Performance-enhancing drugs continue to taint competitive sports and their athletes, and sports and athletes have lost credibility among fans due to frequent reports of steroid scandals. Anabolic steroids are the most commonly abused drugs in weightlifting, bodybuilding and baseball. Such drugs affect testosterone, a hormone important for development and growth. Athletes take steroids because they can increase muscle strength and facilitate injury recovery. Yet these short-term positive benefits may cause long-term negative effects.
Cardiac Arrest
Anabolic steroids may play a role in the sudden death of athletes. News stories and case studies have often suggested such a relationship. For example, a 1995 case reported by the journal "Cardiology" describes the death of an otherwise healthy bodybuilder. This 20-year-old-man died from cardiac arrest resulting from an enlarged heart. Because the bodybuilder had no previous health complaints, the illegal use of anabolic steroids was implicated in his death. Yet a cause-effect relationship remains impossible to document in this instance as well as the small number of similar cases. The bodybuilder, for example, may have had an undiagnosed predisposition to heart disease. And other factors, like work-related stress, may have contributed to his pathologic symptoms and untimely death.
Organ Damage
Steroid-induced mortality remains difficult to document, but performance-enhancing drugs clearly damage the body's major organs. Such damage can increase mortality rates. A 2010 study presented in the "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology" looked at kidney structure and function in bodybuilders taking anabolic steroids. These athletes showed several symptoms of organ damage such as kidney scarring and inflammation. Cessation of steroid used greatly improved these symptoms, and recidivism caused symptom recurrence. Other studies have reported that performance-enhancing drugs cause similar damage to the testes, ovaries and liver.
Mental Illness
Performance-enhancing drugs affect the mind in addition to the body. For example, steroid users typically show unwanted increases in aggression and depression. A 2009 survey presented in "The Physician and Sports Medicine" revealed other psychological consequences of anabolic steroid use. Male bodybuilders taking steroids showed greater weight preoccupation, body dissatisfaction and perfectionism than peers not using drugs. Such men also frequently reported binge eating and bulimia nervosa. Female bodybuilders exhibit similar psychological issues.
Accidental Toxicity
Professional and recreational athletes often take anabolic steroids illegally and typically obtain them through nontraditional means like the "black market." The intake of such "street drugs" brings additional risks. A 2000 investigation in "Sportverletzung Sportschaden" reveals that one third of illicit drugs are mislabeled. This study also shows the difficulties associated with identifying these errors, making it nearly impossible to rectify the situation. Such contamination can have negative consequences. For example, a 2010 report in the "Medical Journal of Australia" describes a case of transient diabetes caused by using counterfeit medications.
References
- "Cardiology"; Sudden Cardiac Death in a 20-Year-Old Bodybuilder Using Anabolic Steroids; R. D. Dickerman et al.; 1995
- "Journal of the American Society of Nephrology"; Development of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis After Anabolic Steroid Abuse; L. C. Herlitz et al.; January 2010
- "The Physician and Sports Medicine"; Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Anabolic Steroids in Male Bodybuilders: Current Versus Former Users; G. S. Goldfield et al.; April 2009
- "Sportverletzung Sportschaden"; Dangers and Risks of Black Market Anabolic Steroid Abuse in Sports --Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analyses; M. Ritsch et al.; March 2000
- "Medical Journal of Australia"; Severe Hypoglycaemia Associated with Ingesting Counterfeit Medication; S. K. Chaubey et al.; June 21, 2010
