Some research surfaced a few months ago that links steroid use to kidney damage:
Between 1999 and 2009, the authors identified a total of 10 men with an average age of 37 years and an average BMI of 34.7 kg/m2, the result of highly muscular physiques from bodybuilding. All admitted to long-term AAS abuse and had proteinuria levels of 1 g/day or more and biopsy-confirmed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis or glomerulomegaly. Five of the 10 patients had full nephrotic syndrome.
Of 8 patients available for long-term follow-up (average follow-up, 2.2 years), 7 reduced their exercise and discontinued AAS use, which resulted in weight loss, stabilization or improvement in serum creatinine levels, and reduced proteinuria. One patient experienced progressive proteinuria and renal insufficiency when he resumed taking AAS.
Renal impairment was worse among the bodybuilders than among a historic control group of 65 obese patients, even though the obese patients had a higher mean BMI (41.7 kg/m2). Mean baseline serum creatinine level among the bodybuilders was 3.0 mg/dL, compared with 1.47 mg/dL in the obese group. The bodybuilders had a mean proteinuria level of 10.1 g/day, compared with 4.09 g/day among the obese group. Thirty percent of the bodybuilders were fully nephrotic, compared with 5.6% of the obese patients.
Quoted from: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/711781
Before I go any further, let me explain something: I’m not really for or against steroid use. I’m simply an advocate of common sense and good science, neither of which have prevailed in my country’s legal policies regarding anabolic steroids.
So is there a possible connection between steroid abuse and kidney problems? It appears there may be. I’ll share a few observations about this study:
*Ten people is an incredibly small sample size.
*One guy actually returned to steroid use despite the dangers. This just shows you how obsessive some bodybuilders are—being unnaturally big is more important to them than being alive.
*As with most discussions of steroids, there’s little mention of the different types of steroids (oral vs injection) or the dosages used. We know the modern-day bodybuilder uses much higher dosages than the guys of years past. I’m guessing the guys with kidney problems have done massive dosages for several years (a 34.7 BMI for a 5’10” man is around 240 lbs; Arnold Schwarzenegger is 6'2" and competed at a weight of 220 lb ).
*The criminalization of steroids by the US government all but ensures comprehensive research will never be done. This is a shame—doctors will probably never know what dosages and steroids put athletes at a higher risk for kidney problems.
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2 comments:
I have spoken to many body builders about the use of Steroids and they either deny the use of it or stumble their way through some form of justification regardless of the internal damage to their own bodies. Such a contradiction...they take a pill to make themselves feel and look good yet slowly destroy the body they so pride themselves in having.
Cosmetic surgery is yet another form of this contradiction...it may not be as damaging ...but it does tend to fall into the arena of playing God and that never pays off in the end~
Thanks for stopping by, Dorothy.
Here's the thing: I think there's a difference between responsible and irresponsible steroid use. The problem is the two are not differentiated because steroids have been demonized. If all steroid use was that dangerous we'd see a LOT more medical issues than we do.
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