Anabolic Steroids Triple Heart Attack Risk in Danish Study

TOPLINE:

Anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) users had a higher risk for multiple cardiovascular diseases such as acute myocardial infarction (MI), cardiomyopathy, and arrythmias than matched individuals from the general population.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers used data from an antidoping program conducted across Danish fitness centres (2006-2018) to evaluate the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in male AAS users.
• They included 1189 men (mean age, 27.4 years) who engaged in general fitness activities within gym settings and were sanctioned for AAS use and compared them with 59,450 age- and sex-matched control individuals from the general population.
• The study outcomes were the incidence of acute MI, percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft, venous thromboembolism, arrhythmia, cardiomyopathy, ischaemic stroke, heart failure, and cardiac arrest during a mean follow-up duration of 11 years.

TAKEAWAY:

• AAS users had a threefold higher incidence of acute MI (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 3.00; P = .0002) and percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft (aHR, 2.95; P = .0002) than control individuals.
• AAS users also had a higher incidence of venous thromboembolism (aHR, 2.42; P = .0001) and arrhythmias (aHR, 2.26; P .0001) than control individuals. Arrythmia was the most prevalent cardiovascular outcome in AAS users.
• The incidence of cardiomyopathy was about ninefold higher among AAS users (aHR, 8.90; P .0001) than among control individuals.
• The risk of being diagnosed with heart failure was higher in AAS users than in control individuals (aHR, 3.63; P .0001).

IN PRACTICE:

“An increased risk of acute myocardial infarction, car­diomyopathy, and heart failure highlights the vascular and structural consequences of AAS abuse,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Josefine Windfeld-Mathiasen, MD, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. It was published online on February 13, 2025, in Circulation.

LIMITATIONS:

This study lacked information about the dosage and duration of AAS use. Due to the illegal nature of AAS use, unmeasured confounding factors such as smoking habits, alcohol consumption, and the use of other performance-enhancing drugs might have been present. AAS users may have been more physically active than individuals from the general population, which may have underestimated the adverse effects of AAS.

DISCLOSURES:

Two authors received a research grant from Anti Doping Danmark. One author previously served as a member of the Board of Anti Doping Danmark. Another author reported employment at Novo Nordisk, while the remaining authors declared no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.