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Life is full of choices. Sometimes we make good decisions. Other times, we don’t. Time usually provides us the necessary perspective to evaluate our actions or inactions. What if we had done things differently? Do we really wish we had? We all hope to grow old and die free of regret, but alas; very few of us are actually lucky enough to make it through life without a few, at least. Doctors working at the Urology of Indiana center recently asked a very good question to a group of former steroid users, which I believe should be of interest to anyone concerned with the subject.1 How likely were they to regret their earlier decision to take steroids? Is it one of those things in life that many people look back on and wish they did differently? The answer may be surprising.
First though, let’s examine the group being asked. The study involved distributing a basic questionnaire to 382 men that were at the center receiving treatment for hypogonadism (low testosterone). This is, of course, a common issue with former steroid users. The men were an average age of 40. They were all asked to anonymously report if they regretted or did not regret their non-medical use of anabolic steroids, and if so, why. A total of 79 men filled out the survey. Of these, 15.2 percent expressed regret over the decision. The primary reason cited was infertility, a risk which they did not fully understand at the time they made the decision to use the drugs. The remaining 84.8 percent of respondents expressed no regret, even in spite of the possible association with their earlier use and current medical condition. Between 13 percent and 16 percent of the men had current fertility issues, a likelihood that was similar between men that did and did not regret anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use.
Drug abuse is one of those areas where you expect to see a lot of regret from ex-users. Though hard for me to gain statistics on it, regret seems extremely prominent among former cocaine and heroin addicts, for example. In a recent study of smokers in four countries, approximately 90 percent regretted the decision to start smoking as well.2 You don’t get a much stronger regret percentage than that. The closest regret numbers I could find to the steroid survey were the likelihood of ever regretting a tattoo (14%), and the likelihood among 15- to 18-year-olds of ever having sex while drunk and later regretting it (17%).3,4
Anabolic steroid use likely has a low to modest level of self-reported regret, based on the fact that long-term serious health consequences, at least those tangible to the individual, are low to modest. This is, of course, not meant to suggest that anabolic steroid use is without potential harm. Even in this study, the men commonly reported issues such as increased aggression, mood disorders, erectile dysfunction, acne, fluid retention and dyslipidemia. These occurrences, however, were not associated (at least not significantly) with regret.
Testosterone is one of the more difficult anabolic/androgenic steroids for doping authorizes to catch athletes using. This is because the hormone is found naturally in all of our bodies. It is not out of place, like say, Dianabol (methandrostenolone) would be. Even small amounts of this drug’s metabolites in your urine will flag you for cheating.
Due to its natural occurrence, testosterone-doping tests are forced to take a two-phased approach. First, the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone metabolites is measured. These two steroids are normally found in a 1:1 concentration. When significantly more testosterone than epitest is identified, the sample is flagged, but only for a follow-up test. This is because sometimes these ratios are naturally disturbed. This second test examines the molecular structure of the testosterone itself, for something called the carbon isotope ratio. Long story short, this can tell if the hormone was synthetically manufactured from a plant-based source, as testosterone normally is. The test has worked well enough for years, but there now appears to be a wrench in it!
Scientists at the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory recently analyzed 283 testosterone preparations that were seized by law enforcement both locally and internationally.5 They were looking to see if, and what portion of, these drugs would be identified as synthetic when directly analyzed with the now-standard carbon isotope ratio test. Most of the samples (270) were immediately identified as containing synthetic forms of testosterone. What might not have been expected, however, was the small percentage (4.6%) that appeared to contain natural testosterone. Instead of the normal plant-based starting materials, the steroid materials in these 13 samples must have been synthesized using an animal source.
The result of the Australian testing is alarming to doping authorizes, as it suggests that athletes could use this new form of testosterone without fear of a positive analytical finding. Just when they believed they were making progress with anabolic steroids, especially the confounding designer steroid issue, another gaping hole opens right up in the program. I’ll be curious to see how this is addressed. Stay tuned.
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