the heart is a muscle so it can adapt to the body he now has?
Steroids and the Heart
According to researchers, long-term use of anabolic steroids appears to weaken the heart, but it’s not clear if this weakening is reversible.
In an effort to better understand the impact of long-term anabolic steroid use on the heart, cardiologist and researcher Aaron L. Baggish, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital performed heart function testing on weightlifters – steroid users and non-users. (The study appears in the 4/2010 issue of the American Heart Association journal, Circulation: Heart Failure.)
THE PARTICIPANTS
12 weightlifters that took steroids
7 weightlifters that did not take drugs
Average age: 40
Average length of steroid use: 9 years
Duration of weightlifting, total physical activity level and weight: Groups were similar
Muscle mass: Steroid users had more than the non-users
THE RESULTS
A healthy left ventricle – the heart’s main pumping chamber – pumps 55% to 70% of the blood that fills the heart. This measurement is known as ejection fraction. When Doppler echocardiography ultrasound was used to examine blood flow through the heart, most of the steroid users showed evidence of weakness during contraction in the left ventricle.
10 of the 12 steroid users had ejection fractions of less than 55%, which has been linked to an increased risk for heart failure and sudden cardiac arrest
1 of the 7 weightlifters with no history of steroid use had a low ejection fraction
The steroid users also showed evidence of impaired diastolic function, which is the ability of the left ventricle to relax and fill with blood following contraction
Left ventricle relaxation was reduced by almost 50% among steroid users compared to non-users
Steroids and the Kidneys
Leal Herlitz, MD, Assistant Professor of Pathology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York recently conducted the first study describing injury to the kidneys following long-term abuse of anabolic steroids. (Review the full study at Renal & Urology News.)
THE PARTICIPANTS
10 male body builders with highly muscular physiques who used steroids for many years and experienced proteinuria of 1g/day or greater and severe reductions in kidney function.
Caucasians: 6
Hispanics: 4
Years of steroid use: 8-20 years
THE RESULTS
It is well known that focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) typically occurs when the kidneys are overworked. The kidney damage observed in this group of bodybuilders had similarities to that seen in morbidly obese patients, but appeared to be even more severe. Renal biopsy revealed:
FSGS in 9 of the 10 patients
4 of the 9 patients also had glomerulomegaly
1 patient had glomerulomegaly alone
3 biopsies showed collapsing lesions of FSGS
4 had perihilar lesions
7 of the 10 men had tubular atrophy of 40% or greater and interstitial fibrosis
The researchers proposed that extreme increases in muscle mass require the kidneys to increase their filtration rate, placing harmful levels of stress on the kidneys. “As in obese patients, the increased strain on the kidney from the elevated body mass leads to hyper-filtration injury,” Dr. Herlitz explained.
It is also likely that steroids have direct toxic effects on the kidneys. “Numerous animal models have shown adverse effects of androgens on the kidneys and we believe that the anabolic steroids themselves may be directly nephrotoxic,” she said.
