Anantnag: With apparently no check on over-the-counter sale of steroids in Anantnag district, the doctors on Monday warned against catastrophic side effects of the drugs used increasingly by fairer gender in the south Kashmir district for increasing weight.
According to the reports, there is rampant use of the steroids without prescription by the girls and women in entire Anantnag especially in main town and Dooru areas of the southern Kashmir district.
The skinny girls, reports said, are mainly using the easy-to-buy and comparatively less expensive drugs to increase weight for personality development and are being provided easily by the chemists without prescription.
A chemist on the condition of anonymity said that at least 50 girls visit the shop for buying the drugs known among the locals as “weight gain medicine”.
“There are many side effects associated with the steroids and long terms use in some cases may prove catastrophic,” says Dr Nissar, a physician posted in district hospital Anantnag.
“Anabolic steroids cause osteoporosis and menstrual disturbance in females. These drugs should not be used without the prescription by the registered medical practitioners or physicians,” he said.
Osteoporosis affects the structure and strength of bones and makes fractures more likely, especially in the spine, hip, and wrists.
“I request people to desist from taking these drugs on their own without the prescription by the physician or registered medical practitioner,” Dr Nisar said.
A number of experts said that there should be some plan to discourage over-the counter sale of these drugs and government must ensure that the drugs are not sold by the chemists on their own without the prescription by the registered medical practitioners.
“Even in some cases, the chemists suggest these drugs to the skinny girls without regard to severe side effects associated with them or people buy them on their own out of ignorance,” the experts said.
While some Steroids like glucocorticoids are important in the treatment of many inflammatory, allergic and immunological disorders, the experts said, their use needs good supervision to prevent various severe side effects such as diabetes, hypertension, cataract, osteoporotic fractures, Cushing’s syndrome, characterised by obesity, diabetes and edema.
