In pursuit of the body beautiful, most muscle wannabes continue to abuse steroids despite knowing that they have serious, life-limiting and potentially lethal side effects, say researchers.
The findings showed that men using anabolic steroids (synthetic variations of testosterone) to improve strength and physical performance are often aware of the side effects but choose to continue taking them.
This raises serious concerns not only for their own health but that of future generations since side effects are known to damage sperm as well as increase the risk of sexual dysfunction, heart disease and liver damage.
"These findings were surprising, not only was the prevalence of steroid abuse high, but knowledge of the damaging side effects was also high, yet this does not stop them taking them," said Dr Mykola Lykhonosov from Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University in Russia.
For the study, Dr Lykhonosov and colleagues conducted an anonymous survey of men who regularly attend the gym, to assess their knowledge of, use of an attitude towards the health risks of anabolic steroids.
Of 550 respondents, 30.4 per cent said they used steroids, 74.3 per cent of users were aged 22-35 years old and 70.2 per cent of users said they were aware of the side effects.
In addition, 54.8 per cent of all respondents indicated that they would like to receive more expert information on steroids and their side effects.
"We need to tackle this growing public health problem, increasing awareness through the promotion of stories from former users, on how steroid abuse has negatively impacted on their health and lives, could be a good strong message to discourage abuse," said Dr Lykhonosov.
Anabolic steroids such as testosterone are performance-enhancing hormones that increase muscle mass and boost athletic ability, which has led to their misuse and abuse by some, and men in particular.
The findings were set to be presented at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting "ECE 2019" in Lyon, France.
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