Several muscle-building products remain available for legal purchase, according to a 2009 paper by the World Anti-Doping Agency. That list of prohibited substances often changes as governmental bodies, sports agencies, and work places announce newly banned substances. Yet many nutritional supplements containing anabolic and estrogenic steroids have been overlooked. Athletes sometimes use such compounds to increase strength and facilitate recovery. While often effective, these nonprescription legal steroids are strong and can cause negative reactions.
Organ Damage
Many legal supplements contain the designer steroid 2a, 3a-Epithio-17a-Methyl- 5a-Androstan-17b-Ol or a similar drug which breaks down into the anabolic steroid desoxymethyltestosterone, DMT. This hormone has potent muscle-building effects, but the steroid also causes adverse events in the people using it.
A 2007 investigation published in the medical journal "Toxicology Letters" looked at the effects of DMT in laboratory animals. The steroid consistently caused heart enlargement and liver damage in these tests. Because of these toxic effects, the authors of this study argued that DMT should be strictly controlled to prevent misuse by athletes and patients. In response, the Drug Enforcement Administration banned this substance in early 2010. Yet because the forerunner of DMT is not illegal to purchase, customers can continue to buy supplements that naturally produce DMT through metabolism.
Skin Yellowing
Several bodybuilding products list the chemical methasterone as their active ingredient. This anabolic steroid, invented in 1956, has never been brought to market as a drug. Yet it remains a common ingredient in nutritional supplements, usually listed as 2a,17a,-dimethyl-17b-hydroxy-5a-androstan-3-one.
A 2008 report offered in the periodical "Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology" described the negative impact of using methasterone. Five patients taking the supplement developed cholestatic jaundice. In this condition, bile cannot properly flow from liver causing the skin to yellow. The condition appeared within a few weeks of taking methasterone and dissipated after a few months of drug withdrawal.
Masculinizing Effect
Popular anabolics often contain the natural steroid dehydroepiandrosterone. This substance, also known as DHEA, triggers the production of male and female hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. Consumers can purchase DHEA over the counter, and it is used to treat a variety of ailments.
A 2010 review presented in the "Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America" questioned the usefulness of DHEA. Close inspection of the data fails to support this hormone's alleged positive effects on athletic performance in either younger or older subjects. The authors also expressed concern about the masculinizing effects DHEA likely produces in females. They speculated that long-term use of this steroid by women will lead to excessive body hair, scalp hair loss and acne.
References
- World Anti-Doping Agency: The 2010 Prohibited List, International Standard
- "Toxicology Letters"; Characterisation of the Pharmacological Profile of Desoxymethyltestosterone (Madol), A Steroid Misused for Doping; P. Diel et al.; Feb. 28, 2007
- Drug Enforcement Administration: Classification of Three Steroids as Schedule III Anabolic Steroids Under the Controlled Substances Act
- "Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology"; Methasteron-Associated Cholestatic Liver Injury: Clinicopathologic Findings in 5 Cases; N. L. Shah et al.; February 2008
- "Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America"; Dehydroepiandrosterone to Enhance Physical Performance: Myth and Reality; S. Hahner et al.; March 2010
