Your buddy at the gym can\u2019t say enough about the bodybuilding products he\u2019s been taking to help build muscle mass and strength. You wonder, are they all safe to use?\u00a0According to CDR Mark S. Miller, Pharm. D., a regulatory review officer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), bodybuilding products that contain steroids or steroid-like substances are associated with potentially serious health risks, including liver injury that can be life-threatening.<\/p>\n
In addition to liver injury, anabolic steroids have been associated with serious reactions such as severe acne, hair loss, altered mood, irritability, increased aggression, and depression. They have also been associated with life-threatening reactions such as kidney damage, heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs), and deep vein thrombosis (blood clots that occur in veins deep in the body).<\/p>\n
These bodybuilding products are promoted as hormone products and\/or as alternatives to anabolic steroids for increasing muscle mass and strength. Many of these products make claims about the ability of the active ingredients to enhance or diminish androgen, estrogen, or progestin-like effects in the body, but actually contain anabolic steroids or steroid-like substances, synthetic hormones related to the male hormone testosterone.<\/p>\n
According to a senior advisor in FDA\u2019s Office of Dietary Supplement Programs, explains that many of these bodybuilding products sold online as well as in retail stores, are labeled as \u201cdietary supplements\u201d that contain\u00a0potentially harmful ingredients.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re taking any body building products that claim to contain steroids or steroid-like substances, FDA recommends that you stop taking them immediately because of the potentially serious health risks associated with using them.\u00a0Talk to your health care professional about any body building products and\/or ingredients you have taken or are planning to take, particularly if you are uncertain about those ingredients.<\/p>\n