Hormonal
Chronic, high-dose anabolic steroid use in weightlifters causes pathological cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, and increased risk of life-threatening arrhythmias and thrombosis.
If you are using high-dose anabolic steroids for bodybuilding, you are at significant risk for heart failure, blood clots in the heart, and sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmias. These risks are not just theoretical; they are documented in weightlifters. The structural damage to the heart (fibrosis and thickening) may not be fully reversible even after stopping the drugs. Medical monitoring is critical, but cessation is the only way to potentially mitigate further damage.
Pathological cardiovascular manifestations are reported in four male patients, who had taken massive amounts of anabolic steroids while undergoing many years of strength training... All four patients had cardiac hypertrophy... Endomyocardial biopsy revealed increased fibrosis in the myocardium in two of the three cases.
Why this rating
Case series of four patients; strong clinical evidence but lacks a control group and large sample size.
Source
Serious cardiovascular side effects of large doses of anabolic steroids in weight lifters
Markku S. Nieminen et al. · European Heart Journal · 1996
DOI 10.1093/oxfordjournals.eurheartj.a014724
More from this paper
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →