Prolonged intake of steroids influences negatively on heart

Prolonged usage of anabolic steroids may result in different heart troubles. It enhances risks related to heart failure. These statements have been made due to a study which has been written in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids act like testosterone which occurs naturally and which is responsible for development of male sex features.
The leader of the research Aaron L. Baggish confirms that in addition to the fact that anabolic steroids are illicit, they are linked with unwanted consequences for health. He notes that it is the first time, when negative effect of long-term application of steroids on heart is clearly realized.
The research demonstrated that the left ventricle in steroid users was essentially weaker during contraction than in those that didn’t administer steroids.
A left ventricle that works appropriately pumps out 55-70 % of the blood that fills the heart.
 12 users of steroids were enrolled in the study. It was shown that the left ventricles of 83 % these steroid users acted incorrectly: they pumped out less than 55 % of the blood.   Among the examined non-users just one person had problems connected with the function of the left ventricle.
The study manifested that ventricle relaxation among steroid users was lowered by about half. It was 0, 93 among consumers of steroids; 1, 80 – among non-steroid users. The structure of the left ventricle was the same in both groups: consumers of steroids and non-users.
It was used the technique “Doppler echocardiography” for examination of function and structure of the left ventricle. This technique uses ultrasound for creation of moving pictures of the heart and its blood flow.
 The group of steroid users included 12 weightlifters at the age of about 40 that claimed that they administered circa 675 mg of steroids a week for 9 years. The other group included weightlifters that didn’t apply steroids. Both groups had similar physical activity and similar risks connected with heart problems. But they had differences in body weight and muscle size. The users of steroids had more muscular appearance.
However small number of steroid users has been evaluated, the results have manifested that there is a close link between intake of steroids and heart impairment.
The scientists decided to conduct further studies in order to support the results of this study.
Baggish and his co-investigators suppose that people will realize that intake of steroids may cause heart problems and different unexplained heart disorders in young people.