Doping is located everywhere on social media – but how dangerous they are?

If you have passed through fitness content on Instagram, Facebook, or Tiktok recently, it is likely that the influencer on your summary took steroids. A A recent global dead study It is estimated that the use of steroid in the gym’s pioneers ranges between 6 percent in some countries to 29 percent amazing in others.

You may find this sudden, however Timothy Beatkovsky At the University of Griffiths, Australia, the surrounding culture using steroid in the past decade says, where many fitness influencers now explicitly revealed drug use and put themselves as experts who can help their followers take steroids to get the best results.

“Unfortunately, the level of clinical knowledge and critical thinking varies greatly in these groups,” says Beatkovsky.

He says that the positions of these influencers towards health risks differ greatly. A quick look at Instagram shows that some influencers believe that the risk of using steroid is important, but it can be intelligently managed; Others describe themselves “weighting”, indicating their willingness to injection Trenbolone, which is steroid used to reduce muscle waste in livestock during transportation.

Millions of people looking to the bulk may wonder if these materials are already safe or if the influencers attract them on a dangerous path. What do we really know about the damage of doping, and is there a safer way to take it?

Piatkowski says research on long -term health risks of stimulants is incomplete, in part due to the presence of a mismatch between doses and the patterns of use experienced by scientists and those of users in the real world. He and other researchers try to fill the gaps Work closely with steroid users To form more relevant and realistic studies.

However, the inconsistency has already raised some influencers on social media Reputation The prevailing scientific and medical positions on steroids, which leads users to seek advice provided in fitness and bodybuilding forums instead. These social media platforms were a A major shareholder To the explosion in the use of steroid, it works as a support and market.

Users can now easily reach different drugs that they can purchase illegally: from orally taken steroids known as SARMS (selective androgen receptors) to human growth hormone forms, and the objects produced by the pituitary gland during puberty. As a group, it is indicated as drugs that enhance images and performance, although the mechanisms through which they work vary greatly.

The drugs are probably used Anabolic steroidsStrong artificial derivatives of testosterone, with a 2022 studies It is estimated that about half a million men and children in the United Kingdom have used them for non -medical purposes in the previous year.

What steroids do

To see if the steroids are safe, we must first understand what they do for the body. Anabolic atomic steroids work by targeting hormone receptors that promote the development of male sex properties, especially in muscle and bone tissue. “They build muscles, and they are important for bone growth, and they take you through puberty and transform children, literally, into men,” he says, says Shanna Jaysina At the London Empire.

The required effect is clear: larger and stronger bodies in a shorter time. Medically, some of these substances are prescribed to treat conditions that calm the muscles such as HIV. In these lower doses, research indicates that steroids can be Beam. But this is not how it is usually used in outpatient clinics.

The non -medical use of stimulants rarely follows a cautious approach to clinical trials. Users often take “stacked” groups of multiple medications, and they wandered inside and outside the drugs to allow their body to recover or experience “explosion and cruises” – large doses followed by that lower. These practices are not well studied in scientific literature, but the influencers claim that they can help reduce health risks or achieve better results in muscle growth. This may explain that many users end up asking for advice from influencers or online forums, instead of doctors.

Unorganized use risks

Part of the attractiveness of taking experimental groups of medications or taking them in courses is the belief that they help reduce the harmful side effects of anabolic stimulants. The most amazing side effects are the heart and blood vessels. The use of steroid steroid raises blood pressure and reduces high -density fatty protein, or “good” cholesterol, in the blood with an increase in low -density fatty protein, or “bad” cholesterol. Jayasina says the heart muscle, which can lead to heart muscle disease, is a decrease in the heart function that can be fatal.

A Danish population study I found that anabolic steroid users had a three -fold risk of death compared to other men during the period when the study occurred. “This is the same cocaine,” says Jayasina. Cardiovascular disease and cancer were the most common natural causes of death among these users.

After the cardiovascular health, Jayasina says that Psychological and social effects It is the most dangerous and well documented. The phrase “ROID RAGE” indicates to Verbal aggressionand Obsessing and mind By some men who use high doses. If you analyze the cause [why steroid users] “There are three reasons. One of them is myocardiality. One of them is suicide, but the other is killing. Therefore, we believe that men aim to criminally,” he says.

This link remains controversial. It is difficult to isolate the use of steroid from other factors, such as Terrible drug use Or the conditions of mental health in advance. However, evidence indicates that stopping the use of steroid can lead to depression rings and suicidal ideas – especially if the production of the natural testosterone in the body has been closed. “The testicles become lazy,” says Jayasina. “They are closing, and it may take several months, Sometimes yearsTo recover. ”

A study led by Jayasena found that approximately 30 percent of men who stopped using experienced steroids in suicide or severe depression, perhaps because high levels of remaining steroid in parts of the brain that regulate feelings. There is also evidence of steroids damage Kidney function And the increased risk of cancer, but the data here LeastMost of them are based on individual medical status studies.

Some of these health risks seem to be vice versa, according to some studies. the LiverFor example, good in repairing itself and it appears to be tolerated with low clinical doses of some stimulants. Some effects seem like high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure Reversal After stopping the use of steroid, but others require a long or expensive treatment to fix it, including Mood disorders and Infertility.

Most of the consequences of using steroid can be the most difficult treatment. These include structural changes in the heart, with research that shows that blood flow to the organ can be Weak for years After the user stops taking steroids.

Use the “safer” steroid

With the long and complex menu of potential damage, many users try the methods that steroids take in an attempt to reduce their risks. This includes controlling doses or timing, or using them in different groups with other materials. Petkovsky says studies that look at the safety of these “protocols” are almost not present.

One of the studies of Jayasina I found that the treatment after the course, as users take medications that help restart the production of the natural testosterone after completing a course of steroids, significantly reduced the risk of thinking about suicide. One of the studies of Piatkowksi, which compares courses in which users take high doses and then explode, showed that these are The explosion Users report fewer negative health effects after stopping their use.

High -quality studies, controlled by the effects of the use of entertainment steroid Rare. They usually suffer from small sizes or take the form of reports on individual medical conditions, which makes it difficult to determine causal relationships. The base of the evidence for more narrow -sized protocols, especially given that the methods that people use change faster than officials and researchers who can keep up with it.

“We need more longitudinal studies and the type of regiment,” says Piatkowski-research that can follow people’s health and welfare over time. This would help separate real risks and possibly guidance to reduce them. But without better evidence, doctors are often left in the dark about how to advise patients who use steroids.

Greg James, a doctor in Kratos Middler, a clinic in Cardiff, the United Kingdom, who provides special health examinations and blood tests, says that a few of his patients have begun to combine doping with GLP-1 appetite and other peptides that regulate appetite. “They ask me whether these peptides are safe,” says James. “And I say, well, I have nothing to continue. We have no long -term safety data.”

In the face of limited clinical data and advanced user practices, researchers like Piatkowski began to engage directly with users in real world settings. Instead of watching users only as patients or extremist values, this approach treats them as a source of live experience – those that can help form more realistic realistic studies.

One study Piatkowski and his collaborators have published this year an analysis of steroid samples from users. More than 20 percent have been contaminated with toxic substances such as lead, arsenic or mercury. More than half of them were incorrectly dusted, which means that users could have taken more powerful factors, designed to fattening livestock, for example.

Another study that relies on interviews with users who have tried many types of steroids I identified Trenbolone It also has the most negative side effects, especially for mental and social health. The result indicates that the concentration of tests and intervention strategies to exchange Trenbolone as a unique harmful may be more effective in preventing harm more than more critical strategy.

This approach other than cooperative in drug research follows the leadership of other recreational drug strategies anestheticAs not only the involvement with real users about the damage strategies, but also unveiled medical uses.

It may encourage work with influencers and users as well Promote the safest behaviorInstead of condemning drug use as a whole, Biatovsky says. “Increased knowledge and legitimacy to these societies is incredibly important. This is an experimental and fixed experience that occurs. If we attract it more, I think we will be able to push the field greatly forward.”

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