Bodybuilders Trading Kidney Health for Braun November 10
New research indicates that the body mass and stamina associated with steroids comes at great cost to your kidney health. More and more athletes are using the muscle building drugs to gain an edge in their athletic careers despite the known side effects of the drugs. Now it appears those side effects could be just the beginning for many who habitually use steroids.
The researchers studied a grouping of 10 bodybuilders who used steroids for several years and developed severe reductions in kidney function and protein leakage in the urine. Kidney tests revealed that nine out of the ten bodybuilders developed a type of scaring in the kidneys called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis which only develops in those whose kidneys are put under immense stress. Kidney injury in the bodybuilders has a resemblance to the severe damage seen in morbidly obese patients, however it’s appears to be far worse.
When steroid use was stopped it seemed to reverse the effects of kidney damage except in a case so severe that the bodybuilder had undergone kidney failure and required dialysis. Based on their study the researchers came to the conclusion that as muscle mass grows so does the amount of work that the kidneys must do to keep the body going and filtered properly. The steroids themselves also put extra work on the kidneys and cause an overload of stress for the body and kidneys in particular. Bodybuilders need to cease using steroids to prevent this damage from destroying their kidneys a fact that these athletes and their doctors must remember.
Tags: body, bodybuilders, drugs, kidney, kidney failure, steroids, subsntace abuse