Information On Anabolic Steroids

Accurate Information on Anabolic Steroids, Growth Hormone and Your Heart

Recently published information on anabolic steroids based on a Finnish study seems to have found no link between heart damage and steroid drugs. However it was found that taking anabolic steroids together with growth hormone to enhance performance could well have an adverse effect on your heart.

The Finnish study focused on twenty bodybuilders who had just completed a course of steroids. The study showed no impact of steroids on the heart tissue of the subjects. This is in contrast to published in the eighties where there appeared to be a link between steroids and left ventricular mass enlargement.

This ventricles are the area of the heart that helps deliver oxygen to the body. If it is overdeveloped it can cause irregular heart rhythm and even death. Other scientists published information on that disproved this theory when they argued that enlargement occurred even in athletes that did not use steroids. In this case, they felt that the disorder was caused by resistance training itself, and not steroids.

The Finnish study appeared in the International Journal of Sports Medicine in 2003 and doesn't disprove historic information on anabolic steroids. Instead it examines the relationship between anabolic drugs and heart hypertrophy. The subjects in the study had all purchased their steroids illegally and sixteen bodybuilders used steroids only. They took from a few hundred milligrams to in excess of a thousand milligrams.

It is important for athletes to study as much accurate information on anabolic steroids as possible based on safe dosage levels of the various drugs. Four of the athletes in the study took anabolic steroids as well as doses of growth hormone. They took between two, three or four IU's for four to six weeks. The growth hormone was injected once a day and they also took a greater amount of steroid drug than the other sixteen subjects.

Afterwards they had their hearts examined by doctors. It was found that taking steroids and growth hormone combined change the structure of the heart. However in the group that only took steroids their blood pressure was unchanged and their heart efficiency was improved! There was no damage to heart muscle. So this new information on anabolic steroids is interesting if perhaps, not conclusive.

On the other hand the subjects that took both steroids and growth hormone combined showed extreme ventricular hypertrophy. The study revealed even more information on anabolic steroids namely that the damage seems to be immediate but can be reduced by going off the drugs for periods.

This new Information on anabolic steroids should be of concern for those who do not cycle their drugs. It is important that breaks are taken between steroid cycles to avoid damage to the heart as well as the immune system.

This is particularly important if you are in your late thirties or older. While many potential damaging effects have not been conclusively proven all athletes should take this information on anabolic steroids and other studies very seriously and take steps to protect their heart health in the long term.