hormones

"Looks at the types of performance-enhancing drugs that exist and the problems that follow their misuse."--Back cover.

ANTHROPOLOGY. We inherit mechanisms for survival from our primeval past; none so obviously as those involved in reproduction. The hormone testosterone underlies the organization of activation of masculinity: it changes the body and brain to make a male. It is involved not only in sexuality but in driving aggression, competitiveness, risk-taking - all elements that were needed for successful survival and reproduction in the past. But these ancient systems are carried forward into a modern world. The ancient world shaped the human brain, but the modern world is shaped by that brain. How does this world, with all its cultural, political, and social variations, deal with and control the primeval role of testosterone, which continues to be essential for the survival of the species? Sex, aggression, winning, losing, gangs, war: the powerful effects of testosterone are entwined with them all.--.

Find out about the history of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, how they work, their effects, and why people use and abuse them.

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Discusses the part glands and the urinary system play in keeping the body operating properly.

Text and photographs provide an introduction to the endocrine system, focusing on the human body's major hormones and the organs affected by them.

Describes the actions of the glands of the endocrine system, discussing their role in the functioning of the human body; and looks at what can happen when the endocrine system breaks down.

Examines the actual effects of testosterone on human behavior, psychology, health, and skills, as opposed to the myths surrounding it; draws upon case studies of more than eight thousand men, women, and children.