Steroids History

Steroids history can be traced back all the way to the ancient Greece and the Olympic games; however, it was testosterone that was experimented with and not steroids as what are known in today’s society. The steroids that are synthetically derived were first “spotted” in the 20^th century. Arnold Berthold Germany was the first to remove the testes from Cockerel and from his research began to understand the importance of the male testicles and that they carry a compound that makes a man a man.

It was not until 1931 when a German chemist, Adolph Berthold discovered the hormone androstenone by extracting this hormone from urine. After this, Leopold Ruziicka was able to synthesize the hormone making it safely available for human use.  The research into this continued and in the 1930s the first testosterone injection-propionate was developed and administered to Soviet soldiers and by the 1940s this was common in the Soviet Union. Dr John Ziegler the U.S Olympic team doctor devised a plan in search of developing methandrostenolone, which is known as Dianabol or Dbol. Ciba Pharmaceuticals was the first to market Dianbol and it the FDA approved its use in 1958 making it available for male use.

With Ziegler’s contribution to sports athletes all over the world began experimenting with Dianabol steroids. Germany seemed to be the country where steroid research and development was peaking while the US were publishing studies concluding that steroids had no effect on athletes or their performance. It was safe to say that Germany was at the forefront of steroid research and use and still dominates the area today.

Today anabolic steroids are banned not only in the Olympics but also by governing agents and it is not to be used, sold or manufactured in the USA, UK and Europe without a prescription. In the body building world people do still find a way to get a hold of steroids and to consume them in order to build strength and endurance. Many bodybuilders use it to also become more defined and toned. There are many risks associated with steroid use such as liver damage, some forms of cancer, the development of male/female characteristics such as the formation of boobs in men and facial hair in women and acne to name a few but common side effects.