This book is essential reading for any parent, coach or physician who is confronted with a teen or young man or woman who is at risk of using anabolic steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. Dr. Thomas O'Connor, a US Board Certified Internist, is recognized worldwide as an expert in the use of these drugs. A record-holding powerlifter and weight trainer himself, he has focused his medical practice for nearly 20 years on men's health, testosterone replacement therapy and anabolic steroid recovery. In this book, he shares his clinical experiences along with heavily researched evidence based knowledge to send a warning-- especially to parents of young men (and women!) who may be tempted to use these drugs at an age when their developing bodies are likely to suffer the most long lasting health effects. Although young people are the fastest growing user group in an estimated 4 million users of all ages, the consequences of using these drugs are still not widely understood by parents, coaches or even physicians. In spite of the growing PEDs epidemic, these serious consequences receive little attention either in our media or by our government . There, the problem has been defined as one primarily involving pro athletes and Olympians when the truth is that this group comprises but a fraction of users, and that, unlike the typical user, pro users are carefully monitored by team physicians and thus less likely to over-use and suffer the most devastating consequences.
In the face of this neglect, Dr.O'Connor and a handful of other physicians have continued their campaign, challenging those responsible for taking action. Dr. O'Connor states, "Anabolic steroid abuse may now be where opioids were 15 years ago". Known as the Anabolic Doc to millions of men worldwide who follow his You Tube Anabolic Doc podcasts and appearances in bodybuilding films like "Generation Iron", he is credited with having steered untold numbers of men from going down the steroids and PEDs path or for restoring to health those who have gone there.
Dr. O'Connor's book is heavily documented, providing well researched facts about where and how these drugs are entering the US, how they avoid discovery and twist our laws to provide cover for vendors, and specifically what the health consequences are: Compounding the 2 billion dollar Internet traffic in illegal PEDs, is the fact that an estimated 25% of some legal, over-the-counter supplements which are promoted as alternatives to AAS actually contain steroids or steroid-like substances, synthetic hormones related to the male hormone testosterone.
Because of such easy access to dangerous illegal and some potentially dangerous legal l bodybuilding drugs, the bodybuilder has now been joined by the butcher, the baker, the accountant, the teacher, the lawyer, the cop and the Corporal. And increasingly, the teenager. Unfortunately, the official response, primarily law enforcement, has driven use farther underground, thus creating a significant obstacle to promoting prevention and medical intervention. There, users rely on popular "bro science" underground information. Reading the Internet posts of 18 year olds who brag about using enormous amounts of these drugs is bone chilling. In his book and podcasts, Dr. O'Connor offers reliable explanations of how so many users become addicted to steroids, and how physicians can help them to end use safely and effectively. In great detail, he describes the hallmark effect of anabolic steroid use, a condition ALL users encounter--anabolic steroid-induced hypogonadism (ASIH), and how its intolerable mood and libidinal withdrawal effects can force a man into the cycle of dependency believed to effect 15-30% of users, including those who sincerely wants to quit using.