Steroids: The Lure of Easy Bodybuilding Gains With Serious Health Consequences

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Health Viewpoints

“Do you lose respect for people who take steroids?” In a recent online poll, 377,000 readers responded to this question: 54 percent said yes, 32 percent said no, and 14 percent were unsure. 

This was surprising since there’s been a considerable stigma surrounding steroids for many years, especially in the realm of top-tier competitive sports. The 1976 Olympics placed a sharp focus on steroid use at the highest levels of competition, with research eventually indicating that over 10,000 East German athletes had been involved with an illegal doping program. We now know that steroid use caused many of these athletes to suffer from serious health problems.

Steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) appear to have made their way down to the level of high-school athletes, with most users in their 20s and 30s.

While attitudes toward steroids may be changing, the drugs’ dangers persist.

The Lure of Performance-Enhancing Drugs

The lure of steroids and other PEDs can be powerful, according to Isaac Raj, a certified exercise physiologist and fitness trainer, and the 2013 Natural Physique Association (NPA) Mr. Teenage Virginia.

Mr. Raj told The Epoch Times:

“After I won the 2013 NPA Mr. Teenage Virginia ... I qualified for the Junior Nationals, and a supplement company sponsoring me at the time hired a coach out of California to help prepare me for competition. During our FaceTime, he questioned me about what supplements I was taking. I told him I was taking multivitamins and fish oils and things like that, but he kept alluding to steroids. Not what kind of supplements do you take, but what kind of supplements do you take? At that time I was clean, no steroids.

“He gave me a veiled ultimatum, saying, hey if you’re not willing to do anabolic steroids there’s really no point. I told him I had been researching the adverse effects of steroids because they were becoming more popular, and I had doubts. He basically said I understand, but if you’re not going to do PEDs right now then come back later if you change your mind.

“It was a ‘don’t waste my time’ answer. He stated that nobody in the top positions got there naturally, and I was only setting myself up for the frustration of being an also-ran. That was the last time I formally competed.” The final straw at the professional level was perhaps Canadian runner Ben Johnson’s 1988 gold metal disqualification after traces of the anabolic steroid stanozolol were discovered in his urine sample, causing a massive scandal.

Only two years later, the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 was signed into law, defining anabolic steroids and establishing penalties for physical trainers or advisers who try to induce individuals to use them. It was followed by several other laws and revisions in the years to follow, adding even more layers of restrictions.

The 1980s saw a rapid expansion of interest in PEDs, not only for competition sports but also for general use.

Explosive Growth of Noncompetitive Steroid Use

While professional sporting associations and international sports confederations keep a careful watch for PEDs, the use of these drugs has exploded in the noncompetitive population. In fact, steroid use often starts before competitions.

“I’ve seen a lot of people start doing steroids to look bigger and buffer—bigger than they could on their own and much faster than they normally would have. They start getting the attention they want and then get encouraged to dabble in competing. It’s like competition is the next step in their evolution,” Mr. Raj said.

Getting “jacked” also serves another purpose: acquiring more followers on social media. Social media is bursting at the seams with influencers, personalities with 15-second videos, and people using anything to help them gain an advantage over the competition.

Popular online influencer “Liver King” (Brian Johnson) admitted taking approximately $11,000 of PEDs monthly to gain his otherworldly physique. He explained that his persona was an experiment to spread his message; both his antics and physique were successful, gaining 1.7 million followers in just one year.

Notably, the typical PED user is young, with increasing evidence of a progression from safe supplements like vitamins toward PED use. A systematic review of 52 studies, including 187,288 young people between 10 and 21, found that a child’s first experience taking anabolic-androgenic steroids can occur before their 10th birthday. The review identified nine factors predicting doping among young people: gender, age, sports participation, sport type, psychological variables, entourage, ethnicity, nutritional supplements, and health-harming behaviors.

PEDs Offer Easy Access, Serious Risks

Gaining access to steroids is easy. The hardcore gym population tends to be tightly knit, and word of mouth can provide easy, consistent access for anyone interested in using PEDs. As with many other high-demand drugs, entire underground systems exist that ensure a steady flow of PEDs to waiting customers.

The dangers are considerable. Sudden cardiac death among athletes, once the stronghold of congenital diseases, is now supplemented by acquired heart disease processes associated with PED utilization.

Death, however, isn’t the only concern. The heavy use of PEDs can involve a whole host of deleterious effects, and these often haunt users for life—long after the utilization of PEDs ceases. It’s important to understand that PED utilization affects individuals at the metabolic level, and sustained use can cause a cascade of detrimental long-term effects.

While individuals may start using one PED, they are often compelled to increase the number and types used. Former professional cyclist and Tour de France competitor Tyler Hamilton, suffering increasing disillusionment with and medical complications from PEDs, remembers asking himself: “What am I doing? What am I doing?”

Fentanyl now holds the No. 1 spot among all causes of death in the United States, with opioids responsible for approximately 3 of 4 drug overdose deaths. Compared with opioids, steroid-related deaths may appear paltry, and already overtaxed medical and law enforcement entities simply do not have the necessary resources to focus more attention on what can be considered the lesser evil of steroids and other PEDs.

Coupled with the feelings of invincibility that young PED users often feel, the problem of PEDs isn’t going away anytime soon.

Recent years demonstrate a deny-acknowledge pattern in the utilization of PEDs. While Brian “Liver King” Johnson is perhaps one of the best-known recent examples, there are others.

After a previous denial, Nick Walker, one of the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation’s biggest Pro Class stars, now freely admits to his PED utilization techniques. While it is possible he denied using PEDs before he actually began taking them, his explosive growth over roughly two years drew suspicion.

These illustrations are used not as an indictment of any PED user but more to illustrate the evolving attitudes toward PED utilization by professionals and nonprofessionals alike. Mr. Walker goes on to say, “At the end of the day, we’re playing with fire.”

So Where Does It End?

In short, it doesn’t end, at least not anytime soon. Administrative and law enforcement efforts have proven ineffective in a country already overloaded with other severe drug problems, and the forbidden fruit aspect combined with easy availability all but ensures not only a growing market but also one with a thriving future.

Designer steroids are even being synthesized to circumvent drug testing procedures in professional sports.

Mr. Raj and Mr. Walker share a mindset toward PED utilization: Legal remedies are presently falling short in effectively controlling the continued emergence of illicit PED use, and given the sheer spectrum of PED-related health risks, something must be done to address the problem better. At the very least, both suggest an approach including bona fide medical management with an understanding of the dangers before starting any PED regimen.

“I’ve noticed that a lot more individuals are seeking medical advice instead of just jumping in from the underground, which is great for knowing the risks,” Mr. Raj stated. Physician-directed testosterone replacement therapy is becoming more popular for nonmedical uses such as building muscle mass in bodybuilding applications. Still, he does have reservations.

“The more we go with drugs to get bigger-than-life results, and the more we see bigger-than-life athletic forms, the more we become conditioned that this is normal. I begin to wonder how much space we’ll have in the future for people who are just the best, drug-free versions of themselves that they can be, and how much physical damage has to be endured before a sea-change happens,” Mr. Raj said.

The legal milieu of PEDs will need to be worked out in the future, but for now, caution is advised. PEDs are readily available and can lend exceptional results to bodybuilding efforts, making them highly attractive to an increasing number of potential users. At the same time, they can result in catastrophic health consequences that can persist for life.

While a “Just Say No” approach appears unrealistic in modern times, it is highly advisable to approach any PED utilization under medical supervision to avoid detrimental mistakes and to educate yourself regarding the potential consequences of PED use.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.