Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow by Jerry Brainum 11/22

 

The reasons for not using anabolic steroid drugs vary. Some bodybuilders and athletes just don't want to use any type of drug even if their competitors do. Other athletes avoid drugs because they are illegal and they fear being caught during a drug test. While the tests can be beaten by using so-called "designer steroids" that aren't detected, these drugs are only available from the black market and quality control is a real problem. Another major reason why athletes avoid using anabolic steroids and other drugs has to do with possible side effects and future health problems. The recent deaths of a number of bodybuilders, many of whom were still young, have been linked to steroid usage. Although it's hard to prove a definite cause and effect between the premature mortality of these unfortunate people and their drug usage, the fact that they died at a relatively young age does implicate steroid usage as a possible major player. The axiom related to drug usage of any kind is that "only the dose determines the poison." And this is particularly true for anabolic steroids and other anabolic drugs. The higher the dose, and the longer the drug is used, especially consistently without a break, the greater the chance of serious side effects. The most serious side effects associated with steroid usage involve effects on the cardiovascular system and the liver. Steroids cause changes that raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, including both heart attacks and strokes. In other cases, the steroids can damage kidney function, and that can also result in cardiovascular complications. Oral steroids are known to stress liver function. This occurs because oral steroids are designed to resist premature destruction in the liver. While ingesting testosterone pills would result in the testosterone being degraded in the liver in about 20 minutes, anabolic steroids are structurally manipulated forms of testosterone that resist rapid liver breakdown.

The problem with oral steroids is that they can accumulate in the liver, especially if larger doses are ingested. That will lead to a type of chemical hepatitis or inflammation of the liver. This can be detected by lab tests that measure liver enzymes, which will be elevated with steroid usage, reflecting stress in the liver. The resulting inflammation blocks the circulation of bile produced in the liver, causing the bile to accumulate and begin to damage liver cells or hepatocytes. This is called "cholestasis," and if it persists, liver damage will eventually occur. However, if the use of oral steroids is curtailed, the liver inflammation will recede and normal liver function will return. The same goes for the deleterious effects produced by steroids on cardiovascular function. Most of the negative changes induced by steroids on blood lipids, such as an increase in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and a lowering of protective high-density lipoprotein or HDL also return to normal values when the steroid use ceases. However, more recent studies have shown that long . . .