There are a lot of misconceptions about anabolic steroids and their side-effects. The main reason for this is that there is no data on long term steroid use in the dosages used by athletes.
In terms of affecting the heart, a group of Italian researchers have utilized a great technique called Doppler myocardial imaging (DMI) to assess some of the effects that anabolic steroids can have on the heart.
In comparison to a group of drug-free athletes, a group of strength athletes with a current history of anabolic steroid use, showed systolic and diastolic distressed heart function. Systolic refers to the part of the cardiac cycle when the heart is contracting. The diastolic phase occurs when the heart is relaxing between beats, refilling with blood.
The data suggested that the hearts of the steroid users weren’t working as efficiently as the non-steroid users to pump blood around the body. Therefore, their hearts were working harder to move blood around the body.
Other studies have showed that these abnormalities can disappear soon after steroid use has stopped. However, there is no information on the ramifications of years of anabolic steroid use.
