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News about athletes and steroids pop up constantly in the media. Athletes engaged in diverse sports careers have been implicated of using steroids. There are rare cases when athletes have openly admitted of using steroids. And it’s not only professional athletes that are prone to use steroids. Some amateur and younger athletes, such as those in high school and college sports associations, are also resort to steroids to gain competitive edge.

Why is it that athletes and steroids seem to be an inseparable tandem?

Steroids are synthetic drugs that resemble the chemicals structure of the male hormone testosterone. Testosterone is responsible for the musculoskeletal growth of the human body. Thus, when steroids are introduced into an athlete’s body the result is dramatic increase in muscle mass, which can translate to increase in strength and endurance. This is why athletes and steroids seems to be the team to beat in sports, in which an athlete should be bigger, stronger, or faster in order to win. Steroids are banned in most sports organizations, yet many athletes insist on using them despite the risk of being detected and banned from the sports. Athletes find ways to evade detection, such as using fast-acting steroids when there is imminent drug screening and/or using masking agents to cover up steroid metabolites in their urine samples.