The 2005 Monitoring the Future Study among adolescents in the middle and high schools across the United States reported that past year use of steroids decreased significantly among 8th – 10th- graders since peak use in 2000. Among 12th -graders, there was a different trend’ from 2000 to 2004, past year steroid use increased. In 2005, there was a significant decrease, from 2.5 percent to 1.5 percent.
Steroid abuse affects individuals of various ages. However, it is difficult to estimate the true prevalence of steroid abuse in the United States because many data sources that measure drug abuse do not include steroids. Scientific evidence indicates that anabolic steroid abuse among athletes may range between one and six percent.
Cycling and Stacking
Some anabolic steroids are often abused in patterns called “cycling,” which involves taking multiple doses of steroids over a specific period of time, stopping for a period, and then starting again. Users also frequently combine several different types of steroids in a process known as “stacking.” Steroid abusers “stack” the drugs, meaning that they take two or more different anabolic steroids, mixing oral and inject able types, and sometimes even including compounds that are designed for veterinary use. Abusers think that the different steroids interact to produce an effect on muscle size that is greater than the effects of each drug individually, a theory that has not been tested scientifically.
Pyramiding
Another mode of steroid abuse is called “pyramiding.” This is a process in which users slowly escalate steroid abuse by increasing the number of steroids or the dose or frequency of one or more steroids used at one time, reaching a peak amount at mid-cycle and gradually tapering off toward the end of the cycle. Often steroid abusers pyramid their doses in cycles of 6-12 weeks. This is sometimes followed by a second cycle in which the person continues to train but without drugs. Abusers believe that pyramiding allows the body time to adjust to the high doses, and the drug-free cycle allows the body’s hormonal system time to recuperate. As with cycling and stacking, the perceived benefits have not been substantiated scientifically.
