STEROIDS : NOT REALLY ALL THAT BAD BY JERRY BRAINUM

Whenever you hear or read anything about anabolic steroids, it's almost always bad news. The media have demonized them, leading the average person to believe that anabolic steroids have little medicinal or health value and are mainly a means for athletes to cheat their way to glory. You can't turn to the typical medical doctor for answers, either. Most doctors have little or no actual experience with anabolic steroids. They are rare in most routine medical practices, and the fact that they're Schedule III drugs means that any doctor who prescribes them can expect some government heat. About the only positive thing you hear about steroids relates to testosterone-replacement therapy for men who are clinically deficient in the hormone. Even there, however, most doctors are quick to suggest that it causes prostate cancer despite the overwhelming evidence that being low in testosterone is what predisposes a man to the disease.

Anabolic steroids share characteristics with other drugs in that side effects are based on time and dosage. The longer you stay on the drugs and the higher the dose, the greater the chance of serious side effects. Most athletes who engage in high-dose steroid regimens do experience side effects, but they're usually mild and transient and can include elevated liver enzymes, indicative of minor liver inflammation, and adverse changes in blood lipids, including a dramatic lowering of beneficial high density lipoprotein cholesterol in those who use oral steroids. Some bodybuilders have also experienced higher blood pressure while on the drugs. In rare instances the temporary side effects linked to steroids have led to severe outcomes, ranging from heart attacks to strokes. In most cases, though, any side effects recede when an athlete gets off the drugs.

Among the benefits cited by athletes who have used anabolic steroids are better exercise recovery and less fatigue during training. Indeed, some of the high-volume training routines favored by pro bodybuilders would be impossible without steroid help. Some studies have suggested that the mechanisms of increased exercise efficiency include a modification of metabolic enzymes: an increase in the size of mitochondria, cellular structures that are the site of both energy production and fat oxidation: and beneficial changes in muscle composition.

During training, more free radicals, also known as reactive oxygen species, are produced as a byproduct of exercise intensity and greater oxygen intake. Interestingly, heightened free radical production has both good and bad effects. Having fewer free radicals means increased muscle force production. Having more leads to muscle fatigue characterized by muscle contractile dysfunction.

Normally, the body compensates for increased free radical production by boosting the activity of its innate neutralizing antioxidant systems, such as the enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase. Free radicals themselves are just unpaired electrons that seek to combine with other electrons. When that happens, they can seriously interfere with cellular function, particularly cell membranes.

While multiple sites in the cell can produce free radicals the mitochondria, because they process oxygen, are the primary source. Interestingly, testosterone and other anabolic steroids boost antioxidant cell defenses. In a new study, scientists sought to determine whether and how anabolic steroids could protect cells, especially mitochondria, against oxidative  damage. It involved isolating mitochondria from the gastrocnemius muscle of both sedentary and acutely exercised rats. Some of the rats had been given the anabolic steroid stanozolol, trade name Winstrol, a drug popular with bodybuilders and other athletes. An injectable form of stanozolol led to the disqualification of Canadian track star Ben Johnson during the  '88 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul.

Winstrol-and probably all other anabolic steroids-may considerably support mitochondrial stability, which has broad implications for preventing muscle loss.

 The study found that stanozolol did protect rat muscle mitochondria from the effects of increased oxidative damage during exercise.The reason was not an increase in antioxidant protection but rather a drop in mitochondrial free-radical production. That has interesting implications because loss of mitochondria is considered one of the primary causes of muscle aging and loss. If you could maintain mitochondria integrity with age, your muscles would age much more slowly, and as a result you'd maintain more muscle and strength.

How did Winstrol help protect mitochondria during exercise? The authors couldn't isolate a precise mechanism, but they did offer a plausible theory. In the rats that exercised but weren't given Winstrol, mitochondrial cell membranes had a marked increase in the DHA content. DHA stands for docosahexaenoic acid, one of two primary omega-3 fatty acids found in natural food sources, such as fatty fish and fish oil. The increased DHA in the mitochondrial membranes is thought to be stimulated by the greater release of catecholamines, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, produced during exercise. Exercise can cause a 64 percent increase in the DHA in cell membranes.

Normally, DHA in cell membranes is a good thing. It keep them fluid rather than stiff, as occurs when excess cholesterol is deposited in them. Having more membrane fluidity also increases interactions of cell receptors with their respective hormones. For example, it enables insulin to react more effectively with its cell receptors, which increases insulin sensitivity. The downside of having more DHA in the membranes is that as a highly polyunsaturated fat, it is prone to oxidation, which produces free radicals that, paradoxically, damage the cell membrane.

It turns out that giving rats a steroid such as Winstrol prevents the accumulation of DHA that would otherwise occur during exercise. That in turn means less chance of oxidation. The whole thing adds up to increased mitochondrial protection. How Winstrol does that is also not known, but it may involve modifying the actions of catecholamines, which as noted are the primary stimulus for increased DHA deposition in cell membranes. 

So Winstrol--and probably all other anabolic steroids--may considerably support mitochondrial stability. That has broad implications for preventing muscle loss and maintaining a more youthful muscle function with the passing years. Based on those findings, should Winstrol and other steroids be considered anti-aging drugs?

I doubt you'll read about it in the popular media since anything positive about anabolic steroids doesn't seem to sell.

Another study involved an animal isolated-cell design, so its result may or may not be duplicated in human tissues. In any case, stanozolol has some properties that may overrule its use as an anti-aging drug. For one thing, the oral version can cause liver problems if used for too long or at too high a dose. As a DHT-derivative, stanozolol can lead to male-pattern baldness, acne and prostate problems. Then there's that lowering of protective HDL, which  can predispose users to cardiovascular disease. 

Stanozolol is also effective at blocking cortisol, a catabolic hormone. While that produces greater anabolic activity, when you get off stanozolol, either oral or injectable, you get a rebound cortisol effect that can lead to muscle loss. When on stanozolol, you'll feel more joint pain because of its interference with cortisol's anti-inflammatory properties.

Still, the new rat study's findings about stanozolol's mitochondrial protection are intriguing. I doubt you'll read about it in the popular media, since anything positive about anabolic steroids doesn't seem to sell.

 Saborido, Al, et al. (2011). Stanozolol treatment decreases the mitochondrial ROS generation and oxidative stress induced by acute exercise in rat skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol. 110(3):661-9

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©,2018 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited

Have you been ripped off  by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Jerry Brainum's book Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

 

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

See Jerry's book at  http://www.jerrybrainum.com

 

Want more evidence-based information on exercise science, nutrition and food supplements, ergogenic aids, and anti-aging research? Check out Applied Metabolics Newsletter at www.appliedmetabolics.com

 

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Bodybuilders See Kidney Damage With Steroids Interview with Jerry Brainum written by Katie Thomas

THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

 

 

Many competitive bodybuilders take anabolic steroids to achieve their freakishly exaggerated physiques. That is no secret. But steroids can be only one part of an extreme regimen that can wreak havoc on the body.

Human growth hormone, supplements, painkillers and diuretics can also be used to create the “shrink-wrapped” muscles so prized in the aesthetic. And the high concentration of muscle mass puts stress on the body, as if the lifter were obese.

 Lifting weights in the gym is “extremely healthy for you,” said Kenneth Wheeler, a former elite bodybuilder known as Flex. “But if you want to be a bodybuilder and compete at the highest level, it has nothing to do with health.” A relatively rare form of kidney disease forced Wheeler to retire in 2003 at age 37, and he needed a kidney transplant later that year.

 Determining the extent of the damage that bodybuilders inflict on themselves is difficult, in part because there is little interest in financing studies on such an extreme group, and because bodybuilders are not always honest about what they take. That is why a case study published last month by a top kidney journal is generating interest in the nephrology and bodybuilding communities. It is among the first to assert a direct link between long-term steroid use and kidney disease.

 

 Patrick Antonecchia, a powerlifter and strong man competitor, ended his steroid use and career about a year ago. Credit Joyce Dopkeen for The New York Times

 The study began 10 years ago when a kidney pathologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York noticed that a bodybuilder had an advanced form of kidney disease. Curious, she started looking for similar cases and eventually studied 10 men with serious kidney damage who acknowledged using steroids. Nine were bodybuilders and one was a competitive powerlifter with a similar training routine.

 All 10 men in the case series, published in November by the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, showed damage to the filters of the kidney. Nine had an irreversible disease known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis — the same disease contracted by Wheeler — even though the men in the study did not have other apparent risk factors. Their disease was worse than in obese patients with a higher body-mass index, suggesting that steroids — combined with the other practices — might be harming the kidneys.

Among the study’s most persuasive details is the story of a man, 30 years old at the time, who damaged his kidneys after more than a decade of bodybuilding. The patient’s condition improved after he stopped using the drugs, discontinued his regimen and lost 80 pounds. But it worsened after the man, who became depressed, returned to bodybuilding and steroids.

“These patients are likely the tip of the iceberg,” said Vivette D. D’Agati, the lead researcher. “It’s a risk. A significant risk.”

 Several experts not affiliated with the study said that while the claims were intriguing, the study’s value was limited because it focused only on intensive steroid users and because the bodybuilders’ layered training practices had to be taken into account. “I think it’s hard to be certain what’s causing their kidney disease,” said William Bremner, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington and an endocrinologist who studies steroids.

Antonecchia has lost about 50 pounds 

and said he misses the attention his

290-pound frame attracted. 

Credit Joyce Dopkeen for The New York Times

D’Agati said, “It’s probably multiple factors that are converging in these patients, but the common entity in all of them is anabolic steroids.”

One participant in the study, Patrick Antonecchia, 46, competed in powerlifting and strong man events for more than 25 years and said he used steroids, supplements and a high-protein diet to attain feats such as pulling a 40,000-pound truck. He ended his career and stopped using steroids about a year ago, and in February received a diagnosis of serious kidney damage. His doctors warned him not to use the drugs again. “They said: ‘Pat. Don’t. Because it comes back,’ ” he said.

Antonecchia has lost about 50 pounds and said he misses the attention his 290-pound frame attracted: “The toughest thing now is it was my identity for 25 years. Now, when people see me, they say, ‘What happened to you?’ ”

Jerry Brainum writes a column for Iron Man Magazine called Bodybuilding Pharmacology and said he welcomes more research on the subject. “I found it very alarming, quite frankly,” Brainum said.

 Since the 1990s, at least eight accomplished bodybuilders have died at a young age, and in addition to Wheeler, another six were forced to stop competing because of serious illness, often involving kidney disease.

   

 

Kenneth Wheeler, a bodybuilder known as Flex, in 1996. He developed kidney disease and was forced to retire in 2003 at age 37. Credit Gary Phillips

 The main source of information for bodybuilders is word of mouth and experimentation, Brainum said. “These guys have no guidance, they talk among themselves, and they don’t even tell the truth to each other,” he said.

The risk-taking has been made worse by a trend toward ever larger physiques among the sport’s top competitors, some said. Jay Cutler, who won the 2009 Mr. Olympia contest, weighs almost 40 pounds more than Arnold Schwarzenegger did when he won the title in 1974, even though Cutler is five inches shorter.

“Each decade you have a guy that comes along that sets new standards and you say O.K., now I’m going to have to take it to the next level,” said Shahriar Kamali, a professional bodybuilder known as King.

The International Federation of Body Building and Fitness reserves the right to test for steroids and human growth hormone at the professional level, and testing is done on a random basis, said Bob Cicherillo, athlete representative for the federation, which is the main governing body for bodybuilding.

But several bodybuilders said the testing was nearly nonexistent, and Cicherillo said he could not provide specific figures on competitors who tested positive. In addition, the chairman of the organization’s medical commission, Robert M. Goldman, is a leading champion of the anti-aging effects of human growth hormone, a drug that is banned by most sports governing bodies.

 

 Antonecchia competing in the 2001 New World Strongest Man competition where he was the runner-up.

James Manion, who runs the professional division of the federation, did not return several calls seeking comment.

Some bodybuilders expressed doubt that their practices were dangerous, pointing to former competitors who are still healthy in their 70s. They attributed the deaths of elite bodybuilders to the abuse of over-the-counter painkillers and diuretics, not steroids. The bodybuilding federation tests for diuretics at professional events, although competitors said they are still used.

Bodybuilders said that they were unfairly singled out as drug abusers when athletes in most other sports were also using performance-enhancing drugs. “Like anything else, it’s use and abuse,” Cicherillo said. “We’re the ones who are visual. We’re the ones who walk around, and you see us with the big muscles.”

Wheeler said he was convinced steroid use did not cause his kidney disease, although it might have made it worse.

The patient whose case was the centerpiece of the kidney study said he was most likely predisposed to develop the condition. “The drugs weren’t the reason I got sick,” said the man, who declined to be identified because his steroid use was illegal. After taking a year off from steroids and bodybuilding because of the kidney disease, the man, age 34, is returning to competition. His symptoms have worsened, a sacrifice he said he is willing to accept.

“It’s just really hard to walk away from it,” he said. “I know I can only do this until my early 40s, so I really want to give it my all now.”

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©,2017 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited

Have you been ripped off  by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Jerry Brainum's book Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

 

The Applied Ergogenics blog is a collection of articles written and published by Jerry Brainum over the past 20 years. These articles have appeared in Muscle and Fitness, Ironman, and other magazines. Many of the posts on the blog are original articles, having appeared here for the first time. For Jerry’s most recent articles, which are far more in depth than anything that appears on this blog site, please subscribe to his Applied Metabolics Newsletter, at www.appliedmetabolics.com. This newsletter, which is more correctly referred to as a monthly e-book, since its average length is 35 to 40 pages, contains the latest findings about nutrition, exercise science, fat-loss, anti-aging, ergogenic aids, food supplements, and other topics. For 33 cents a day you get the benefit of Jerry’s 53 years of writing and intense study of all matters pertaining to fitness,health, bodybuilding, and disease prevention.

 

See Jerry's book at  http://www.jerrybrainum.com

 

Want more evidence-based information on exercise science, nutrition and food supplements, ergogenic aids, and anti-aging research? Check out Applied Metabolics Newsletter at www.appliedmetabolics.com

 

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