Steroids effects on the HEART, a real study on 4 bodybuilders

[thatbloke]

o got this from another forum from a posted titled 'maldorf', but i think people on this forum would love to read it as i found is VERY interesting



EXCELLENT CASE STUDY OF 4 BODYBUILDERS USING STEROIDS FOR MANY YEARS
I am not going to paraphrase and spoon feed the info in this study here. I am going to summarize some of the things I found interesting in this study. You then need to read through this study carefully, and pay close attention. Hopefully the terminology wont throw you off.

Here are some things I found rather interesting. The average age of the 4 guys in this study is 30 yrs old. They all had a normal resting heart rate and normal blood pressure. Anabolic steroids have been proven to increase the chances of getting a blood clot, CLINICALLY PROVEN. They have been proven to cause hypertrophy(thickening) of the heart in all walls, and this reverses considerably once they get off the steroids. The stiffening of the heart and lack of contractility (hypokenetic) do not seem to get better after steroids are stopped. Anabolic steroids bring on fibrotic changes in the heart(scar tissue like) and they think a lot of it is mediated by aldosterone. These fibrotic changes can be fought by taking spironolactone. I myself now take spironolactone because my cardiologist told me to. I now do what my doctor tells me to do. (PLEASE NOBODY GO SELF MEDICATING YOURSELF WITH SPIRONOLACTONE PLEASE!!)

Patient #2 almost died during exercise testing from an arrythmia . He had to be shocked several times to stop tachycardia and to avoid any further ventricular fibrillation. he did start to fibrillate some. I had this very same experience and now have a defibrillator planted in my chest. This patient was fooling around very foolishly with high doses of clen trying to get ready for a contest. I guess he didnt care if he died as long as he got a trophy.

Patient 4 had 3 blood clots when admitted to the hospital, yes 3!! One in his left leg, one in his right ventricle, and one in his left ventricle.

All patients resumed taking steroids eventually. Patient 4 left the study as soon as his blood clots were clear and was never heard from again. Bullheaded, ah those docs dont know nothin.

Just sit and spend some time. Most of you on here want to be educated on steriods, and its good that you see what can happen to the heart. Now I know many of you are going to think that they are taking mega doses and this isnt going to happen to me. It is hard to figure out what table one exactly means. I dont know if those #s are weekly doses or what, but they are on the high end. Looks like several grams of test a week maybe. Cannot really tell for certain how to interpret the table. It is foolish to throw away your conern for heart health in this matter thinking that the only reason they had trouble was the high doses. The effects here are additive,and collect over many years. these young men averaged age 30, and so they really had not been using all that long. Looking at the study, it seems the average years of usage was just 8 years. Even if someone were using 1/2 the dose, what will their heart look like in 16 years? 20 years? These men were 30 years old and hearts weaker than a healthy 90 year old man's. There is a good chance my father may out live me and he is 72 years old. Much healthier than I am.

Here is a link to the study.

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/.../1576.full.pdf

 

[Gamer2Be08]

o got this from another forum from a posted titled 'maldorf', but i think people on this forum would love to read it as i found is VERY interesting



EXCELLENT CASE STUDY OF 4 BODYBUILDERS USING STEROIDS FOR MANY YEARS
I am not going to paraphrase and spoon feed the info in this study here. I am going to summarize some of the things I found interesting in this study. You then need to read through this study carefully, and pay close attention. Hopefully the terminology wont throw you off.

Here are some things I found rather interesting. The average age of the 4 guys in this study is 30 yrs old. They all had a normal resting heart rate and normal blood pressure. Anabolic steroids have been proven to increase the chances of getting a blood clot, CLINICALLY PROVEN. They have been proven to cause hypertrophy(thickening) of the heart in all walls, and this reverses considerably once they get off the steroids. The stiffening of the heart and lack of contractility (hypokenetic) do not seem to get better after steroids are stopped. Anabolic steroids bring on fibrotic changes in the heart(scar tissue like) and they think a lot of it is mediated by aldosterone. These fibrotic changes can be fought by taking spironolactone. I myself now take spironolactone because my cardiologist told me to. I now do what my doctor tells me to do. (PLEASE NOBODY GO SELF MEDICATING YOURSELF WITH SPIRONOLACTONE PLEASE!!)

Patient #2 almost died during exercise testing from an arrythmia . He had to be shocked several times to stop tachycardia and to avoid any further ventricular fibrillation. he did start to fibrillate some. I had this very same experience and now have a defibrillator planted in my chest. This patient was fooling around very foolishly with high doses of clen trying to get ready for a contest. I guess he didnt care if he died as long as he got a trophy.

Patient 4 had 3 blood clots when admitted to the hospital, yes 3!! One in his left leg, one in his right ventricle, and one in his left ventricle.

All patients resumed taking steroids eventually. Patient 4 left the study as soon as his blood clots were clear and was never heard from again. Bullheaded, ah those docs dont know nothin.

Just sit and spend some time. Most of you on here want to be educated on steriods, and its good that you see what can happen to the heart. Now I know many of you are going to think that they are taking mega doses and this isnt going to happen to me. It is hard to figure out what table one exactly means. I dont know if those #s are weekly doses or what, but they are on the high end. Looks like several grams of test a week maybe. Cannot really tell for certain how to interpret the table. It is foolish to throw away your conern for heart health in this matter thinking that the only reason they had trouble was the high doses. The effects here are additive,and collect over many years. these young men averaged age 30, and so they really had not been using all that long. Looking at the study, it seems the average years of usage was just 8 years. Even if someone were using 1/2 the dose, what will their heart look like in 16 years? 20 years? These men were 30 years old and hearts weaker than a healthy 90 year old man's. There is a good chance my father may out live me and he is 72 years old. Much healthier than I am.

Here is a link to the study.

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/.../1576.full.pdf

It makes sense, but there are so many older guys still alive that were/are juice maniacs.
lee priest- still uses
lou ferrigno- probably still uses
arnold
Radar- lol

of course the heart will be damaged during steroid use. but the amount of damage done will depend on the amount of gear you use, the duration, amount of cycles per year, support supplements, amount of cardio, clean diet, and you natural risk for heart disease.

 

[muscles wife]

my bloke is 42 this year he been on steriods (deca, lixus test,ect) for bout 12 years but he dont even do cycles?

 

[Dogfox]

They were all massively OD'ing if you read the study

I think moderation, supplementation, diet, and cardio will go a long way in ensuring this wouldnt happen.
These guys must have been huge


"This paper presents four subjects with serious
clinical problems, all of whom took anabolic steroids in
massive doses for many years while weight training."

 

[Nelson Montana]

What were the dosages? That's the main thing. Without that, the study is meaningless.

Testosterone is heart healthy.

I'd venture to guess the problem wasn't the steroids but the patients weight. Where's THAT?

 

[Dogfox]

What were the dosages? That's the main thing. Without that, the study is meaningless.

Testosterone is heart healthy.

I'd venture to guess the problem was the steroids but the patients weight. Where's THAT?

If you go to the study theres a table that has 3 of the patients dosages, they are very high. I didnt see weight listed for them however

Quote from conclusion:

"the findings of the present report are of most
concern and should warn all physicians and athletes of
the serious risks involved in the continuous use of large
doses of anabolic steroids."

 

[Nelson Montana]

If you go to the study theres a table that has 3 of the patients dosages, they are very high. I didnt see weight listed for them however

Quote from conclusion:

"the findings of the present report are of most
concern and should warn all physicians and athletes of
the serious risks involved in the continuous use of large
doses of anabolic steroids."

I think it's more accurate to say, "the serious risks of being 5'7" and weighing over 260 pounds.

 

[Gamer2Be08]

I think it's more accurate to say, "the serious risks of being 5'7" and weighing over 260 pounds.

Agreed to much heart stress

 

[JBEXT81]

there maybe "problems" with this study like whats the weight and stats so to speak. I think it s a good find and a "must -read" to say, nevevr hurts to air on the side of caution and hopefully the more people read these posts the more will not use stupidly. I think we get comfortable with them due to usage and being around others who use them (like being in this forum, ie) sometimes its good to just remind us that hey, moderation is the key

 

[Zyglamail]

There are a lot of contributing factors here. Some of the doses listed in that study were seriously high. Also, high doses of AAS that cause significant rise in RBC raises BP and causes the heart to work harder. Work a muscle harder and what happens? It gets larger. I think if more people who cycled watched their RBC and BP and kept it in the normal range impact on the heart would be minimal.