POTENTIAL HEALTH RISK OF AAS


Potential Health Hazards Using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids
As you are probably aware - anabolic steroids are of course a drug. Being a drug, they use or abuse of them, comes hand in hand with the risk of side effects. Some of which are totally irreversible. Now, the major side effects from abusing anabolic steroids can include liver tumours and cancer, jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids), fluid retention, high blood pressure, increases in LDL (bad cholesterol), and decreases in HDL (good cholesterol). Other side effects include kidney tumours, severe acne, and trembling. You will also hear of anabolic androgenic steroids actually affecting your mental and emotional state of health. This is entirely true. Any alteration in the chemical messengers of the endocrinal system is going to have a swaying and influential affect upon your mood and state of mind, not just your physical state. In addition, there are some gender-specific side effects:


For men — shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts, increased risk for prostate cancer.



For women — growth of facial hair, male-pattern baldness, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, enlargement of the clitoris, deepened voice.



For adolescents — growth halted prematurely through premature skeletal maturation and accelerated puberty changes. This means that adolescents risk remaining short for the remainder of their lives if they take anabolic steroids before the typical adolescent growth spurt.





In addition, people who inject anabolic steroids run the added risk of contracting or transmitting HIV/AIDS or hepatitis, which causes serious damage to the liver, if unsafe with injection protocol. No matter how safe you are with injecting, you are going to risk a build up of scar tissues and risk the formation of abscesses.


Scientific research also shows that aggression and other psychiatric side effects may result from abuse of anabolic steroids. Many users report feeling good about themselves while on anabolic steroids, but researchers report that extreme mood swings also can occur, including manic-like symptoms leading to violence. Depression often is seen when the drugs are stopped and may contribute to dependence on anabolic steroids. Researchers report also that users may suffer from paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability, delusions, and impaired judgment stemming from feelings of invincibility. These are true potential risks of the application of an unnaturally high level of chemical synthesised and unusual sex hormone into the body.


Research also indicates that some users might turn to other drugs to alleviate some of the negative effects of anabolic steroids. For example, a study of 227 men admitted in 1999 to a private treatment centre for dependence on heroin or other opioids found that 9.3 percent had abused anabolic steroids before trying any other illicit drug. Of these 9.3 percent, 86 percent first used opioids to counteract insomnia and irritability resulting from the anabolic steroids.


There are numerous very high profile cases of famous bodybuilders who have died as a direct result of heroin overdose. It is likely that they began the use of heroin in connection with their steroid abuse. Equally, there have been many, many very famous bodybuilders actually advocating publicly the benefits of using the heroin related opiate - Nubain, as a pain killing agent and method to assist recovery - to 'come down' from intense training sessions.


Remember the risks of using or abusing anabolic steroids are always there and true. These are drugs at the end of the day, just like paracetamol are drugs and just like heroin is a drug. They have an effect and they come with side effects.