Steroids can lead to heart problems instead of big muscles

Athletes, entertainers, and bodybuilders have been using anabolic steroids for decades to gain muscle mass that simply wouldn't be possible through proper nutrition and frequent training. Although the use of such substances has long been associated with health problems, especially of a cardiovascular nature, new research from the University of Birmingham adds another reason for an all-natural approach to fitness: heart health.
According to scientists, taking testosterone may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heartbeat, in people with an existing predisposition. An interdisciplinary consortium of doctors and researchers led by the University of Birmingham, in addition to a team of collaborators in Germany, conducted this project.
The research team found that male sex hormones (such as testosterone), also called androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS), are able to increase the risk of atrial fibrillation in individuals genetically predisposed to heart disease. Steroids are often abused to build large muscles, especially among young men.
"Our study may contribute significantly to understanding the impact on the heart health of young men who abuse anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass. Recent reports have shown that young men in particular are the target of attacks on social media such as TikTok, where they sell testosterone products, but we have shown how steroid abuse carries a specific risk that many people will not be aware of," said study lead author Dr. Laura Sommerfeld, a postdoctoral fellow at UKE Hamburg who completed her PhD at the Institute for Cardiovascular Sciences to the University of Birmingham, focusing on this work.
"Heart muscle diseases such as arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (RHD) affect young, athletic people and can lead to life-threatening heart rhythm disturbances. Atrial fibrillation is a common condition in the general population. Elevated testosterone levels can lead to earlier onset of these diseases," added Professor Larissa Fabritz, Head of the Department of Hereditary Heart Disease at UKE Hamburg and Honorary Head of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Birmingham.
The study authors worked to examine any potential effects on the condition, called ADK, which is primarily caused by disturbances in the formation of cell junctions critical to the stability of the heart muscle.
Initially, the researchers confirmed that ADC tends to occur more frequently and more severely in men than in women. During a series of laboratory experiments, the authors of the study discovered that a six-week intake of AAS in combination with disrupted cellular connections could potentially lead to reduced functioning of sodium channels in heart tissue and a subsequent delay in the conduction of signals in the atria.
"This work suggests that young men with key inherited genetic changes are at greater risk of developing electrical problems in the heart in response to anabolic steroid abuse," concluded Dr. Andrew Holmes, co-author and associate professor at the Institute of Clinical of Sciences at the University of Birmingham./BGNES