Why gym-goers should be wary of using testosterone supplements to increase their gains

The desire for a beautifully shaped body drives some amateur athletes to it experimenting with synthetic steroids– specifically, testosterone supplements. This trend is largely driven by social media, with thousands of posts discussing ways to boost testosterone levels, and high-profile influencers promoting the supposed benefits of using the synthetic hormone – and even recommending products that anyone can buy online without a prescription.

But while synthetic testosterone can improve your appearance in the short term, the long-term effects on your health should not be ignored.

Testosterone is a steroid hormone that plays a role in the function of all our organs. Both men and women produce testosterone, while men’s bodies do 15 times more circulating testosterone than women.

Testosterone not only stimulates sexual development and puberty, it also helps us build lean muscle mass and control bone growth. This improves our strength, athletic endurance and cardiovascular fitness.

Many factors can naturally increase testosterone production, including exercise, stress and sex.

But using a synthetic testosterone supplement to boost levels, especially in amounts greater than those produced by the body, will have many consequences for your health.

Initially, this can lead to an increase in sex drive and help your body build more muscle mass for several months. It can also cause acne, balding in men and breast enlargement in men. Women may experience amenorrhea (loss of their periods), increased body hair, deepening of the voice and enlargement of the clitoris.

But these side effects are minor compared to the serious consequences who has long-term, repeated abuse on the body.

Steroid abuse changes the heartcausing it to become larger, blood pressure to rise and the arteries to become less elastic. All these changes make it increasingly difficult for the heart to perform risk of sudden death. Cardiovascular changes persist in the majority of abusers.

Damage to the liver and kidneys is common in people who use steroids for a long time.

Testosterone also has psychological effects, including increased aggression, depression and anxiety.

Crucially, testosterone supplements disable the normal control of this hormone in the brain. This causes hypogonadism, a condition in which the tissues that normally produce testosterone shrink. This leads to a decrease in men sperm count and testicle volume.

Hypogonadism also contributes to a wide range of withdrawal symptoms. Some of these symptoms include depression and reduced libido – unless of course more testosterone is used.

Many men who have abused steroids will become hypogonadal and therefore require lifelong testosterone replacement.

Growing problem

The International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency banned testosterone and other anabolic steroids after the 1972 Olympics. Their reasoning was that while these drugs improve physical performance, they also have serious health consequences.

But more than forty years after that international ban, the use of anabolic steroids among some athletes continues. Between for example 29% and 43% of professional athletes in Iran these resources are said to have been misused in 2021. And an Australian survey of 32 athletes (mostly women) in 2023 showed that about 43% of those interviewed had indicated that they used performance and image-enhancing means.

However, professional athletes now only make up a small portion of the population global doping problem. Cosmetic use of testosterone by non-athletes who want to improve their self-confidence and physical appearance means that abuse of anabolic steroids is now one public issue. Some reports estimate that around 1 million people take steroids like testosterone in the UK.

But given the known risks and harms of testosterone use, why would anyone choose to use it – and continue to use it even if they experience serious health problems? This is a question that experts have been trying to answer for years.

One reason may be that users view health problems as a future problem – and that these problems are an acceptable risk to take if it leads to better performance or appearance in the short term.

Addiction to anabolic steroids may play a role influence judgment and minimize awareness of the potential harm.

The “Goldman Dilemma” can also provide some insight. Between 1982 and 1995, Bob Goldman, a physician and publicist, posed a Faustian hypothetical question to elite athletes: Would they be willing to take a magic pill that would guarantee Olympic gold medal success but also cause their death five years later? ?

He reported that about half of the athletes interviewed accepted it “gold for death” choice. This was the case in a repeat of the 2012-2013 study the share was smaller, namely 7%–14%,– with top athletes being the most likely to choose ‘gold for death’.

There is no denying that abuse of testosterone and its synthetic mimics can lead to harm, yet many continue to abuse it. There are international bans been ineffective. With a growing number of non-athletes abusing testosterone, more needs to be done to educate the public about its many long-term health effects.

This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.