BACKGROUND: The lifetime prevalence of androgenic anabolic steroid abuse is estimated to be around 6% for men, but there is limited knowledge about the side effects of these drugs. OBJECTIVE: To investigate mortality and morbidity amongst users of androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS). METHODS: In this retrospective matched cohort study, 545 male subjects tested positive for AAS in Danish fitness centres during the period 3 January 2006 to 1 March 2018. Subjects were matched with 5450 male controls. In addition, 644 men who were sanctioned because they refused to submit to a doping test and 6440 controls were included as a replication cohort. RESULTS: Mortality was three times higher amongst users of AAS than amongst nonuser controls (hazard ratio 3.0, 95% CI 1.3-7.0). The median annual number of hospital contacts was 0.81 in the cohort of AAS users and 0.36 in the control cohort (P < 0.0001). Acne, gynaecomastia and erectile dysfunction affected more than 10% of the androgenic anabolic steroid users, and the prevalence of these disorders was significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.0001). The results could be replicated in a similar cohort. CONCLUSION: Androgenic anabolic steroid users have an increased risk of dying and significantly more hospital admissions than their nonuser peers. Side effects of AAS and their metabolites were highly prevalent. Given the high rate of androgenic anabolic steroid abuse, these side effects are of public health concern.
Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are used by approximately 20,000 amateur athletes in the Netherlands. AAS are harmful but data are lacking as to precisely how harmful they are. An outpatient clinic for past and current users of AAS was established in 2011 to acquire more knowledge about the health risks associated with AAS abuse.All case files of the patients who visited the AAS clinic were reviewed retrospectively.180 patients visited the AAS clinic between May 2011 and May 2016. Patients we...
Abuse of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) is prevalent among recreational athletes and adverse effects on blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness could be substantial. Testosterone decreases natriuretic peptides which are key components in BP-regulation and may impair BP-homeostasis in AAS abusers. To investigate BP and aortic stiffness in relation to natriuretic peptides among current AAS abusers, former AAS abusers and controls. In this cross-sectional study, 37 current AAS abusers, 33 fo...
Aims: This study investigated the long-term mortality following poisoning by amphetamine or substituted amphetamines. Furthermore, we examined the social problems and somatic and psychiatric co-morbidity related to amphetamine poisoning, and their impact on the long-term survival. Methods: We identified amphetamine poisoned patients from the Danish Poison Information Centre database and correlated their personal identification numbers with seven Danish national registries related to different so...
Last. Caroline Kistorp(Copenhagen University Hospital)H-Index: 26
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Aims Abuse of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) is highly prevalent among male recreational athletes. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of AAS abuse on reproductive hormone levels and symptoms suggestive of hypogonadism in current and former AAS abusers. Methods This study had a cross-sectional case-control design and involved 37 current AAS abusers, 33 former AAS abusers (mean (95%CI) elapsed duration since AAS cessation: 2.5 (1.7; 3.7) years) and 30 healthy control par...
Anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs) are appearance and performance-enhancing drugs (APEDs) used in competitive athletics, in recreational sports, and by body-builders. The global lifetime prevalence of AASs abuse is 6.4% for males and 1.6% for women. Many AASs, often obtained from the internet and dubious sources, have not undergone proper testing and are consumed at extremely high doses and in irrational combinations, also along with other drugs. Controlled clinical trials investigating undesir...
Last. Seppo Sarna(UH: University of Helsinki)H-Index: 84
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Aim To investigate life expectancy and mortality among former elite athletes and controls. Methods HR analysis of cause-specific deaths sourced from the national death registry for former Finnish male endurance, team and power sports athletes (N=2363) and controls (N=1657). The median follow-up time was 50 years. Results Median life expectancy was higher in the endurance (79.1 years, 95% CI 76.6 to 80.6) and team (78.8, 78.1 to 79.8) sports athletes than in controls (72.9, 71.8 to 74.3). Compare...
Abstract Background Non-therapeutic use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has been associated with various adverse effects; one of the most serious being direct cardiovascular effects with unknown long-term consequences. Therefore, large studies of the association between AAS and cardiovascular outcomes are warranted. We investigated cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in individuals who tested positive for AAS. Methods and results Between 2002 and 2009, a total of 2013 men were enrolled ...
#2Ruth I. Wood(SC: University of Southern California)H-Index: 33
Last. Shalender Bhasin(Brigham and Women's Hospital)H-Index: 110
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Despite the high prevalence of performance-enhancing drug (PED) use, media attention has focused almost entirely on PED use by elite athletes to illicitly gain a competitive advantage in sports, and not on the health risks of PEDs. There is a widespread misperception that PED use is safe or that adverse effects are manageable. In reality, the vast majority of PED users are not athletes but rather nonathlete weightlifters, and the adverse health effects of PED use are greatly underappreciated. Th...
Purpose: To estimate the global lifetime prevalence rate of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use and investigate moderators of the prevalence rate. Methods: A meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis was performed using studies gathered from searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar among others. Included were 187 studies that provided original data on 271 lifetime prevalence rates. Studies were coded for publication year, region, sample type, age range, sample size...
Background Current approaches to diagnosing testosterone deficiency do not consider the physiological consequences of various testosterone levels or whether deficiencies of testosterone, estradiol, or both account for clinical manifestations. Methods We provided 198 healthy men 20 to 50 years of age with goserelin acetate (to suppress endogenous testosterone and estradiol) and randomly assigned them to receive a placebo gel or 1.25 g, 2.5 g, 5 g, or 10 g of testosterone gel daily for 16 weeks. A...
Androgenic-Anabolic Steroids (AAS) abuse is known to play an important role in causing the systemic inflammatory response and multiple-organ dysfunction in healthy individuals. Although many of the undesirable effects of steroid abuse have been reported, at present, little is known about the effect of anabolic supplements and the correlation between cardiac and metabolic pathology. This paper presents a case of a 25 year old patient with a complex medical history after 6 months of steroid admini...
Last. Caroline Kistorp(UCPH: University of Copenhagen)H-Index: 26
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BACKGROUND Illicit use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) is frequently observed in men and is associated with subsequent testosterone deficiency although the long-term effect on gonadal function is still unclear. Serum insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3) has been suggested to be a superior biomarker of Leydig cell secretory capacity compared to testosterone. The objective of this study was to investigate serum INSL3 concentrations in AAS users. METHODS This community-based cross-sectional study in...
Anabolic-Androgenic steroids (AAS) misuse are growing worldwide and used especially among male bodybuilders and gyms-goers for building muscle to improve their physical appearance. AAS misuse is considered a preventable factor of male fertility because it affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis resulting in transient or persistent suppression of spermatogenesis. The study Objective is to investigate the effect of anabolic steroids misuse on the semen parameters, suggestive of decreased m...
Last. WenChieh Chen(TUM: Technische Universität München)H-Index: 21
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Akne ist eine androgenabhangige entzundliche Erkrankung der Talgdrusen. Diese Studie beschaftigt sich mit den zugrundeliegenden Signalwegen der Androgen-Biosynthese und des Androgen-Metabolismus, mit der nicht-genomischen Regulation der Androgenrezeptor-Expression und -Funktion sowie mit der post-translationalen Regulation des Androgenuberschusses bei Akne und akne-assoziierten Syndromen. Zu diesen zahlen beispielsweise das Syndrom der polyzystischen Ovarien (PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome) und...
Last. WenChieh Chen(TUM: Technische Universität München)H-Index: 21
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Acne is an androgen-dependent inflammatory disease of sebaceous follicles. Herein, we reviewed and discussed the underlying pathways of androgen biosynthesis and metabolism, non-genomic regulation of androgen receptor expression and function, posttranslational regulation of androgen excess in acne and acne-associated syndromes, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. We provide insights into the involvement of sex hormones, particularly androgens, in skin homeostas...
An estimated 4-6% of fitness center visitors uses anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Reliable data about adverse reactions of AAS are scarce. The HAARLEM study aimed to provide insight into the positive and negative effects of AAS use. One hundred men (≥18 years) who intended to start an AAS cycle on short notice were included for follow-up. Clinic visits took place before (T0 ), at the end (T1 ), and three months after the end of the AAS cycle (T2 ), and one year after the start of the cycle (...
#1Xue Lei(St And: University of St Andrews)H-Index: 2
#2David I. Perrett(St And: University of St Andrews)H-Index: 127
: Thin and muscular have been characterized as ideals for women and men, respectively. Little research has investigated whether men and women have accurate perceptions of opposite-sex preferences of thinness and muscularity. Further, no study has explored whether opposite-sex perceptions of thinness and muscularity preferences differ for short-term and long-term relationships. The present study set out to address these questions. We used interactive 3D human models to represent bodies varying in...
#2Kim Dalhoff(UCPH: University of Copenhagen)H-Index: 28
Last. Henrik Horwitz(UCPH: University of Copenhagen)H-Index: 7
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Purpose Previous research has found that male users of androgens are diagnosed, approximately, twice as often with infertility. We therefore set out to investigate the fertility in men using androgens. Methods The study includes the 545 males who were tested positive for androgens in an anti-doping test program in Danish fitness centers during the period January 3 rd, 2006 to March 1 st, 2018. The confirmed users were matched by birth year with 5,450 male controls. We followed this cohort from t...
Aims: The use of anabolic androgen steroids to enhance performance is not a modern phenomenon. However, the majority of today’s anabolic androgen steroid users are not competitive athletes, but ind...