Scientists have proven: steroids make the brain age

Endocrinologist with 23 years of experience - on the scientifically proven side effects of anabolic steroids

I have been looking for confirmation of my observations for a long time that anabolic steroidthat use "rolling" to gain muscle mass, lead to accelerated aging of the brain. I noticed this at receptions: I have a lot of bodybuilding patients, and some are extremely careless in taking androgenic drugs.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, I noted that they behave like older people. I don’t know how to describe it more accurately: out of nowhere, senile grumbling, inflexibility of consciousness, rejection of a different opinion.

And, of course, they add to this traditional "side" from anabolic steroids: aggression, problems with potency, liver and heart. Often all youthful acne and gynecomastia (breast growth, like in women) are crowned.

How anabolic steroids age the brain

And the other day an authoritative magazine Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

As you know, steroid hormones easily penetrate into the brain, and there are receptors for their action. Bodybuilders use very high doses of steroids, well above physiological norms. It is logical that this should have consequences for the brain as well.

Research has shown that anabolic fans perform much worse on cognitive tests rather than athletes who avoid them.

Scientists from the University of Oslo performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brains of 130 weightlifters male with long-term use of AAS and 99 weightlifters who have never used AAS. Important: they took with an IQ above 80 (below 80 - considered mild mental retardation).

On average, the subjects took anabolic steroids for 10.6 years, and the average age at which they started taking them was 22 years.

Also, the study added data from non-athletes - men aged 18 to 92 years.

In total, the study included MRI scans of 1838 healthy men from different cohorts (mean age = 46 ± 20 years, age range = 18–92 years).

Scientists have used machine learning and neuroimaging to determine the predicted age of the brains of each of their participants and then calculated the difference between the chronological age of each participant and the predicted age brain.

Scientists have found documentary evidence for the obvious: anabolic lover's brain ages faster, therefore, the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as senile dementia increases. And this dramatically worsens the quality of life in old age.

Your Doctor Pavlova

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