The use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) is not exclusive to the Olympic Games only. In fact, the PEDs have rooted their demand in other fields as well. Other professional sports such as bodybuilding, cricket, and basketball have also seen the rise of the use of testosterone and growth hormones. Moreover, in the past three decades, the use of these hormones has also brought forth a cadre among non-athletes.
The purpose of using performance-enhancing drugs mainly for athletes is to improve their physical performance and quickly recover from injuries. Drugs such as anabolic steroids, stimulants, growth hormones, and diuretics have short-term effects contributing to muscle massing, bodybuilding, speed, and weight management; however, they also bring a number of side effects with their consumption. Heart and blood pressure issues, liver problems, psychological instability, and physical deterioration are only a few to count. Before anyone feels lured to use PEDs, it is important for both athletes and non-athletes to take a steroids overview and know about the potential risks associated.
Risks of performance-enhancing drugs
Anabolic steroids
These steroids are medically prescribed to treat delayed puberty and impotence. However, synthetic anabolic steroids such as oxandrolone and methyltestosterone can bar the overall growth and building of a body, especially when consumed by adolescents and teenagers. In addition, they may also cause acne, liver damage, male pattern baldness, aggressiveness, abnormal sexual behavior, impotence in men, decrease in sperm count, irregular menstrual cycles, and facial hair growth.
Diuretics
Diuretics such as furosemide and spironolactone can reduce weight in a very short period. People also use them to conceal the use of other drugs. These drugs cause excess fluid in your body to flush that leads to your body feeling severely dehydrated. Dehydration results in various other dangerous side effects, including potassium deficiency, weariness and heart issues, muscle spasms, extremely low BP, and dizziness. When left unattended, these conditions can be fatal.
Cardiovascular effects
Abuse of oral and injectable anabolic steroid is related to a higher risk of hypertension, heart stroke, and heart attack. Growth hormones, for example, human chorionic gonadotropin and corticotrophin can develop diabetes, which likewise augments the danger of cardiovascular issues. Using diuretics can also lead to heart arrhythmias.
Emotional effects
One of the prominent side effects of using PEDs includes emotional effects. These drugs can make a person extremely aggressive and violent. They may also initiate the begging of mental issue such as depression. Users of steroids often have delusional beliefs, paranoid jealousy, unnecessary irritability and grouchiness, and biased judgment. Although painkillers and narcotics may be mentally animating, they can result in fanciful convictions about an athlete’s physical ability and strength that make him act in rash ways. Furthermore, while stimulants, for example, ephedrine and amphetamines can escalate readiness and lessen the feeling of weakness; they are likewise responsible for causing misguided thinking and increased threatening vibes.
Effects on the liver
Steroid abuse can greatly affect the liver and its functioning. A person may develop liver tumors leading to other health issues such as edema, jaundice, swelling in different body parts, etc. Anabolic steroid injections can also pass on hepatitis from one person to another when these injections are shared. If the use of these drugs is not stopped, then there is a high chance of liver failure.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.