Anabolic steroids may affect male fertility

New Delhi, June 27 Building muscles and having an extraordinary body is quite a common trend in youngsters for which they often take supplements, including anabolic steroids.

Anabolic steroids are hormones prepared artificially, and resemble male hormones that is testosterone. Testosterone is essential in males for the development of characteristics such as facial and body hair growth, increased height and muscle mass, deepening of voice, and sex drive.

Dr. Parul Katiyar, Fertility Consultant, Nova IVF Fertility shares with life some pointers on the topic.

Steroids, friend or foe?

Katiyar: Steroids are used in medicine for the treatment of some medical issues like hormonal imbalance, life threatening allergies, arthritis etc but this should not be confused with the illegal use of anabolic steroids for body building. These anabolic steroids may involve doses 10 to 100 times higher than the normal prescription dose of steroids.

Taking anabolic steroids without consulting any medical expert may create havoc in the body in the long run, and result in significant side-effects in males which include impotency, erectile dysfunction and low-sperm count. They also increase the risk of life threatening heart attack and stroke.

Not only males, these steroids affect female reproductive systems too. The usage of these steroids increases the risk of pregnancy-related issues including ability to conceive. They also create an imbalance in the menstrual cycle, making them prone to excessive unwanted body hair, decreased breast size and deepening of the voice.

How anabolic steroids can affect male fertility?

Katiyar: Normally the brain sends signals to the testis to produce the male hormone, testosterone and sperms but with the intake of synthetic testosterone

( With inputs from IANS )