“It was unclear whether the illicit use of anabolic steroids caused a long-term or even persistent deterioration in testosterone production in the testicles,” said study author Dr. Jon Rasmussen, a scientist at Rigshospitalet, a highly specialized hospital affiliated with the university. from Copenhagen.
“These results suggest long-term testicular dysfunction,” Rasmussen said via email.
His message to men who are thinking of using them to improve their bodies: “Don’t even think about it. Using anabolic steroids can have lasting adverse effects on various organs in the body and can even be fatal.”
Anabolic steroids are synthetic, laboratory-made variations of the male sex hormone testosterone. Using these artificial steroids harms the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular hormonal axis, which then stops testicular testosterone production and impairs fertility, Rasmussen said.
“Recovery of this hormonal axis can take place in the long term or (it) cannot recover at all,” he said.
The use of anabolic steroids has been linked to shrunken testicles, lower testosterone levels, decreased sex drive, poor erections and low sperm count, as well as breast growth and hair loss.
“Many people think that anabolic steroid abuse is just a problem of cheating in sports among professional athletes,” says Dr. Shalender Bhasin, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the study.
“The real story is that the vast majority of anabolic steroid users – over 90% – are not elite athletes. In fact, they are not athletes at all. They are recreational bodybuilders who use these compounds to look leaner and more muscular. said Bhasin, who chaired the testosterone treatment task force for the latest Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline.
Long-term damage to the testicles
The study, published Tuesday in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, followed 132 men between the ages of 18 and 50 who did recreational strength training. The men fell into three groups: never users, current users, or former anabolic steroid users who quit nearly three years earlier.
Because testosterone levels fluctuate throughout the day, the study used a new marker to determine a lack of testicular function called serum insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3), a hormone made by the same cells in the testicles that make testosterone.
Compared to never users, men who used steroids had much lower levels of INSL3. The longer the men had been on steroids, the lower the levels, the study found.
“One of the main points of the study is that former anabolic steroid users still exhibit gonadal dysfunction more than 2½ years after stopping (anabolic steroids),” Rasmussen said.
The study is important to confirm what clinicians caring for patients knew before: Long-term use of anabolic steroids can suppress testicular function, and even when these men stop using anabolic steroids, restoration of testicular function may be incomplete. or recovery may not be prevented, “Bhasin said.
Anabolic steroid abuse
Liver damage can also occur, along with a rare condition called peliosis hepatis, where blood-filled cysts form and burst in the liver.
Some research has found a link between anabolic steroids and irritability and aggression. Others have linked moderate to high doses of anabolic steroids with anxiety, mania and major depression.
And the list of side effects continues to rise, Bhasin said.
“There is a generally misguided view that these drugs are somehow safe and that the side effects can be treated,” Bhasin said. But studies now show that they are linked to cardiovascular disease, even early cognitive impairment.
“And 100% of men who use anabolic steroids in high doses will have problems with testosterone and sperm production, and depending on the length of use, many of these men will not fully recover when they stop taking it.”