If I hear one more person say they are taking “Steroids” or were prescribed “Steroids” by their Doctor when in fact they were on a course of “Cortico-Steroids“, I’m going to go crazy. This is the one of the most misused terminologies in the day to day English language. Even many Doctors are clueless to the differences when cavalierly discussing the drugs with their patients. Allow me to punch thru the mysticism and misconception.
When your immune system is compromised by an infection or an invading pathogen, often times your Doctor/Surgeon will prescribe a drug to medicate the symptoms. They are prescribing a course of “Cortico-Steroids”. These drugs “are involved in a wide range of physiologic systems such as stress response, immune response and regulation of inflammation.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corticosteroid
You may at some point in your life have been prescribed a course of Prednisone to clear up a nasty sinus infection or Hydrocortisone for a terrible allergic reaction. These drugs are not however going to make “you gain muscle or bulk up etc” as so many people will say or mistakenly assume.
What they are really talking about (while seriously confusing the two) is Anabolic/Androgenic Steroids. Anabolic/Androgenic steroids ”increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue (anabolism), especially in muscles. The word anabolic comes from the Greekanabolein, “to build up”, and the word androgenic from the Greek andros, “man” + genein, “to produce”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabolic_steroid
So the next time someone you know mentions how they were extra strong – bulking up or gaining weight from the “Steroids” their Doctor prescribed them for their Sinus infection correct them so they understand the difference.
The only way a Doctor will prescribe “Steroids” for a patient is if they are seriously underweight,a victim of a severe tissue trauma(burn or serious accident)or using Testosterone/Progesterone etc for HRT(Hormone Replacement Therapy)in their older adult years.. Well maybe if they are a major league baseball players— too. <Wink-Wink>
Have a great weekend wherever you may be!
BTW it’s 11PM on Friday Night and the Muscle B is busy trying to keep me from finishing the blog. Check her out~
0 responses so far ↓
1 Greenie // Feb 21, 2009 at 6:35 pm
No kidding! Especially over the last two weeks I’ve been hearing people left and right talking about they’ve “been on steroids before and the results were incredible.” Two of these jackalopes said their Doc prescribed “roids” to them because of their asthma.
RIIIIIGHT.
About 9 years ago, I tore up my knee for the second time. Complete ACL and MCL tears, partial LCL tear and a “bucket handle” meniscus tear. 6 months after surgery, which also included cutting into my quad tendon (used for ACL reconstruct0 and scoring my IT band (to provide greater flexibility and range of motion), my doc recommended to me a prescription of Stanozolol.
Aside from having three different lengthy conversations with on the subject, she insisted that I read extensively about it so I knew EXACTLY what I would be taking, EXACTLY how I needed to prepare and maintain my body during the medication, EXACTLY the range of side effects and health risks, and most of all, that I damn well knew this was an ANABOLIC STEROID.
Serious stuff.
Meanwhile all these fools are running around thinking that doctors everywhere are prescribing steroids as quickly and easily as they do a basic anti-inflammatory…
2 Jcious // Feb 26, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hahahahaa. I love this, no one can lie to me about that now. Thanks for the educational info.
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