Erectile Dysfunction

The medical questions: What are anabolic-androgenic steroids?

Can they cause a brain hemorrhage?

Are they only available by prescription for pituitary abnormalities?

Are the long-term side effects of such drugs accurately described in the show?

The reality: Thorocycline is a fictional steroid, an unrealistic hybrid of an artificial growth hormone, a nutritional supplement and an anabolic-androgenic steroid.

In real life, anabolic-androgenic steroids are manufactured substances similar to male sex hormones.

Anabolic refers to muscle-building properties, and androgenic refers to male sexual characteristics.

Though it is possible for an overdose of steroids to cause a stroke, a hemorrhage would be far less likely than a blood clot.

"Numb3rs" also blurs the distinction between steroids and the growth hormones that are approved by the FDA for particular uses such as pituitary deficiency.

According to Dr.

Gary I.

Wadler, a national expert who testified during Congress' recent investigation into Major League Baseball's steroid abuses, "an adolescent with a pituitary insufficiency leading to stunted growth and problems with sexual development would be treated with human growth hormone and possibly testosterone." As the show correctly points out, common side eff...

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