Facts and Fallacies – Drugs – Effects and Side-Effects of Steroids
What are the effects of steroids ?
The improvements in performance may be due to any of the following physiological effects:
• increase in bodymass
• increase in muscle size (hypertrophy)
• enhancement of recuperation
• treatment of injuries
• increase in nerve size and number
• increase in competitive aggression
• increase in muscle strength
• decrease of catabolism
• increase in blood volume
• increase in number of red blood cells
• increase in volume of red blood cells
• increase of haemoglobin, myoglobin
What are the dangers of steroid use ?
The following table (continued overleaf) summarises information obtained from research and from the information sheets provided by drug manufacturers with their packages of anabolic steroids. It does not imply that everyone using steroids will suffer from these side-effects, but it emphasizes that the regular user is always exposed to these possible risks.
• altered liver function
• increase in tendon injury
• androgenic changes (esp. in women)
• leukaemia
• acne and skin disorders
• gastrointestinal disturbance
• muscle cramp and spasm
• headaches, faintness, nausea
• insomnia
• suppression of other hormonal systems
• disrupted immune response
• increased blood pressure
• premature bone epiphysis closing in children
• altered sleep patterns
• reverse anorexia
• psychological addiction
• altered sexual function
• altered reproductive function
• altered thyroid function
• prostate and liver cancer
• gynaecomastia (female breasts in male)
• haemorrhaging (incl. nosebleeding)
• raised cholesterol levels (esp. LDL)
• hair loss
• aggression and mood swings
• kidney tumours
• tiredness and lethargy
• physical dependence
The occurrence of side-effects increases with dosage and duration of drugs, and is highly individual. Unfortunately, there is no way of accurately identifying who is at increased risk or when the risk is becoming critical. The best way of minimising the possibility of serious consequences is to have regular medical checkups, with thorough urine and blood analysis. The user should constantly be on the lookout for signs of the above side-effects.
Awareness of the possible hazards is no real deterrent to steroid use, since a survey carried out some years ago showed that over 70 percent of sportsmen would take a new drug that would guarantee them Olympic success even if they knew that they would die a year later.
It is preferable to point out to users that there are two side-effects that can afflict everyone: apparently increased incidence of injury to the tendons and other connective tissue in the body (such as the muscle sheaths or fasciae), and ‘reverse anorexia’, coupled with psychological dependence. It appears as if steroid use tends to promote a greater or faster increase in muscle, but not tendon, strength, so that tendon and connective tissue ruptures are far more frequent among steroid users, unless training programs adjust for this possibility.
Inverse anorexia refers to the condition where one is obsessed with gaining or maintaining bodymass. It appears as if numerous bodybuilders and lifters become severely depressed if they cannot permanently maintain their size, muscularity and strength. As soon as they stop taking steroids, these physical qualities gradually begin to fade, so that the addicted user has no alternative but to take booster doses of steroids for the rest of his life, even if he is not competing. He has grown accustomed to a certain physique and cannot live contentedly if it deteriorates.
Thus, it is vital to ask anyone who is contemplating using steroids one question: ‘Will you be able to live with a far less impressive physique and strength when you give up steroids ?’
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