That explains a lot.
Posted on 03/17/2006 2:25:48 PM PST by billorites
Not so. Hamsters on steroids remain aggressive into adulthood, according to a new study that offers yet another caution to teens who might try to bulk up artificially.
The hamsters started out tame. Then they were put on anabolic steroids and, as studies have shown with teens, the rodents exhibited "very high levels" of aggression, said study leader Richard Melloni, Jr. of Northeastern University.
Long after the more than 100 hamsters were taken off the steroids, the aggressive tendencies, or "'roid rage" as scientists put it, remained in 85 percent of them.
"The behavior lasted for weeks into the adult period in hamsters," Melloni told LiveScience. "Typically weeks translates into years from rodent to primate."
Autopsies revealed their brains had changed. The anterior hypothalamus, known to regulate aggression, pumped out more of a neurotransmitter called vasopressin.
"Steroids step on the gas for aggression by enhancing the activity of brain areas that induce aggression," Melloni said, adding that this brain area is similar in rodents and humans. "Some of the effects may wear off after withdrawal, but aggressive behavior won't stop immediately, leaving them to be a danger to themselves and others."
The results are detailed in the latest issue of the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, about half a million teens abuse anabolic-androgenic steroids. Other research has shown teen use can lead to psychiatric problems and heavier steroid use later in life.
Melloni said other research that his team has not yet published indicates that drug use by teenagers causes irreversible changes in serotonin levels, which play a part in depression.
That explains a lot.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
But can he hit 73 homeruns in a season?
can you imagine if that hamster knew martial arts?
Well, that obviously means we need to go ahead and kill anyone who tests positive for steroids and save the pain and waiting.
So9
Nah. You put them in hamster wheel cages and hook the cages up to electrical generators.
To be honest, "steroids" wasn't the first thing I thought of when I saw "'roid rage".
I thought this was gonna be a hamster hemoroid thread
this is the closest thing we have to an energy plan.
(of course PETA would block this)
or is he angry at his hamster when it chews on his hemorrhoids???
Syrian hamsters cannot be kept together after they are a few weeks old. They will fight to the death. Roids might escalate it but they will fight anyway.
They're cute when they stuff those cheek pouches with food.
This is one of my dwarf hamsters. She can get a lot of food in those cheeks.
Watch out when they strap on those tiny little explosive belts and blow themselves up, along with any innocent hamsters that happen to be around.
(NO! Bad Kitty! Get DOWN!)
Could be the rodent Mike Tysons problem.. roids when younger.. or some other drug.. Wonder if other drugs can have this effect.. or a like effect..
Hamsters are pretty aggressive without steroids. It was funny when we got dwarf hamsters, little things smaller than my thumb would stand on their back legs and punch at me when I tried to pick them up. Once you get them out of "pet store shock" they mellow out some, but they're always willing to take you on if you irritate them.
Richard Gere, is that you???
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