Stz), sold under many brand names, is a synthetic androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT).

[8] The drug has a high oral bioavailability, due to a C17α alkylation which allows the hormone to survive first-pass liver metabolism when ingested.

[8] Stanozolol is one of the AAS commonly used as performance-enhancing drugs and is banned from use in sports competition under the auspices of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Several randomized trials noted improvement in the area of lipodermatosclerosis, reduced skin thickness, and possibly faster ulcer healing rates with stanozolol.

[8][18] In addition, due to its 5α-reduced nature, stanozolol is non-aromatizable, and hence has no propensity for producing estrogenic effects such as gynecomastia or fluid retention.

[8][18] Stanozolol has high oral bioavailability, due to the presence of its C17α alkyl group and the resistance to gastrointestinal and liver metabolism that it results in.

[30] In June 1970 the FDA announced its conclusions on the effectiveness of certain AAS, including stanozolol, based on the NAS/NRC reports made under DESI.

Specifically, the FDA found a lack of efficacy for stanozolol as "an adjunct to promote body tissue-building processes and to reverse tissue-depleting processes in such conditions as malignant diseases and chronic nonmalignant diseases; debility in elderly patients, and other emaciating diseases; gastrointestinal disorders resulting in alterations of normal metabolism; use during pre-operative and postoperative periods in undernourished patients and poor-risk surgical cases due to traumatism; use in infants, children, and adolescents who do not reach an adequate weight; supportive treatment to help restore or maintain a favorable metabolic balance, as in postsurgical, postinfectious, and convalescent patients; of value in pre- operative patients who have lost tissue from a disease process or who have associated symptoms, such as anorexia; retention and utilization of calcium; surgical applications; gastrointestinal disease, malnourished adults, and chronic illness; pediatric nutritional problems; prostatic carcinoma; and endocrine deficiencies.

Equal or greater consideration should be given to diet, calcium balance, physiotherapy, and good general health promoting measures."

[33] Sterling submitted data to the FDA intended to support the effectiveness of Winstrol for postmenopausal osteoporosis and aplastic anemia in December, 1980 and August 1983 respectively.

[32] In April 1984, the FDA announced that the data was not sufficient, and withdrew the marketing authority for stanozolol for senile and postmenopausal osteoporosis and for raising hemoglobin levels in aplastic anemia.

[45][46] It is used in veterinary medicine as an adjunct in the management of wasting diseases, to stimulate the formation of red blood cells, arouse appetite, and promote weight gain, but the evidence for these uses is weak.

Its side effects include weight gain, water retention, and difficulty eliminating nitrogen-based waste products and it is toxic to the liver, especially in cats.

[47]: 730–371 Stanozolol and other AAS were commonly used to treat hereditary angioedema attacks, until several drugs were brought to market specifically for treatment of that disease, the first in 2009: Cinryze, Berinert, ecallantide (Kalbitor), icatibant (Firazyr) and Ruconest.

[53] Stanozolol has been investigated in the treatment of a number of dermatological conditions including urticaria, hereditary angioedema, Raynaud's phenomenon, cryofibrinogenemia, and lipodermatosclerosis.