Testosterone and anabolic steroids.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Something I saw on a other thread made me think of this. As far as I can tell anabolic steroids and the testosterone given to transitioning trans men are the same thing? If they are the same thing why are they treated so differently? (I should say that I am not certain they are the same thing and am happy to be educated).

If they are the same thing I find it interesting how different the NHS pages on anabolic steroids www.nhs.uk/conditions/anabolic-steroid-misuse/ and testosterone for gender dysphoria are www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/treatment/ particularly around the risks / addiction etc.

It's complicated! Testosterone is just one anabolic' steroid. To complicate matters further, although these type of steroid when produced naturally by the body are anabolic steroids, by convention the term is normally used to mean exogenous (externally-produced) steroids, used as medical treatments. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend Wikipedia- it's surprisingly good on most things to do with physiology.

But, yes, you are right that there is double-think in the NHS around testosterone, which apparently becomes magically less dangerous if you give it to developing adolescent bodies, instead of body builders 🙄

But, yes, you are right that there is double-think in the NHS around testosterone, which apparently becomes magically less dangerous if you give it to developing adolescent bodies, instead of body builders 🙄

This is what really confused me. On the gender dysphoria pages it has a small list of risks and notes that the long term effects are not well known.

On the steroids page it is very clear about the known risks and effects, and furthermore says they are addictive!

On th