steroids helped prevent muscle loss, thus making them live longer. It wasn’t until the mid 1950’s where steroids were first used in professional sports. Many Russian and European weightlifters used these steroids to increase their game and dominate the sport of power lifting. There are many types of Steroids, but the most common of them all is anabolic-androgenic. Most athletes take this steroid for the good effects the anabolic part brings. Anabolic means increasing body tissue (mostly muscle). So when an athlete takes the steroid their muscles increase dramatically giving them an impressive amount of strength. The only bad effect this part brings is that it can increase your muscles so dramatically; it can cause the user to become more prone to injury. The androgenic portion of the steroid is the bad part. This part is highly related to the male hormone: testosterone. This increases facial hair, baldness, nervousness, bad breath, and much more. The doctors sometimes prescribe their patients steroids because of the androgenic part. Androgenic helps synthesize testosterone, giving much needed help to patients whose bodies do not produce enough on their own. Doctors however prescribe only about 4-10 mg a day, whereas an athlete may take up to 100mg a day. Steroids are still not safe even if you use it in small doses, unless your body is lacking testosterone. Athletes need to consider the dangers of Steroids and not just the increased muscle tissue. As well as the many types of Steroids, they can also be taken a couple different ways. The most common way to take Steroids is through injection; this is when the user takes a liquid steroid out of a bottle and puts in a needle. The user then injects the needle directly in the skin, like a shot in the doctor’s office. This can be especially dangerous because many abusers do not use sterile needles. HIV and AIDS can be transmitted from a person that has the disease to a person who does not have it. The other way you take steroids is in a pill form through the mouth. This is used less then injection throughout the athletic world because they do not work as well. Injection works faster and is much more efficient then pills. Pills are cheaper, easier to take, and less dangerous. Oral steroids can not transmit diseases such as AIDS and HIV. Doctors tend to give patients pills because they are cheaper and easier to take. Another way but much less common way people can take steroids is with creams or patches. The patches work just like nicotine patches, secreting small amounts of anabolic-androgenic steroids into the body. The steroid cream however gets rubbed on the skin and absorbed into the body. The cream is rarely used because it is not very effective at all. Sometimes doctors give patients steroid cream if the patient is only lacking a small amount of testosterone. Since anabolic-androgenic steroids are so closely related to testosterone, they work in the body just like testosterone. When the steroids are taken they go into the bloodstream and are spread throughout in the body. The steroid molecules attach to a muscle and helps increase the size of the muscle dramatically. The steroids also do a variety of things like increase facial hair, baldness, Nervousness and change behavior. The truth is scientists do not know much about how testosterone works. The hormone is very complex and has many uses throughout the body. Scientists can only hope to gain more understanding as their studies on steroids progresses. Illegal steroids are manufactured in hidden labs or in foreign countries. Many secret labs in the U.S. are specifically designed for making illegal steroids. But the majority of steroids come from foreign countries, where the steroid laws are not as strict. Tens of thousands of bottles of illegal steroids are brought into the U.S each year, many of which come from Europe and travel across the sea. Athletes who abuse steroids can spend up to almost ten thousand dollars a year on illegal steroids. The fact of the matter is that steroids can be easily obtained by people how really want them. This is a huge problem in our world today. If we want to stop steroids in sports we have to make it much harder to get any performance enhancing drugs. Steroids are extremely dangerous for teens because there bodies are not fully developed. Almost 2% of all high school seniors take steroids or have taken steroids. About 55% of the 2% take steroids to increase there self image. Most teens think that taking steroids will help them look better because of the added muscle, but in reality the steroids cause yellow skin, give bad breath, add hair, yellow teeth, and increase the risk of balding. But perhaps the worst side effect of taking steroids as a young adult is stunted growth. The steroids cause a teenagers growth plates to fuse early, resulting in permanent height loss. This does not have an affect on adults because most people over the age of 21 have already finished growing. Most teens who take steroids to promote their self image regret taking steroids at all. They later learn that it is better to take the time and work out in a healthy manner rather then relying on a drug to do it for them. The other 45% take steroids to gain strength, become better in sports, and peer pressure. Many students who take steroids say they were pressured into it. They thought that taking steroids would increase their athletic ability. “Several professional athletes have wrongly taught many young Americans by example that the only way to succeed in sports is to take steroids.” (Jim Sensenbrenner). It’s a shame that so many young athletes are willing to cheat just to win a game. The effects of steroids differentiate between women and men as well as between teens and adults. Steroids can make men bald and have them grow facial hair, whereas a girl’s voice will deepen and they can also grow facial hair. The effects are different between the two because women’s bodies produce only a very small amount of testosterone whereas a male produces a lot more testosterone. Both girls and guys can have similar effects from taking steroids as well. Steroids can cause both genders to have aching joints, heart disease, bad breath, yellow skin and teeth, mood swings, nervousness, trembling, and aggressive behavior. Anyone who takes steroids, sacrifices a lot just to get ahead of the game. They also run the risk of getting caught and kicked out of the sport or even put in jail. It’s amazing how many people are willing to take the risk of taking a performance enhancing drug, and it’s even more amazing how many people get away with it. Steroids can actually become deadly in a couple different ways. Steroids can cause paranoia, and make the brain think in different ways. Steroids have lead hundreds of people to commit suicide. Steroids are also addictive, so when a person abuses steroids for an extended period of time then suddenly stops taking the drug he will usually go into withdrawal. "Addiction is an extreme of dependency, which may be a psychological, if not physical, phenomena, Regardless, there is no question that when regular steroid users stop taking the drug they get withdrawal pains and if they start up again the pain goes away. They have difficulties stopping use even though they know it's bad for them." (Dr.Waldler). The withdrawal alone has been known to lead several people into committing suicide. But perhaps the only direct way steroids can cause death is through heart disease. Steroids have been a known cause of many cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart attacks. “The number killer in the U.S. is heart attacks.” (Mrs. Boucher). Many people don’t realize that steroids can actually kill you, so they end up taking them. What many people don’t realize is that steroids can have a tremendous effect on the U.S.’s economy. Many fans reject cheaters in the sport world. “Steroids are for guys who want to cheat opponents.” (Lawrence Taylor). Players who get caught taking steroids can turn from a hero to a zero in an instant. Take Barry Bonds for example, he was beloved by millions of Giant’s fans all over the world. But when he was caught using steroids tens of thousands of fans rebuked and booed him. Barry quickly fell from the top of the fans favorites list. The Giant’s organization lost a lot of money when there star player was labeled a cheater. The same thing happened when the MLB found out that Sammy Sosa used a corked bat in order to break the homerun record. The sport world spends billions of dollars a year updating stadiums, paying players, and hiring trainers. If players start using steroids left and right many fans will stop participating in sporting events, drastically affecting the U.S.’s economy. If fans don’t spend there money on sporting events they would spend their money on something else causing inflation. The MLB alone racks up more then a billion dollars a year from ticket sales. It is the hope of millions of fans to stop performance enhancing drug use in sports. More and more people use steroids each year. It is becoming harder and harder for athletes to resist the temptation of using these drugs to increase their game. “These days the temptation to use steroids in sports has become too great for many young athletes.”(Jim Sensenbrenner). Many players in other countries are beginning to use steroids in sports as well. People in Brazil and Spain are starting to use steroids for soccer. People in Canada and various countries in Europe are beginning to use steroids for football. Pretty much the only major country that has not been affected by the growing steroid trend is Japan. The reason for Japan’s athletes not using steroids is because Japan has 0% tolerance for and performance enhancing drug. Players in Japan know to stay away from them because they don’t want to risk getting caught. Our country should follow Japan’s example on the growing steroid issue. We should set a greater penalty for people who are caught on steroids. “Baseball needs to put the steroids era behind it by having and enforcing tough rules against all kinds of artificial advantages, so that the spring can return.” (Marvin Olasky). Many professional athletes who take steroids do it to increase their game. They hope that the steroids will help them become a much better baseball or football player even if it means risking their career. “Steroids to me, maybe it will make you bigger and stronger in football, but will it help you hit a baseball? I don’t think so.” (Lawrence Taylor). The fact of the matter is, steroids only increase strength not skill. The use of steroids in baseball for example, will help you hit a ball farther but at the cost of some hand eye coordination. It may also help you run faster in soccer but at the cost of the player’s agility. Steroid abusers sacrifice a lot to gain almost nothing. Many athletes are under the impression that steroids give a player a huge advantage when in fact, steroids only help players a little bit. “Do I believe Steroids and growth hormones helped me achieve that? Yes. Were there a lot of other players doing it that I had to compete against? Yes.” (Jose Cansesco). Jose is only one of the many players who think that steroids give you a huge advantage over their opponents. If players realized how steroids are doing more harm then good they would probably stop abusing the drug. Steroids weren’t banned until after the 1972 Olympics. Athletic officials realized that the use of steroids was beginning to become more and more popular so they tried to put an end to steroid use before it really got started. Unfortunately, the penalty for steroid use was not very severe so the rule did not have much of an effect. Players continued to abuse steroids with little to no danger of being caught. It wasn’t until March of 1991 when thee use of steroids were deemed illegal without a prescription. This law made the penalty for steroid use much more serious. If a player was caught on steroids he could be suspended from sports and even put in jail. Players are still continuing on their quest to greatness by using performance enhancing drugs. In the future the Athletic Association is planning to put a much more serious penalty for steroid abusers. Since steroids are banned in sports many players have come up with ingenious ways to keep from getting band. The most popular and efficient way is through a process called cycling. Cycling is when the user uses steroids for a certain period of time (normally about three weeks) then stops using the drug for a week or so. This helps them sometimes get away with passing anti-steroid tests. There are many ways people can help stop the growing trend of steroids. High school students and professional athletes should discourage steroid abusers from using the drug. People should also report anyone who uses steroids to help keep our nation clear of cheaters. But perhaps the best way to stop steroids is to create stricter rules and enforce them. Athletic officials need to ban a player completely from the sport if they catch a player on steroids. I also think that the police should be stricter on the issue. Steroids are illegal and people who use steroids should serve jail time. If we enforce the rules against steroids then eventually players will stop using them. “I am hopeful that these criminal investigations will draw attention to the perils of steroid use and discourage the use of steroids in the next generation.” (Howard Berman). The longer we wait to do something about this serious issue the more serious it will become. It is my hope that one day our nation will be free of people who use performance enhancing drugs.

I removed the above addition for several reasons.

1. It describes anabolic steroids, not steroids. If the contributer had actually read what was already in the article he might have realized this material doesnt belong here.
2. It has many imprecisions, poor wordings, and even some syntactical/grammar errors.
3. It is an editorial rant about anabolic steroid abuse in the US and much of it doesnt belong in any encyclopedia.
4. It has numerous errors of medical and scientific fact.
5. There are some unsourced assertions of doubtful accuracy-- or at least they need referencing. alteripse 03:49, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

==legality==

Are steroids "illegal" and "controlled substances"? Is there any legal penalty for the use, sale, or possesion of steroids? If not why not?

Vandalism

Self-explanitory. Under Physiology and medicine, there is no useful or relevant information. Remove the bad stuff, and put the right stuff back.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.126.25.16 (talk • contribs) 23:50, 2 November 2006

Template help

If anyone has time, the {{Steroids}} template would really benefit from your expertise. Thanks! :) Willow 19:09, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Nicely done, template. Lakers 07:13, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

look at steroidhome.com great info. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.122.215.226 (talk) 10:48, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Simplify

This article may be harder to read for the younger generation. Maybe it could be simplified... A little? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mrhappyboy (talk • contribs) 18:59, 31 January 2007 (UTC).

Clarification - Taxonomical/Functional Classification

I believe the following sentence is not entirely accurate: There are natural and synthetic anabolic steroids. I propose the following addition: ...There are natural and synthetic anabolic-androgenic steroids. ...GetAnabolics 20:13, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

???

what is the benefit and harm of steroid and gene cloning? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.10.139.174 (talk) 12:51, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Legality

The legality of the steroid depends on its type. For instance, normal prednisone/prednisolone, estrogen/medroxyprogesterone are all RX but non-controlled. Testosterone, on the other hand, is a controlled substance. I don't have the reference for this yet, but I believe most pharmacies have the same classifications for these drugs. The reason being that Testosterone has the mood-altering affect (controlled) which falls under a controlled substance (C-II/III/IV).

I will be making further additions to this page later on, including references and also the mechanism of action of steroids. Kaustikos 14:54, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

You might want to do this on the page about Anabolic steroids. -- Tim Vickers (talk) 17:01, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

signs of steroid use

The signs of steroid use include:

Rapid weight gain and muscle development 
Acne flare up 
Fluid retention 
Jaundice (yellow tinge to eyes and skin) 
Mood swings and depressed moods 
Aggressive behavior 
Premature balding 

steroids are good for you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.93.20.54 (talk) 13:32, 19 May 2008 (UTC) This info came from Media:http://dwb.unl.edu/Teacher/NSF/C10/C10Links/www.tcada.state.tx.us/research/facts/steroids.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.160.148.243 (talk) 23:55, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Cholanes

I've spotted what I believe to be an error, but am unable (or unaware as to how) to fix it. Maybe someone with editing privilege can help...in the chart of steroid skeleton structures, a cholane is listed as having 22 carbons, when in fact these have 24 carbons. That is 3 less than cholestane and 3 more than pregnane. Will someone able to edit this page please look into this, since an inaccuracy is bad if it's locked in like this. Fridgetarian (talk) 04:31, 6 December 2008 (UTC)fridgetarian

I have corrected it now. Thanks for catching the error. (You should be able to edit semi-protected pages yourself once your account is a few days old.) -- Ed (Edgar181) 13:39, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Athletes and Steroids

Pertaining to the issue and steroids I believe that President Elect Obama is correct. We need to leave this issue to major league sports. With today's controversies in the states this is only a minor issue. As far as I'm concerned steroids is a league issue therefore should be dealt with at that level. Having Obama in office will recover wasted government dollars on such a vague issue. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fitzg1rj (talk • contribs) 03:46, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Wanted: diagram of general steroidal structure

I know what it's like, but a diagram with numbers and ring letters would help the lay reader here. Often one finds terms like 17alpha-alkylated in other articles, but there seems to be no article in Wikipedia (to link to) that explains the basic steroid terminology. Xasodfuih (talk) 05:11, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Wanted: steroid in cell

It would be useful if someone could add description of steroid syntesis in cell (sER/mitochondria) etc. Most of the information on here is biochemical. Too busy right now, sorry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.98.121.227 (talk) 02:50, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

WP:OBVIOUS

Can someone rewrite the lead paragraph so that it more states the obvious? Reading the introduction, I don't quite get a handle on what steroids are. It's far too technical right now. Thanks. howcheng {chat} 23:04, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

I have made an attempt to make the lead more accessible. How does it read now? Boghog (talk) 05:28, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

That's a big improvement. It's still a little on the technical side, but considering that the topic I suppose there's too much else you can do. Thanks. howcheng {chat} 05:37, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

I still find the introductory paragraph to be dizzyingly technical. Without a strong background in chemistry, it means nothing to me. The second paragraph is better, but the first paragraph should be reworded in such a way that a non-chemist could read it and learn something about the nature of steroids. Nispio (talk) 15:44, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

A previous version in my humble opinion was far more readable. It there were however a few technical inaccuracies in the previous version that were corrected in subsequent edits, but these changes have made the text completely inaccessible to non-chemists. I will try to combine both the previous and present version so that it is both accessible and accurate. Boghog (talk) 16:31, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

I have moved the current lead into a nomenclature section, restored the previous lead and corrected a few mistakes that were in the previous lead (see diff). It needs some more editing, but I hope this version is now accessible and accurate. Boghog (talk) 16:58, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

I agree with the original plea in this discussion topic (Howcheng). While the chemistry is all well and good -- How about an introductory definition of "Steroids" (What they are, what they do and why do we care?); and THEN get into the bio-chemical details as much as necessary. That's what I was looking for. It would also help with the (here-assumed, but not universal) distinction between "Steroids" and "Anabolic-Steroids" -- a distinction not made by the general public. Also, defining this topic better, would help send the Sports/Body-Builders (and Vandals) to the more relevant topic area. Thanks. HalFonts (talk) 16:16, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

The lead already defines what steroids are (organic compounds that contain a specific arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other) and what they do (they possess no one single function but rather they have a broad range of functions and hence a short list of representative steroids with varying functions is given; see also Steroid#Taxonomical.2FFunctional). Since they have a variety of functions, it is very difficult to answer the question of why we care. The general public is probably most interested in cholesterol or antiinflammatory drugs and these are mentioned in the lead. Body builders of course are most interested in anabolic steroids and the article already contains a WP:Hatnote directing them to that article. Boghog (talk) 23:04, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Allergies / glucocorticoid

I came to this page looking for an explanation of how steroids are used to treat allergies, and none was to be found. After some googling I found the Glucocorticoid page with the info I wanted. Could someone please add a link to it under the Pharmacology heading? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.227.190.80 (talk) 19:58, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

color-coding in biosynthesis scheme

The color-coding in the biosynthesis scheme seems to be wrong ... 85.181.134.57 (talk) 10:38, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Can you be more specific about what you think the problem is? ChemNerd (talk) 11:42, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Steroidogenesis: Is cholesterol always the precursor?

The article states:

"Steroidogenesis is the biological process by which steroids are generated from cholesterol and transformed into other steroids. The pathways of steroidogenesis differ between different species."

Is this generally the case for all biologically produced steroids, that all steroids are generated from cholesterol? Tony Mach (talk) 09:11, 15 August 2012 (UTC)

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