ReviewDrug and alcohol dependence2008
Long-term psychiatric and medical consequences of anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse: a looming public health concern?
Review in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 125 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
125 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 392 citations in OpenAlex.
- National Athletic Trainers' Association position statement: anabolic-androgenic steroids.Journal of athletic trainingGuideline
- What anabolic-androgenic steroids reveal about the limits of current harm reduction models.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Article
- Post-cycle therapy after androgen abuse: a narrative review of mechanisms, evidence, and clinical perspectives.Endocrine connections · 2026Article
- Article
- Anabolic androgenic steroids induce distinct monoaminergic and lipidomic alterations in the male rat brain.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Enhanced games and performance-optimized athletes: anticipating the orthopedic challenges, a narrative review.Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica · 2026Review
- The Effect of Pain on Intolerance of Uncertainty and Death Anxiety in Individuals Developing Vertebral Fractures After Liver Transplantation.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- The relationship between testosterone replacement therapy and incidence of proximal humerus fractures in men: a matched retrospective analysis.JSES reviews, reports, and techniques · 2026Article
- Health consequences of anabolic steroids: a sexual-medicine perspective.International journal of impotence research · 2026Review
- Somatometric, Training, and Behavioral Profiles of Resistance Training Practitioners and Recreational Exercisers in Greece: A Multivariate Comparative Study.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Preventing Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in Young Male Androgen Abusers.Clinical cardiology · 2026Review
- Impact of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Abuse on the Cardiovascular System: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Looking for the Best Way to Come Off Steroids Safely? Exploring Post-Cycle Therapy, Cessation, and Recovery Discourse and Practice in Australian Steroid Consumer Forums.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Nandrolone alters the behavioral response to cocaine as well as striatal and cortical dopamine receptors of prepubertal male rats.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Psychological correlates of performance-enhancing drug use: Emotional, cognitive, and social functioning in long-term and short-term users.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Impacts of Anabolic-androgenic steroid supplementation on female health and offspring: Mechanisms, side effects, and medical perspectives.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Review
- Harm reduction techniques among cisgender gay, bisexual, and queer men using anabolic androgenic steroids: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- The Relationship Between Exogenous Testosterone Use and Risk for Primary Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2024Article
- Abuse of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids as a Social Phenomenon and Medical Problem-Its Potential Negative Impact on Reproductive Health Based on 50 Years of Case Report Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
65 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe problem of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse has recently generated widespread public and media attention. Most AAS abusers, however, are not elite athletes like those portrayed in the media, and many are not competitive athletes at all. This larger but less visible population of ordinary AAS users began to emerge in about 1980. The senior members of this population are now entering middle age; they represent the leading wave of a new type of aging former substance abusers, with specific medical and psychiatric risks.
methodsWe reviewed the evolving literature on long-term psychiatric and medical consequences of AAS abuse.
resultsLong-term use of supraphysiologic doses of AAS may cause irreversible cardiovascular toxicity, especially atherosclerotic effects and cardiomyopathy. In other organ systems, evidence of persistent toxicity is more modest, and interestingly, there is little evidence for an increased risk of prostate cancer. High concentrations of AAS, comparable to those likely sustained by many AAS abusers, produce apoptotic effects on various cell types, including neuronal cells--raising the specter of possibly irreversible neuropsychiatric toxicity. Finally, AAS abuse appears to be associated with a range of potentially prolonged psychiatric effects, including dependence syndromes, mood syndromes, and progression to other forms of substance abuse. However, the prevalence and severity of these various effects remains poorly understood.
conclusionsAs the first large wave of former AAS users now moves into middle age, it will be important to obtain more systematic data on the long-term psychiatric and medical consequences of this form of substance abuse.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.