What steroids users aren't told until it's too late

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

14.10.2014

It's not often that steroids users regret using these substances, according to an article written by American urologists that will be published soon in Aandrologia. Those who do have second thoughts usually do so because they didn't know that steroids use could make you infertile. If they had known this they might not have started using these muscle-enhancing substances.

Endocrinological side effects
The best information on the effects of anabolic steroids is not to be found in medical textbooks but in the user guides found in doping circles. The all-time best is William Llewellyn's guide. [amazon.com]

But there's one point that many of the guides get wrong. Many manuals take the impact of anabolic steroids on the body's own synthesis of testosterone and sperm production far too lightly. Contrary to what they assert, your endocrine system does not recover within a few months of taking a course of steroids.

Study
The urologists studied 79 men who had used steroids and now needed testosterone therapy. Of these subjects 15 percent regretted using the substances, 85 percent did not.

Results
Those who regretted their habit [black bars] had experienced side effects such as acne, worse cholesterol level and fluid retention slightly more often than the users with no regrets [white bars], but the differences were not statistically significant.

What steroids users aren't told until it's too late

Those with regrets – average age 36 – experienced fertility problems slightly more often than those with no regrets – average age 41 – but once again the differences were not statistically significant.

What steroids users aren't told until it's too late

The researchers did find significant differences when they ask the subjects whether they knew before taking the steroids that these substances could lead to long-term and in some cases permanent reduction in testosterone and sperm production. Those who regretted using steroids had been significantly more often unaware of this.

What steroids users aren't told until it's too late

Conclusion
"Unfortunately, as most men begin anabolic-androgenic steroids at a young age and are presumed to obtain the medication from illicit sources, they are not educated regarding the possible negative outcomes that come with their use", the researchers write.

"Anabolic-androgenic steroids suppress LH and FSH leading to acute hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. In a subset of men, this anabolic-steroid-induced hypogonadism can result in long-term or permanent inhibition of their hypothalamic–pituitary axis. Furthermore, the exogenously elevated serum testosterone levels obtained from anabolic-androgenic steroids results in oligospermia and azoospermia."

Source:
Andrologia. 2015 Oct;47(8):872-8.

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