History of the Development of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids

Few people know of the current state of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS); it may be rarer still to find someone with knowledge of the history of anabolic steroids. Sadly, the best texts on the subject directly from the pioneers are difficult to locate as they have been out of print for decades, such as Charles Kochakian’s Anabolic Actions of Steroids and Remembrances.¹ One exception is the recent text Testosterone Dreams: Rejuvenation, Aphrodisia, Doping by John Hoberman, which is excellent.² However, policymakers and their clinical gatekeepers (physicians) do not generally take time to read much outside of their specialties, do not refer to popular media, and rely heavily on reviews and research in academic texts.

From body image to body dysmorphia

The way we look to ourselves and the outside world is for an important part driven by media.

If we go back in time, we mostly call certain looks to a decade. The fifties brought the “Rock and roll” and Elvis retro-style hair. When I think “sixties” I see long hair, hippies, free love, a lot of flowers and a distinct music. Its was followed by “ Punk “. People follow a certain code in fashion, hairstyle, music etc.

As long as it comes to fashion or hairstyles, most people can adapt to these unwritten rules, mostly the younger people are very eager to be accepted, you’re “in” or “out”, in the sixties you where either “hip” or not, now the magic word is “cool”. What if this typation involves our body-image?

In the mid-sixties the most admired look changed from Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe to a British fashion model called “Twiggy”. The most wanted body type changed from a fully curved voluptuous  blond model to a boyish thin girl.

Whether you're thin, fat, small, dark, blond, redhead, you wanna be something else," said the world's first boldface supermodel. "I wanted a fairy godmother to make me look like Marilyn Monroe. I had no boobs, no hips, and I wanted it desperately."

Since then the fashion markets unnatural cq unhealthy thin models. To achieve this look , mostly very young, girls develop an unnatural  eating behaviour from diet pills to bulimia and anorexia. The first signs of body dysmorphia embodied in eating disorders.