6 Serious Anabolic Steroid Health Risks

Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have been a controversial topic in the world of sports for decades. These substances, which include anabolic steroids, stimulants, and hormones, are used by athletes to improve their physical performance, endurance, and recovery time1. While the use of PEDs can lead to impressive athletic achievements, it also raises significant concerns about fairness, health risks, and the integrity of sports. Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have been a subject of intense debate in sports, fitness, and health communities for decades. These drugs, including anabolic steroids, human growth hormone (HGH), stimulants, and erythropoietin (EPO), are designed to enhance physical abilities, improve athletic performance, or accelerate muscle recovery.

Body Mass

Potential side effects include weight gain, digestive issues, and muscle cramps. Stimulants are a broad class of drugs that increase alertness, attention, and energy. These substances can enhance performance by reducing fatigue, increasing reaction time, and improving mental focus12. Stimulant use is prevalent in sports that require quick bursts of energy, such as sprinting and weightlifting.

According to research published in the journal Sports Medicine, this performance-enhancing effect simply doesn’t exist. The authors found that, in 17 of 19 clinical trials involving non-asthmatic competitive athletes, the performance-enhancing effects of inhaled beta2-agonists could not be proved. However, an athlete taking diuretics may also get dizzy, become dehydrated or experience a severe drop in blood pressure — symptoms that make it hard to compete. The 1996 Summer Olympic Games have been called the “hGH Games” because of the rampant use of the drug among competitors. In summer 2021, Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare was kicked out of the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for hGH. Almost every professional sport — from weightlifting to baseball to archery — has been scandalized by claims of doping.

Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks

All insulin products are what is alcoholism different and have different absorption rates and onset. For example, a long-acting insulin can last in the body for 24 hours where the fast-acting will be 1-3 hours. Beta-blockers are medications that reduce heart rate and blood pressure by blocking the effects of adrenaline. While they are primarily used to treat cardiovascular conditions, beta-blockers can also have performance-enhancing effects in precision sports such as archery and shooting13. By reducing tremors and anxiety, beta-blockers can improve accuracy and steadiness.

Stimulant Use Disorder: Symptoms, Risks, and Treatments

However, this intense competitive drive can also have negative psychological effects on athletes. The pressure to win at all costs can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and even burnout. The psychological effects of performance-enhancing drugs on athletes can be significant. The use of such substances can have far-reaching effects on the fairness and integrity of sporting events, impacting both individual athletes and the overall spirit of competition.

Performance Enhancers: The Safe and the Deadly

Creatine is a compound made by your body and is in red meat, fish, and milk. It enhances your ability to generate quick bursts of energy and increase strength. By supplementing with 5mg of creatine a day, you can raise the amount stored, boosting its effect. Products with the Informed Choice stamp meet a high standard of testing to ensure performance enhancing drugs they don’t contain banned or unsafe substances.

Consumption of androstenedione also can damage the heart and the blood vessels and can cause stroke and heart attack. In the United States, anabolic steroids are considered controlled substances due to their adverse health effects3, thus possession and distribution are illegal. Creatine seems to help muscles make more of an energy source called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). It’s used for activity that involves quick bursts of movement, such as weightlifting or sprinting. But there’s no proof that creatine helps you do better at sports that make you breathe at a higher rate and raise your heart rate, called aerobic sports.

Anabolic Agents Side Effects

But stimulants by themselves function reasonably well as performance-enhancing substances. That didn’t stop the IOC from disqualifying several Russian athletes, stripping medals from two and ultimately blacklisting bromantane based on its performance-enhancing effects. Androstenedione, also called andro, is a hormone everyone’s body makes. “The Science Behind Performance-Enhancing Drugs.” CAS, 21 July 2021, /resources/cas-insights/emerging-science/science-behind-performance-enhancing-drugs.

Stunted Growth in Young People

People use performance enhancers to improve their performance during high-intensity physical exercise. Blood pressure-reducing beta-blockers are banned from sports like darts and golf because of their anti-anxiety effects. Stimulants are the second most reported banned substance behind steroids, accounting for 15.5 percent of all WADA incident reports in 2012. Blood transfusions carry the risk of infection, and abnormally high red blood cell counts can lead to heart disease and stroke. Drugs designed to make you pee are sometime used by athletes to mask the use of performance-enhancing drugs that can be easily detected in urine.

• Most commonly taken orally, SARMs remain popular (boxer Ryan Garcia failed a drug test for them recently) and are similar to steroids in that they target androgen receptors.
• At bottom, we have also included some studies relating to cognitive-enhancing drugs and the related academic dimensions of this issue.
• People sometimes use diuretics as “masking agents” to hide the presence of other PEDs and manipulate drug tests.
• In fact, the pituitary gland, the pea-sized organ located at the base of the brain, produces hGH to stimulate growth in children and adolescents and to increase muscle mass in adults.

Weight Management And Fat Loss

• Those who take creatine often do so as a means to build muscle mass.
• Many PEDs are illegal to buy when not used to treat an approved medical condition.
• The NCAA and the Olympics commission have banned some substances because they offer an unfair advantage or can cause harm to the athlete.
• Additionally, human growth hormone (HGH) abuse has been linked to joint pain, muscle weakness, and an increased likelihood of diabetes.
• (22) Currently, most nutritional supplements are not recommended for consumption by those under age 18 years.
• “These drugs are frequently used by people who are unhappy with their appearance, have lower self-esteem and self-worth, and who may have co-occurring mental health conditions,” Hemendinger said.

Nutritional/dietary supplements are substances purchased legally from nutritional stores or via the internet that are often taken in combination with other APEDs. Any player testing positive for a drug of abuse or found to possess such a drug must submit to an initial evaluation by medical personnel, who then determine whether or not a treatment program is necessary. The treatment program is agreed upon by medical personnel and the player, who can complete treatment as either an inpatient or an outpatient. Players who refuse to comply with the treatment program or who test positive for drugs of abuse after their evaluation and commitment to the treatment board may find themselves suspended or subject to other discipline. When they use PEDs, it sends a message to young athletes that drug use is acceptable or necessary for success, potentially leading to increased PED use among youth.