Abstract
Abstract
Background: The androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS) are a family of drugs including the male hormone, testosterone, and a series of synthetic analogs of testosterone. These drugs are widely abused by athletes and nonathletes seeking gains in strength and appearance.
Over the last years, a series of studies has suggested that steroids may cause hypomanic or manic symptoms, including particularly aggressive or violent behavior, in some individuals. The purpose of this study was to see whether the use of AAS induce aggressiveness and violent behaviour in individuals.
Methods: A literature search was conducted using Medline and Pubmed. I searched for literature by using a combination of terms aggression, violence, criminal behaviour and AAS. Animal studies and AAS used for medical purposes were excluded.Only studies published in English or Scandinavian languages were considered. The selection of articles was based on relevance according to title and abstract.
Results: The literature search identified 68 articles in in Medline and 128 in Pubmed. After reading and evaluating a lot of articles, 6 main articles are presented in this presentation, 4 randomized placebo-controlled studies and 2 observation studies.
Conclusions: Based on the selected literature I have come to the conclusion that there is not enough evidence to decide whether there is a link between the use of AAS, aggressiveness and violent behaviour. But on the other hand the scientific evidence cannot disprove that a link exists between AAS, aggressiveness and violent behaviour, especially after use of high doses of AAS by susceptible individuals