Section 3 - Diagnosis & TreatmentNext Question

20.If testosterone and oestrogen are steroids, aren't they dangerous ?

It is true that testosterone and the oestrogens are steroids but as long as they are not abused, as they are by some sportsmen and women wishing to enhance their athletic performance, they are not only harmless but also necessary for adequate sexual development. In other words, treating hypogonadism with steroids does not introduce any strange, "new" substance to the human body. After all, these steroids occur naturally anyway and all Man has done is to mass-produce an artificial copy, creating a theoretically limitless supply and therefore making these drugs much less expensive for a doctor treating his or her hypogonadal patient than if they had been taken directly from human donors.

In recent years, there have been several high-profile reports in the media of the use and abuse of "anabolic" steroids. A small minority of athletes are said to have injected themselves with high doses of synthetic testosterone, hoping to increase their muscle build and therefore to improve their chances on the field and to gain that competitive "edge". This is a highly risky practice for a number of reasons. Not only may such athletes face a lengthy ban or suspension, but also large doses of testosterone in addition to that naturally produced, often causes some permanent damage to many of the body's systems. In women, testosterone abuse may increase the size and strength of their muscles, but it can also have undesired, "masculinising" side-effects. These include a deepening of the voice, the growth of facial hair and an unnecessary strain on the finely-balanced menstrual cycle.

As long as they are not abused and are given in a hormone replacement capacity, anabolic steroids are perfectly safe. Your doctor will have carefully determined the appropriate dosage to treat your hypogonadism, in order to ensure that there is no risk of damage to your body by taking excessive amounts of testosterone or oestrogen.