Anabolic-androgenic steroids, better known as simply anabolic steroids, are artificial or synthetic drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone, the male sex hormone. Anabolic steroids are used medicinally to help rebuild tissues that have become weak because of serious injury, illness, or continuing infections. They are also used to treat some types of anemia, to treat certain kinds of breast cancer, and to treat hereditary angiodema, a disorder that causes swelling in the arms, legs, face, windpipe, or sexual organs (WebMD Health, 2000).