Decade-Long Study Ties Anabolic Steroids to Lasting Heart Damage in Weightlifters

A Norwegian study that tracked weightlifters for roughly ten years has linked long-term anabolic steroid use to damage to the heart, according to U.S. News & World Report. The research focused on men who used the drugs while training and examined what happened to their hearts over time.

U.S. News & World Report reports that the findings point to a connection between sustained steroid use and harm to the heart muscle. Coverage of the same study by New Atlas described it as a decade-long look at gym steroid use that showed what happens to men's hearts.

According to Medical Daily, men who stopped using anabolic steroids saw the walls of their hearts recover, but their pumping strength remained lower than normal. That detail suggests the effects of the drugs may not fully disappear once use ends.

News-Medical, as cited in the coverage, characterized long-term anabolic steroid use as being tied to persistent heart damage. AOL.com reported that the scientists behind the work followed weightlifters who used steroids and identified a heart risk they described as surprising.

The reports draw on the same body of research and consistently describe a pattern of cardiac changes among long-term users. The study does not establish that steroids are the sole cause of these outcomes, and the available coverage does not include full details of the methodology or the size of the group studied.

What to watch next: whether follow-up research clarifies how much heart function can recover after users quit, and how long that recovery takes.