Bodybuilding is impressive, but is also a double-edged sword, when it is not consisted with the requirements of knowledge-knowhow and prevention.
You should not blame the drugs in case you use them carelessly, or if you stack carelessly different compounds.
The contradictory and paradoxical with the use of chemical enhancement is that while you improve your external appearance, at the same moment, you risk your health.
Conversely, when you cease using drugs, your physique starts to flaw, but your health starts getting better and laboratory tests improve.
Each doctor is obliged to tell to his patients how to preserve well being.
The fact that bodybuilders decide not to follow it, is due to their vanity, weaknesses and personal choices.
The sport of bodybuilding involves a risk, a craze, a vanity, all of which pose dangers in the long term, so exaggeration and the thought “the more is better” is not panacea and does not necessarily guarantee success.
Side effects of a particular substance are dependent on various parameters, such as age, time of abuse, dosage, combination of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), life style, proper nutrition and supplementation, medical prevention rules and family history.
Overall lifestyle and the prevention rules play a major role.
Lifestyle includes a healthy diet, low in sugar-refined carbohydrates saturated-trans fats and salt, with a variety of fruits and vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains and low-fat dairy products.
For overall cardiovascular health a regular (3 – 5 times per week) cardiovascular physical activity is recommended.
Also cessation of smoking, moderate use of alcohol and avoidance of narcotics are mandatory preventive approaches.
Before the onset, during and after the end of a AAS/PEDs cycle, the user has the obligation to undergo specific blood tests, in order to evaluate his general medical condition.
This is crucial firstly to determine the user’s current health and risks before any cycle is initiated, then to assess the direct impact of the AAS/PEDs use and finally to evaluate the distortion or restoration of original state of good health.
We all have a specified genetic predisposition (DNA), which largely determines our genetic limits and our standards.
Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) do not kill instantly, or at least not in a few hours.
On the contrary, 30mg of benzodiazepam can lead to a coma, due to respiratory centrer suppression.
Also 5gr of salicylic acid (aspirin) will lead to lead to gastric mucosa bleeding and ulcer.
Impressively, a high dosage of potassium can be lethal, as a result of ventricular fibrillation. The most dangerous drugs in bodybuilding are:
1) insulin,
2) diuretics and
3) CNS stimulants.
These medications can lead respectively to lethal:
1) hypoglycemic coma,
2) hypovolemic shock and severe heart arrhythmia,
3) aneurysm rupture, leading to hemorrhagic stroke and acute myocardial infarction; in other words heart attack.
Chemical enhancement with PEDs receives a negative propaganda.
It’s impressive that the majority of those who use PEDs are not professional athletes, but mainly recreational or amateur athletes.
AAS/PEDs are not the first choice drugs on pharmacy shelves.
They are specialized drugs, manufactured and prescribed for the treatment of certain diseases (hypogonadism, anemia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, angioedema, AIDS cachexia, breast cancer) and used under medical prescription.
The legal status of AAS varies from country to country; some have stricter controls on their use or prescription than others, though in many countries they are not illegal.
In U.S.A., AAS are currently listed as Class C controlled substances, same as barbiturates and opioids.
As a former athlete, who competed at the bodybuilding nationals, I realized that the persecution against chemical enhancement resulted to withdraw specific steroids worldwide by legit pharmaceutical companies.
Unfortunately, they were replaced by underground and illegal products (counterfeits). Contamination is easier to happen, since these chemicals do not obey to ISO standards for human use.
Heavy metals and poor quality solvents (oils) are most likely to be presented.
Of course under dosed solutions is also a highly possible case scenario.