Canadian star Ben Johnson was denied a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics after testing positive for anabolic steroids. This incident brought worldwide attention to the extent of anabolic steroid use. To date, the International Olympic Committee has banned the use of seventeen anabolic steroids. Other organizations, including the National Football League, the National Collegiate Athletic Association's International Amateur Athletic Federation, and the International Federation of Body Builders followed suit. Athletes and non-athletes continue to abuse anabolic steroids to excel in sports. Anabolic steroids belong to a group of androgenic drugs. They are synthetic derivatives of testosterone and other male hormones. Most healthy adult males produce 2-10 milligrams of testosterone per day. Females produce trace amounts of this hormone. The hormone helps the body retain dietary proteins, which aid in the growth of muscles, bones, and skin. They can also affect aggression and sexual desire. Steroids tend to mimic the body building characteristics of testosterone, minimizing the male effect. The adrenal glands in women and boys produce very little testosterone. It is the increase in testosterone production in young males that accelerates puberty. The anabolic effect of testosterone during puberty includes deepening of the voice, increased muscle mass and strength, and decreased body fat. All of this happens without exercise or training. Anabolic steroids can be taken by injection, orally, through skin creams or patches. Steroids are often taken in cycles of six to twelve weeks. The dosage depends on the sport and the perceived needs of the athlete. Depending on what they want to achieve, athletes control how they respond to the drug and the physiological effect it has on them. Athletes often take doses of anabolic steroids much higher than those administered for therapeutic use or in clinical trials. Some athletes use 10 to 100 times the amount their body produces. Anabolic steroids are primarily the result of research to develop drugs that would separate the tissue-building ability of testosterone from its masculinizing properties. This separation was never achieved. In 1935, the fundamental nature of its anabolic and androgenic effects was recognized by Dr. Charles Kochakian, who most experts consider to be the "father of steroids." It showed that a hormone-like extract of male urine stimulated a strongly positive nitrogen balance in neutered dogs. A positive nitrogen balance indicated the synthesis of new tissue proteins in dogs and humans.