Performance-enhancing drugs have become increasingly common among athletes to enhance their physique and improve performance.
However, using performance-enhancing drugs comes with risks. Before considering performance-enhancing drugs, learn about the potential benefits and health risks.1
Types of Performance-Enhancing Drugs
There are various types of performance-enhancing drugs. Here are some of the most common.
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Anabolic steroids are a type of steroid used to increase muscle mass and strength.1
The primary anabolic steroid hormone produced by your body is testosterone.
Testosterone has two significant effects on your body. Anabolic effects trigger muscle building. Androgenic effects contribute to male traits, including developing facial hair and a deeper voice.
Some athletes use straight testosterone to boost their performance. The anabolic steroids used by athletes are usually synthetic modifications of testosterone.
These hormones are medically approved for some uses. However, enhancing athletic performance isn’t one of them.
As well as enhancing muscles, anabolic steroids can lessen the muscle damage that can occur during a challenging workout. This can help athletes recover from the session more quickly and work out harder and more often.
Some non-athletes may also like their muscular appearance when taking anabolic steroids.
Taking anabolic-androgenic steroids to improve athletic performance is prohibited by most sports organizations, and it’s also illegal.
Designer Steroids
A particularly dangerous type of anabolic steroid is the ‘designer steroid.’ These synthetic steroids have been illicitly produced to be undetectable by drug tests.1
Designer steroids are made specifically for athletes without approved medical use. As such, they haven’t been tested or approved by the FDA and are a health threat to athletes.
Androstenedione
Androstenedione, otherwise known as andro, is a hormone created by the adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes. Andro is a hormone that’s usually converted to testosterone and a type of estrogen (estradiol) in men and women.1
Andro is only available legally by prescription and is a controlled substance. It’s illegal as a performance-enhancing drug in the United States.
Athletes use the drug to train harder and recover more quickly.
Human Growth Hormone
Human growth hormone has an anabolic effect. Exogenous growth hormone is often indictated for children with a deficiency (in medication form). However, sometimes athletes use it to enhance muscle mass and performance.1
Research lacks support that the exogenous human growth hormone improves endurance or strength. This drug is available only by prescription and is delivered by injection.
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin treats anemia in people with severe kidney disease. It boosts the production of red blood cells and hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein that carries oxygen to your body’s organs.1
Taking erythropoietin increases the movement of oxygen to the muscles. Epoetin is a synthetic form of erythropoietin. Endurance athletes commonly use it.
Diuretics
Diuretics alter your body’s natural balance of fluids and salts (electrolytes), leading to dehydration.1
This water loss can reduce an athlete’s weight. Diuretics can also help people pass drug tests by diluting their urine. They’re sometimes called a ‘masking’ agent.
Creatine
Many athletes use nutritional supplements instead of or as well as performance-enhancing drugs.1
Supplements are available OTC as pills or powders. Creatine monohydrate is a supplement popular among athletes.
Creatine is a naturally occurring compound in your body that helps your muscles release energy. Creatine may help produce small gains in short-term bursts of power.
The compound also helps make muscles more adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This allows the body to store and transport energy in cells and is helpful for quick bursts of activity, like weightlifting or sprinting.
Who Uses Performance-Enhancing Drugs?
Most people who misuse performance-enhancing drugs like steroids are male non-athlete weightlifters in their 20s or 30s. Approximately 22 percent of anabolic steroid users begin as teenagers.2
Anabolic steroid use is less common among women. This is because women typically don’t want to develop an extremely muscular physique or desire the masculinizing effects of steroids.
Risks, Consequences, and Side Effects of Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs
Performance-enhancing drugs come with various risks, consequences, and side effects depending on the substance.
Anabolic Steroids
Many athletes take anabolic steroids in quantities much higher than doses prescribed for medical reasons. However, anabolic steroids have severe physical side effects.
Infections or diseases like hepatitis or HIV if you're injecting the drugs
Affected growth and development, and the risk of future health problems in teenagers
In the past 20 years, law enforcement in the United States has driven much of the illegal steroid industry into the black market.
This leads to extra health risks because the drugs are made in illegal labs in the United States or produced in other countries and smuggled in. In any case, they don’t undergo government safety standards and could be mislabeled or impure.
Androstenedione
The side effects of andro in men include:
Acne
Reduced sperm production
Shrinking of the testicl*s
Enlargement of the breasts
The side effects of andro in women include:
Acne
Masculinization, including deepening of the voice and male-pattern baldness
In men and women, andro can affect the heart and blood vessels, heightening the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Human Growth Hormone
The risks linked to human growth hormone range in severity but may include:
Joint pain
Muscle weakness
Fluid retention
Diabetes
Vision issues
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Impaired glucose regulation
Enlarged heart
High blood pressure
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin was popular among competitive cyclists in the 1990s. It reportedly contributed to at least 18 deaths.
The use of erythropoietin may increase the risk of:
Stroke
Heart attack
Blockage in an artery in the lung
Diuretics
Even at medically recommended doses, diuretics can lead to adverse side effects, including:
Dehydration
Muscle cramps
Dizziness
Potassium deficiency
Drop in blood pressure
Loss of coordination and balance
Death
Creatine
The possible side effects of creatine include:
Stomach cramps
Muscle cramps
Weight gain
Weight gain is desired by many athletes who want to increase their size. But with consistent creatine use, weight gain is more likely from water retention than an enhancement in muscle mass.
Water is drawn into your muscle tissue away from other body areas. This puts you at risk of dehydration.
It appears safe for adults to take creatine at the doses recommended by manufacturers. However, the long-term benefits and risks of creatine supplementation aren’t known.
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Can You Become Addicted to Performance-Enhancing Drugs?
Around 32 percent of people who misuse anabolic steroids become dependent on the drugs.3
Symptoms of anabolic steroid dependence include tolerance. This is when someone needs to take more steroids to achieve the same results.
Another indicator of dependence is the development of withdrawal symptomsonce the use of anabolic steroids stops.
Treatment Options for Substance Abuse
People who use performance-enhancing drugs like steroids don’t often seek treatment. Approximately 56 percent of users don’t tell their physician about their steroid use.4
This may be because users feel their physician lacks knowledge about performance-enhancing drugs. Many websites focusing on anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs challenge the professionalism of healthcare providers and provide their advice.
Healthcare providers must be educated on the signs and symptoms of steroid use in patients.
Treatment for steroid use and other performance-enhancing drugs should address the underlying causes of drug use.
This can include:4
Psychological therapies and medications for muscle dysmorphia
Endocrine therapies to restore function in people suffering from hypogonadism and to treat symptoms of depression
Antidepressants for people whose depression doesn’t respond to endocrine therapies
Pharmacological and psychosocial treatments appear to be effective in treating the signs of anabolic steroid dependece for people who are also dependent on opioids
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Simply put, many of the drugs athletes take illegally are designed to increase their athletic performance. For example, steroids and related hormones (such as testosterone) are used to increase muscle mass and strength by promoting testosterone production.
Athletes use the drugs illicitly to increase alertness, competitiveness, responsiveness, and weight loss. However, side-effects of the drugs include addiction, aggression, anxiety, hypertension, brain hemorrhage, coma, convulsions, dehydration, heart attacks, insomnia, stroke, tremors, and even death.
Performance-enhancing drugs are thought to gives athletes an edge in competition, but do so with adverse health effects in the long-run. Many of these substances cause cardiovascular conditions, organ damage, tumors, and endocrine effects, all of which do more harm to the athlete than good.
Steroids reduce redness and swelling (inflammation). This can help with inflammatory conditions such as asthma and eczema. Steroids also reduce the activity of the immune system, which is the body's natural defence against illness and infection.
The two markers of liver stress most commonly elevated in users of anabolic steroids are the enzymes ALT and AST. These enzymes are necessary for amino acid metabolism in the liver and will leak into the bloodstream as the liver becomes inflamed or damaged.
A temporary rise in blood pressure, prothrombotic effects, impaired lipid metabolism causing increase LDL and decrease HDL result in an increased risk of coronary artery disease. Ultimately AAS abusers can be at increased risk of life-threatening arrhythmias, leading to sudden cardiac death [3].
There is no 'safe' dose of an anabolic steroid. If you continue to use steroids, despite health warnings and your doctors advice, however, keep the dose to an absolute minimum and take breaks from using the steroids.
Proponents of accepting performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sports argue that their harmful health effects have been overstated, that health risks are an athlete's decision to make, that using drugs is part of the evolution of sports much like improved training techniques and new technologies, and that efforts to ...
Conclusion. Best Steroids offer potential benefits for athletes and bodybuilders, including increased muscle mass, strength, and improved athletic performance. However, the risks associated with their use, such as cardiovascular problems, liver damage, hormonal imbalances, and mental health issues, cannot be overlooked ...
Examples of anabolic steroids include: oxandrolone, stanozolol and nandrolone. Anabolic steroids can be taken through a transdermal method, orally, or through injection. Injectable forms of the steroid are the most potent and long-lasting.
When improperly used, anabolic steroids can cause serious health problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease; liver damage and cancers; and, stroke and blood clots.
Among elite athletes, the prevalence of PED use is estimated to be around 14-39%. This statistic is a stark reminder of the prevalence of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) in elite sports.
2) In spite of its positive effectiveness, long term use of steroid can cause adverse effects, including osteoporosis, renal impairment, infection, gastrointestinal disorder, depression, hypertension and diabetes.
Steroid use can cause anxiety, depression, paranoia and psychosis in those people who have a vulnerability to mental health problems. Drug use can lead to social and emotional problems and affect a person's relationship with family and friends.
Some people who take steroids say the drugs make them feel powerful and energetic. However, steroids are also known to increase irritability, anxiety and aggression and cause mood swings, manic symptoms and paranoia, particularly when taken in high doses.
The misuse of anabolic steroids can cause long-term side effects. These can include cardiovascular complications, liver disease, reproductive organ damage and severe mood swings. Support is available for anabolic steroid users who want to change their dependence on these drugs.
You could expect a dose of prednisone to stay in your system for 16.5 to 22 hours. The elimination half life of prednisone is around 3 to 4 hours. This is the time it takes for your body to reduce the plasma levels by half. It usually takes around 5.5 half lives for a drug to be completely eliminated from your system.
Steroids, particularly at higher doses for long periods of time, can sometimes lead to damage to bones, called aseptic necrosis (also known as osteonecrosis or avascular necrosis). This can happen in a number of joints, but the hip is the most common.
Almost all of the men had testosterone concentrations return to normal three months after the end of the cycle, and 100% by 12 months, providing they had normal gonadal function at the beginning of the study.
An industry-supported study of an oral testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), testosterone undecanoate (TU, Jatenzo) finds it is an effective, long-term treatment for men with low testosterone levels, with no evidence of liver toxicity.
In order to be a responsible steroid user, you should supplement with a liver aid that provides all the building blocks needed to restore and repair your liver during and after oral steroid usage. N2Guard is the most-popular liver support product in the steroid world.
Anabolic steroid excess has been associated with development of a reversible dilated cardiomyopathy and potentially severe heart failure and sudden death.
Testosterone (Sustanon/Testosterone Enanthate), Anavar, and Deca Durabolin are the three safest anabolic steroids to use. Out of the three, testosterone is the safest overall, though, as we have pointed out already, using this synthetic steroid human growth hormone alone for bodybuilding will never be 100% safe.
It is important to avoid "simple" carbohydrates and concentrated sweets, such as cakes, pies, cookies, jams, honey, chips, breads, candy and other highly processed foods. This helps keep blood sugar low. Limit saturated fat and cholesterol. Choose lean meats, poultry and fish.
Long-term corticosteroid therapy may cause thinning bones, called osteoporosis. Talk with your provider about taking calcium and vitamin D supplements to help protect your bones. Take care when discontinuing therapy.
Although growth impairment can be an independent adverse effect of corticosteroid therapy, it can also be a sign of adrenal suppression. Moderate to high dose use of glucocorticoids poses a significant risk of infections, including common mild infections as well as serious life-threatening infections.
The results of this study indicated that more than half of the male bodybuilders (54%) were using steroids on a regular basis compared to 10 percent of the female competitors.
Elite athletes account for only a small percentage of the 2.9 to 4 million users of PEDs in the U.S.3 In a review of studies. Researchers estimated that between 14% and 39% of current adult elite athletes have intentionally used doping.
Some bodybuilders and athletes use anabolic steroids to build muscles and improve athletic performance. They may take the steroids orally, inject them into muscles, or apply them to the skin as a gel or cream. These doses may be 10 to 100 times higher than doses used to treat medical conditions.
"Anabolic steroids produce a permanent increase in users' capacity for muscle development. In keeping with this, studies show that mice given testosterone acquire new myonuclei that persist long after the steroid use ends."
There are no studies of steroid usage in high-level professional bodybuilders, and the pros aren't drug tested. However, it's likely safe to say that virtually all bodybuilding pros use anabolic steroids.
Among the most popular PEDs are anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, erythropoietin (EPO), beta-blockers, stimulants and diuretics to name just a few.
Primobolan is the steroid with the least side effects that will still give you results. Primo is so mild you can do 20-week cycles without any problems.
In both men and women, anabolic steroid use can cause high cholesterol levels, which may increase the risk of coronary artery disease, strokes, and heart attacks. Anabolic steroid use can also cause acne and fluid retention. Oral preparations of anabolic steroids, in particular, can damage the liver.
Using steroids to improve athletic performance is considered cheating, and can lead to athletes being penalized or banned from participating in sports. More importantly, using performance-enhancing steroids can have serious, long-term health consequences.
In particular, increased levels of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) will damage hair follicles. DHT will attach to follicles, causing inflammation. Eventually, these damaged hairs will start to fall out. Many steroids will raise the levels of DHT in your body, leading to significant hair loss.
What exactly is a PED? It is defined as any substance taken in non-pharmacologic doses specifically for purposes of improving sports performance. The more common ones that you hear of are anabolic steroids, testosterone, human growth hormone, creatine and ephedrine.
Between 1% and 12% of high school boys and 0.5% and 3% of high school girls report use of anabolic steroids with the highest rates found in male athletes competing in football, wrestling, and weight lifting.
Athletes' physical and emotional health might suffer long-term negative effects of sports on the body. Athletes may feel soreness, swelling, and muscular weakness in the near term. They may also risk missing important tournaments or events. Long-term consequences of an injury might eventually lead to chronic illnesses.
Anabolic steroids represent another performance-enhancing drug popular among NFL players. These synthetic testosterone and growth hormone products are chosen for their ability to aid in rapid muscle-building and improve performance.
The prevalence rate ranges from 1-3% among tested athletes to as high as 43%, with anabolic steroids responsible for 49% of adverse findings in 2018. Olympic athletes reported PED use at a rate of 57.1% during the 2008 Olympics, while 3.3% of U.S. high school students were found to be using PEDs in 2016.
Basketball has the most injuries overall, but the number of injuries varies with each age group. Football is the most dangerous sport for children ages 5 to 14, while basketball has the highest number of injuries among people ages 15 to 24.
According to several studies about “science of muscles and movement” experts label boxing as the most demanding sport for an athlete. Boxing requires strength, power, endurance, and the ability to withstand huge hits over a period of time.
An athlete whose identity is strongly tied to their sport is also at higher risk for developing mental health concerns, especially when experiencing injury. They can lose their primary sense of self and the dreams, expectations and benefits that go along with their athletic identity.
Introduction: My name is Arielle Torp, I am a comfortable, kind, zealous, lovely, jolly, colorful, adventurous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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