There's a new study entitled "Effects of androgenic-anabolic steroids in
athletes" by Hartgens F, Kuipers H. [Sports Med. 2004;34(8):513-54.] The
study doesn't involve any new experiments, but instead reviews the
scientific literature.
Some of the findings are obvious and well-known, but it's always good to
have scientific evidence when there's so much hearsay.
According to this study, androgenic-anabolic steroids:
-increase body mass and strength
-do not decrease body fat
-have no effect on endurance
-disrupt endogenous production of testosterone and gonadotrophins, for up
to months
-raise blood pressure and depress HDL-, HDL2- and HDL3-cholesterol levels
-do not affect cardiac structure and function in humans according to
echocardiographic studies, but have in animal studies
-do not appear to affect the liver
-strongly affect psyche and behaviour, increasing aggression and hostility
-do not seem to result in depression or withdrawl except in a small number
of users
-are often used by people with low self-esteem and a dissatisfaction with
their body image
The article's authors warn that they might be underestimating the side
effects, because most experiments tend to involve smaller doses of
steroids than many recreational users.
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