I found a recent review about S*teroids. It's a very good article, published in a peer-reviewed journal (British Journal of Pharmacology). Evidence-based information. I think it's really worth reading (20 pages long).
I downloaded the article and uploaded it on rapidshare:
RapidShare: Easy Filehosting
Here's the abstract:
1: Br J Pharmacol. 2008 Jun;154(3):502-21.
Pharmacology of anabolic steroids.
Kicman AT.
1King's College London, Drug Control Centre, Department of Forensic Science and
Drug Monitoring, London, UK.
Athletes and bodybuilders have recognized for several decades that the use of
anabolic steroids can promote muscle growth and strength but it is only
relatively recently that these agents are being revisited for clinical purposes.
Anabolic steroids are being considered for the treatment of cachexia associated
with chronic disease states, and to address loss of muscle mass in the elderly,
but nevertheless their efficacy still needs to be demonstrated in terms of
improved physical function and quality of life. In sport, these agents are
performance enhancers, this being particularly apparent in women, although there
is a high risk of virilization despite the favourable myotrophic-androgenic
dissociation that many xenobiotic steroids confer. Modulation of androgen
receptor expression appears to be key to partial dissociation, with consideration
of both intracellular steroid ****bolism and the topology of the bound androgen
receptor interacting with co-activators. An anticatabolic effect, by interfering
with glucocorticoid receptor expression, remains an attractive hypothesis.
Behavioural changes by non-genomic and genomic pathways probably help motivate
training. Anabolic steroids continue to be the most common adverse finding in
sport and, although apparently rare, designer steroids have been synthesized in
an attempt to circumvent the dope test. Doping with anabolic steroids can result
in damage to health, as recorded meticulously in the former German Democratic
Republic. Even so, it is important not to exaggerate the medical risks associated
with their administration for sporting or bodybuilding purposes but to emphasize
to users that an attitude of personal invulnerability to their adverse effects is
certainly misguided.British Journal of Pharmacology (2008) 154, 502-521;
doi:10.1038/bjp.2008.165.