Side effects may also be psychological, with testosterone often being connected to increased aggressiveness because it impacts the brains subcortical structures in the amygdala and the hypothalamus. As with any anabolic steroid use, withdrawal from testosterone use may lead to depression, and even suicide.
Prohibited stimulants, like methylhexanamine, that are often found in contaminated pre-workout supplements, as well as permitted stimulants, like caffeine, can both result in negative health effects if abused.
At low doses, stimulants can lead to increased perspiration, shaking, inability to focus, and sleep loss, as well as low appetite and dehydration. In higher doses, stimulants can also lead to more severe health effects, such as rapid heart rate and high blood pressure.
Abuse of some stimulants has been shown to age the cardiovascular system more aggressively than smoking. And continued stress on the heart can eventually lead to cardiac arrhythmia, stroke, and heart attack. Blood doping, which often involves the use of prohibited erythropoietin, or EPO, increases the number of red blood cells in the body. This increase thickens the blood, making it difficult for the heart to pump. The result is a higher risk of life-threatening diseases including stroke, heart disease, and cerebral or pulmonary embolisms.
There have been multiple deaths attributed to blood doping. I raced 13 or 14 years as a professional cyclist. I was racing in Europe full-time, we had European riders on the team, we had European staff. I had finished a stage race in Southern Spain, like a week-long stage race, and I was just like a starfish on my bed, collapsed. He was wearing this fly fishing vest and he reached into one of the pockets and he pulled out this little red, egg-shaped capsule. And that was the moment, he handed me this capsule, that was the moment.
And it showed that they had faith in me and that they thought I had a future in the sport. So, yeah, I made that decision. I knew it was wrong from the moment I put it in my mouth, for sure. But I also thought that I had to look the other way. This was my opportunity, everybody else was doing it, so I kind of had to just join the club and not think so much about it. That little red testosterone pill led to other things.
A month or two later I was introduced to my first injection of a drug called EPO, which basically boosts your hematocrit, which brings red blood cells to your muscles. Kind of a big deal. And I remember the first time I ever did it, the blood was pulled out in Spain, outside of Valencia, Spain, and it was put back into me three weeks later in the middle of the Tour de France. So somebody had to transport that over an international border.
Serious stuff, serious stuff. My life went from being a wide-eyed, green bike racer from Marblehead, Massachusetts to a few years later in a little bit of a dark world, very secretive, two different faces. Cycling, all of a sudden, became different, it was more about results. After the season, which was probably my most successful season on record, I had great results, had a big Tour de France. I got back stateside after the season was over, it was in my off-season, and I realized I was having a hard time just getting out of bed, no motivation.
I mean, I thought about suicide, I drank to just check out at some points. I called them committee meetings and just kind of think about what I was up to and the consequences if it all went bad, how ugly that was going to look. And I had a bad reaction, my urine was like, black with dead red blood cells, I had a fever.
I told the team doctor about it and he watched over me. Luckily, it passed. But I remember thinking to myself, you know, what am I doing? What am I doing? This is a crazy world. But the power of the truth, I mean, the truth saved me. There was a federal investigation into Lance Armstrong and the U.
Erythropoietin is a type of hormone used to treat anemia in people with severe kidney disease. It increases production of red blood cells and hemoglobin — the protein that carries oxygen to your body's organs. Taking erythropoietin improves the movement of oxygen to the muscles. Epoetin, a synthetic form of erythropoietin, is commonly used by endurance athletes. Erythropoietin use among competitive cyclists was common in the s and allegedly contributed to at least 18 deaths. Inappropriate use of erythropoietin may increase the risk of stroke, heart attack and blockage in an artery in the lung pulmonary embolism.
Diuretics are drugs that change your body's natural balance of fluids and salts electrolytes , which can lead to dehydration. This loss of water can decrease an athlete's weight, which many athletes prefer. Diuretics may also help athletes pass drug tests by diluting their urine and are sometimes referred to as a "masking" agent.
Diuretics taken at any dose, even medically recommended doses, predispose athletes to adverse effects such as:. Many athletes take nutritional supplements instead of or in addition to performance-enhancing drugs.
Supplements are available over-the-counter as powders or pills. Creatine monohydrate is a supplement that's popular among athletes. Creatine is a naturally occurring compound produced by your body that helps your muscles release energy. Scientific research indicates that creatine may have some athletic benefit by producing small gains in short-term bursts of power. Creatine appears to help muscles make more adenosine triphosphate ATP , which stores and transports energy in cells, and is used for quick bursts of activity, such as weightlifting or sprinting.
But there's no evidence that creatine enhances performance in aerobic or endurance sports. Weight gain is sought by athletes who want to increase their size. But with prolonged creatine use, weight gain is more likely the result of water retention than an increase in muscle mass.
Water is drawn into your muscle tissue, away from other parts of your body, putting you at risk of dehydration. It appears safe for adults to use creatine at the doses recommended by manufacturers. But there are no studies investigating the long-term benefits and risks of creatine supplementation. Some athletes use stimulants to stimulate the central nervous system and increase heart rate and blood pressure.
Common stimulants include caffeine and amphetamines. Cold remedies often contain the stimulants ephedrine or pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. Energy drinks, which are popular among many athletes, often contain high doses of caffeine and other stimulants. The street drugs cocaine and methamphetamine also are stimulants. Although stimulants can boost physical performance and promote aggressiveness on the field, they have side effects that can impair athletic performance, including:.
Do performance-enhancing drugs boost performance? Some athletes may appear to achieve physical gains from such drugs, but at what cost? The long-term effects of performance-enhancing drugs haven't been rigorously studied. And short-term benefits are tempered by many risks. Not to mention that doping is prohibited by most sports organizations. There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Sign up for free, and stay up-to-date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID, plus expert advice on managing your health.
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It is difficult to measure steroid misuse in the United States because many national surveys do not measure it. However, use among teens is generally minimal. The NIDA-funded Monitoring the Future study has shown that past-year misuse of steroids has declined among 8th and 10th graders in recent years, while holding steady for 12th graders.
People who misuse anabolic steroids usually take them orally, inject them into muscles, or apply them to the skin as a gel or cream. These doses may be 10 to times higher than doses prescribed to treat medical conditions. There is no scientific evidence that any of these practices reduce the harmful medical consequences of these drugs. Anabolic steroids work differently from other drugs of abuse; they do not have the same short-term effects on the brain. Aside from mental effects, steroid use commonly causes severe acne.
It also causes the body to swell, especially in the hands and feet. Some of these physical changes, such as shrinking sex organs in men, can add to mental side effects such as mood disorders. Even though anabolic steroids do not cause the same high as other drugs, they can lead to a substance use disorder. A substance use disorder occurs when a person continues to misuse steroids, even though there are serious consequences for doing so.
The most severe form of a substance use disorder is addiction. People might continue to misuse steroids despite physical problems, high costs to buy the drugs, and negative effects on their relationships. These behaviors reflect steroids' addictive potential.
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