We have already provided some information in our previous article on the increasing number of young athletes who uses steroids in United Kingdom. It even prompted some lawmakers to conduct investigations and propose new laws to counteract this alarming situation. There are many reasons why these young men are prone to steroid use. Most of them are being pressured to have a good looking body just what they see in the glossy magazines, from their Hollywood heroes and professional athletes.

On the recent survey, anabolic steroid use among young men has increased for about 20%. Most people who frequent the gyms are also using steroids with 7 out of 10 ratio according to the survey. Experts were alarmed on this statistics and fears that the popularity of these anabolic steroids can pose great risks to its users specially the young ones. This could be due to the increasing number of online sites selling steroids illegally.

Since some of these young men source out their steroids from illegal sites, they may be taking drugs which are not safe and were not actually pure steroid which can be very dangerous. It is noted that almost 40% of all anabolic steroids sold in South Wales were considered fake or not authentic. There are even cases that youngster 16 years old and below take steroid tablets intended for cattle. According to John Lowes, of the Swansea-based West Glamorgan Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, the tablets are administered to cows by farmers to force the herd to produce more meat. Although the potential side effects in humans have not yet been studied this could still pose health risk to the user. These were some of the facts told by these experts to Abby Alford of Wales On Sunday.

Lowes also mentioned that counterfeit steroids sometimes contain other ingredients such as baby oil and cooking oil or it may not even contain any steroids at all. Peter Hinkin of drug charity Ogwr Dash in Bridgend said that these counterfeit drugs can cause rashes and general reddening of the skin when injected. “At the last conference I attended we were told that 37% of all steroids within the area are counterfeit. But he said the greatest danger is posed by real anabolic steroids, both tablet and liquid form, bought off the internet,” he said.

Since these drugs were bought without any instructions or instructions in a foreign language, there could be some instances that they were already taking large doses. Hinkin said that bodies of these youngsters haven’t fully developed and some of the side effects they get will be irreversible. “We are also seeing significant problems with needle infections which can cause muscle damage,” he added. These were some of the facts told by these experts to Abby Alford of Wales On Sunday.

The University of Glamorgan’s Health, Sport and Science facility headed by Professor Bruce Davies conducted these surveys. Based on their survey way back in 2001, 53% of regular gym users in the hardcore heavy lifting gyms in the Valleys were taking some form of anabolic steroids.

They conducted another survey in 2006 and found out that 70% were already taking anabolic steroids. “From what we have seen, steroid and growth hormone use shows no sign of slowing down and there’s a good chance it has increased since 2006,” said Davies. The people who run the needle exchange programmes told Davies that it’s growing more for steroid use than anything else. He concluded that steroids are a feature of many people’s lives.

The increase in anabolic steroid use can also be attributed to bigorexia. These men become obsessed about their size and worried loosing just a few pounds. This attitude prompted them to take more and more steroids. “Unfortunately, we live in a society where the perfect cosmetic look is given a lot of importance. There’s a lot of pressure on people to look good all the time,” Davies added.

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