Bodybuilding and how do you get tested for HIV?

Although there is some overlap, research has shown that women use androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) for reasons that are often quite different from those of men.  Even more dissimilar are the risks and consequences associated with female steroid abuse.  It is clear that AAS use is not equally as dangerous for everyone.  For example, AAS are:  less dangerous for adult male elite athletes, than their non-athletic counterparts; still more dangerous for teenage boys whose bodies are not yet fully developed and by far the most dangerous for both women and girls, as the female body is simply not equipped for exogenous (external in origin) male hormones.

Many women erroneously believe that since men already possess greater testosterone levels, and are made bigger and stronger with AAS, that they require considerably more of these drugs to achieve similar results.  However, since muscle size and strength does not increase in a manner directly proportionate to the amount of male hormone within the body, this theory is categorically false.  In fact, studies have shown that women get considerable anabolic benefit out of dosages that are only a fraction of those needed by men.  Thus, even those women who detrimentally decide to risk their health by using male hormones have no business taking them in large quantities.


There are many reasons women begin using anabolic steroids.  Several female AAS users have muscle dysmorphia, a disorder in which a person becomes obsessed with the idea that he or she is not muscular enough.  Those who suffer from this condition tend to hold delusions that they are "skinny", “fat” or "too small" when they are often above average in musculature.  Dysmorphia is sometimes referred to as bigorexia or reverse anorexia nervosa, and is a very specific type of body dysmorphic disorder.  Muscle dysmorphia is NOT a simple obsession with working out or bodybuilding.  To be clinically diagnosed as muscle dysmorphic, a person must exhibit symptoms of the ‘type’ and ‘degree’ outlined within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV), and not merely be overly interested in their physique or engaging in fitness behaviors that other people would consider excessive.  Some of the inclusion criterion for the disorder are:

    Constantly examining themselves in a mirror
    Becoming distressed if they miss a workout session or one of six meals a day
    Becoming distressed if they do not receive enough protein per day in their diet
    Taking potentially dangerous anabolic steroids
    Neglecting jobs, relationships, or family because of excessive exercising
    Having delusions of being underweight or below average in musculature
    Other Reasons

Of course AAS provide tremendous performance enhancement benefits, and though men garner the bulk of such scandals, professional and amateur women athletes also administer them for this purpose.  Although such abuse has gone largely unnoticed in mainstream society, this issue is becoming so prevalent that some organizations have taken overtly preventative measures.  For example, cafe press.com markets a “Without Steroids Women's” t-shirt to those who remain and support drug free athletics.

Every year, thousands of women are infected with HIV. Learn the facts. Teach the women in your family and community how to prevent and treat HIV. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. A person with HIV is called HIV positive (HIV+).
HIV makes it hard for your body to fight off sickness.
HIV is spread through body fluids like blood, semen or breast milk.

You can get HIV when you:

    Have sex with a person who is HIV+ and do not use a condom
    Share needles or syringes (drug works) with someone who has HIV
    Get blood from a person who has HIV. Now all donated blood is tested for HIV. You can’t get HIV from giving blood.
Most women get HIV from having unprotected sex with men. Always use a condom every time you have sex.
You can’t get HIV from shaking hands, kissing, or sharing household items like forks or glasses with someone who has HIV.
The only way to know for sure is to get an HIV test.

    You cannot tell who has HIV just by looking at them. Most people do not show any outward signs when they first get HIV.
    A person can spread HIV even if he or she does not look sick.
There are three basic types of HIV tests:
    Blood – A small amount of blood is taken from your finger or arm.
    Oral – Fluid is taken from the inside of your mouth
    Urine – A small cup of urine is used.

Some HIV tests take 1-2 weeks to get results from a lab. Other tests called “rapid HIV tests” can give results in about 20 minutes. You can get tested at places like a doctor’s office, mobile health van, or health fair. There are also home HIV tests that let you test yourself.

Screening Tests for HIV Diagnosis and Treatment

If you're worried that you might have been exposed to human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV),  the virus that causes AIDS - it's important to get tested as soon as possible. Although the prospect of being diagnosed with the disease can be scary, today you can live a long and full life with HIV, especially if you start treatment early. Knowing you are infected can also help you take precautions so that you don't pass the virus to other people.

Several different tests are used to diagnose HIV infection. Other tests are used to select and monitor treatments in people who are living with HIV. This article covers both types of HIV tests.

You are at risk for HIV infection and should be tested for it if:
    You’ve had several sexual partners.
    You had unprotected sex with someone who is or could be HIV-positive.
    You have used injected drugs or steroids or shared needles or other equipment during drug use.
    You have had any sexually transmitted disease, including herpes, hepatitis, or TB.
    You have had sex for drugs or money.
    You’ve had sex with someone who has a history of any of the above - or with someone whose sexual history you don’t know.

There are several types of tests that screen blood (and sometimes saliva)  to see if you are infected with HIV.

Newer tests can detect the presence of HIV antigen, a protein, up to 20 days earlier than standard tests. This helps prevent spread of the virus to others and means an earlier start for treatment. It is done with a pinprick to the finger.

Here's a look at available HIV tests:

Standard tests. These blood tests check for HIV antibodies. Your body makes antibodies in response to the HIV infection. These tests can't detect HIV in the blood soon after infection because it takes time for your body to make these antibodies. It generally takes two to 8 weeks for your body to produce antibodies, but in some cases it can take up to six months.

In standard tests, a small sample of your blood is drawn and sent to a lab for testing. Some of the standard tests use urine or fluids that are collected from the mouth to screen for antibodies.

Rapid antibody tests. Most of these are blood tests for HIV antibodies. Some can detect antibodies in saliva. Results are available in under 30 minutes and are as accurate as standard tests.

Antibody/antigen tests. These tests are recommended by the CDC and can detect HIV up to 20 days earlier than standard tests. They check for HIV antigen, a part of the virus that shows up 2-4 weeks after infection. These tests can also detect HIV antibodies. A positive result for the antigen allows treatment to begin earlier and the patient to avoid infecting others. These are blood tests only.
 Rapid antibody/antigen test. One antibody/antigen tests delivers results in 20 minutes.

In-home test kits. These kits there are two available in the U.S. screen blood and saliva for HIV antibodies. You can buy them at your local store. The Home Access HIV-1 Test System requires a small blood sample that is collected at home and sent to a lab. The user, who may remain anonymous, can get results by phone in three business days. The Ora Quick In-Home HIV Test can detect HIV antibodies in saliva, if the antibodies are present (which can take up to 6 months). The user swabs the upper and lower gums of their mouths, places the sample in a developer vial, and can get results in 20-40 minutes. A follow-up test should be done if the result is positive.

HIV Screening Tests After Diagnosis:

While being treated for HIV, your doctor will perform several tests to monitor your health, determine when you need to start treatment, and check how well treatment is working. These include:

CD4 count. CD4 is a protein that lives on the surface of infection-fighting white blood cells called T-helper cells. HIV targets these immune cells.

To monitor the health of your immune system, your doctor will check your CD4 count -- the number of CD4 cells in a sample of blood. You should have your CD4 count tested every three to six months during treatment.

A normal CD4 count is more than 500 cells per cubic millimeter (mm3) of blood. The lower the CD4 count, the less your immune system is functioning, and the more likely you are to get infections. Your doctor will probably start treatment by the time a CD4 count is under 500 cells/mm3. If your CD4 count drops to below 200/mm3, you are said to have full-blown AIDS.

Viral load test. A viral load test measures how much of the HIV virus is in the blood. You want to have a low viral load because it means treatment is helping to control the virus. If your treatment is working effectively, the viral load should drop to an undetectable level in your blood.

You'll have your viral load tested two to four weeks after starting treatment, then every four to eight weeks until the viral load is no longer detectable. An undetectable viral load doesn't mean you're not infected just that the amount of HIV in the blood is too low for the test to pick up.

Anabolic steroids are another experimental treatment for lipodystrophy

Anabolic steroids are another experimental treatment for lipodystrophy as well as a standard treatment for HIV-related wasting. French researchers reported on a man receiving treatment with AZT/3TC who developed a buffalo hump and insulin resistance nine months after beginning treatment. He received intramuscular Testosterone Cypionate biweekly for four months and lost abdominal fat and gained lean muscle mass. Furthermore, studies have found that anabolic steroids produce weight and lean body mass increases in people with HIV-related wasting. Steroids may disguise the visible signs of lipodystrophy rather than stop or reverse loss of fat tissue.

A randomized study of Oxymetholone treatment in 92 individuals with weight loss due to HIV wasting or lipodystrophy found that the anabolic steroid had no impact on total body fat after 16 weeks of follow-up, although weight and muscle increased.

Despite the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), chronic, involuntary weight loss still remains a serious problem for some people living with HIV. Various alterations in energy metabolism and endocrine regulation have been found to cause loss of lean body mass (LBM) and body cell mass (BCM).

Previously studies in HIV-positive men undergoing androgen replacement therapy or treatment with recombinant human growth hormone (rGH) have shown partial restoration of lean body mass, but these treatments have been largely ineffective in eugonadal individuals.

Now researchers from the Universities of Essen and Bonn have shown that the anabolic steroid oxymetholone can be considered an effective treatment for eugonadal male and female patients with AIDS-associated wasting.

A total of 89 patients (79 men and 10 women: 69 gay/bisexual men, 12 intravenous drug users, 7 heterosexual contact, one transfusion recipient) were enrolled

Patients were randomized to receive either 100mg/day twice daily (BID) or 150mg/day three times daily (TID) or placebo for 16 weeks. Patients in the placebo group gained 1.0 kg compared to 3.0kg among those receiving therapy three times daily and 3.5kg among those receiving therapy twice daily.

Seventeen patients (19%) discontinued treatment during the double-blind phase of the study. Fourteen patients (16%) were lost to follow-up or discontinued for personal or unknown reasons. One patient in the Oxymetholone BID arm discontinued due to nausea and vomiting and two patients in the Oxymetholone TID arm discontinued due to elevated liver enzymes.

Significant improvements were noted in appetite and food intake, increased well-being and reduced weakness by self-examination. Recent research has found that higher LBM is significantly associated with better physical functioning and better general health perceptions as well as with fewer days in bed in men, though not in women. The most important adverse event was liver associated toxicity. Overall, 35% of patients in the TID arm, 27% of patients in the BID arm and no patients in the placebo group had a greater than five times baseline increase for alanine aminotransferase during the double-blind phase of the study.

Weight gain was observed after an average of two weeks. The initial increase was rapid until week 4, but body weight remained at the same level from this point on. There was no correlation between the extent of weight gain and age, sex or disease stage.

Only one female developed a self-reported clitoris enlargement, whereas changes in libido were similar across groups. Oxymetholone can be considered an effective anabolic steroid in eugonadal male and female patients with AIDS-associated wasting, with the twice daily 100mg/day regimen appearing equally effective as the three times daily 150mg/day in terms of weight gain, LBM and BCM, as well as being associated with less, but still significant liver toxicity.