History of Steroids: From Hormone Discovery to Modern Medicine

The history of steroids reaches far beyond bodybuilding. It includes discoveries that changed how scientists understand hormones, treat inflammation, and investigate the chemistry of the human body.

The word “steroid” describes a broad chemical family. Its members include cholesterol, sex hormones, bile acids, and certain medicines. Anabolic steroids are one part of that family, as explained in the National Cancer Institute’s definition of steroids.

Early Research Into Sterols

Research into sterols helped establish the foundations of steroid chemistry. Scientists investigated compounds such as cholesterol and explored their relationship with other biologically important substances.

Adolf Windaus received the 1928 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research into the structure of sterols and their connections with vitamins. His work illustrates how steroid research developed through broader questions about chemistry and nutrition. Read more in the Nobel Prize’s account of Windaus’s work.

The Discovery of Testosterone

The 1930s brought major advances in understanding sex hormones. Researchers moved from studying crude biological extracts toward identifying individual compounds and determining their structures.

Testosterone was isolated and chemically synthesized in 1935. This breakthrough gave researchers access to a defined hormone they could study more systematically. Leopold Ruzicka’s Nobel lecture on steroid chemistry discusses this important period of discovery.

Adolf Butenandt and Ruzicka shared the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Butenandt was recognised for his work on sex hormones, while Ruzicka’s award covered research into polymethylenes and higher terpenes. Their contributions formed part of the growing scientific understanding of these compounds.

Cortisone Changes Medical Treatment

Another branch of steroid research focused on hormones produced by the adrenal cortex.

At Mayo Clinic, Edward Kendall isolated several adrenal hormones during the 1930s. One became known as cortisone. In 1948, Philip Hench and colleagues began clinical trials investigating its use for rheumatoid arthritis.

Kendall, Hench, and Tadeus Reichstein received the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning adrenal cortex hormones. The Mayo Clinic’s cortisone archive documents the laboratory work and clinical developments behind this milestone.

Steroids and Competitive Sport

Anabolic steroids later became part of the debate surrounding performance enhancement and fair competition.

Developments in laboratory testing made it possible to detect their use more effectively. Anabolic steroid testing was introduced at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, marking an important development in doping control. A researcher’s account of this period appears in Steroid Analysis and Doping Control, 1960–1980.

Understanding this history helps explain why “steroids” can refer to very different substances. Testosterone research, cortisone treatment, and sports doping belong to the same broad story, but each developed around different scientific questions and uses.