Steroids refer to a class of compounds including corticosteroids, sex hormones and cholesterol. Corticosteroids are produced in the brain in the region of adrenal cortex. Sex hormones cause development of secondary sex features in people including deepening of voice and growth of beard in men. Testosterone is a crucial androgen and is responsible for development of sex organs in men. Testosterone is also necessary for development of muscles. Anabolic steroid testing helps in finding out if anabolic steroids have been taken.

Anabolic steroids are basically synthetic creations and are related to the male hormone testosterone. Anabolic steroids are used by athletes to promote development of muscles and speed along with enhancement of performance. Anabolic steroids basically work by stimulating the synthesis of proteins. However such use of anabolic steroids often gives an unfair advantage to athletes participating in competition. For this reason anabolic steroid testing has been made mandatory at many national and international sports competitions.

Athletic competition should be completely fair and allow the sports persons to display their talent without resorting to unfair means like steroids. Steroids also cause a large number of harmful side effects such as cardiovascular and liver problems, acne, development of breasts in men, shrinking of testicles, deepening of voice among women along with enlargement of clitoris. Anabolic steroid testing ensures that competitions are fair and no athlete has undue advantage through use of steroids.

Anabolic steroid testing is done with the help of a urine sample of the athlete. The procedure for testing is designed in a manner wherein it is ensured that the sample is not tampered with in any way. An athlete is notified about the drug testing and an acknowledgement is taken from the athlete. The athlete is asked to select two bottles that are numbered. The athlete is then required to provide urine sample of around 100 ml. Any possible drug treatment taken by the athlete in the previous seven days is required to be declared.

In the anabolic steroid testing procedure the sample so collected is sent to an accredited laboratory. The temperature of the sample along with the volume, specific gravity and pH are also checked immediately. A close eye is kept on the athletes while they actually give the urine sample. This is done as athletes often try to use some ways to successfully pass the anabolic steroid testing. These methods may include taking diuretics or even substituting the sample with clean urine.

Once the sample is taken it is split in two portion in the two bottles and sealed. After this the containers are further sealed and coded and sent to the laboratory. The testers do not know the athletes from whom the sample is taken as the samples are only coded. The method used for anabolic steroid testing includes gas chromatography. In this with the help of a separation method the urine sample is divided into its base chemical component parts. The compounds so found are identified based on the retention time of these compounds on the chromatography column. Another test uses mass spectrometry procedure on the chemicals. This allows for identification of drugs easily through the formation of a corpuscular fingerprint matching with the chemicals present.