The use of anabolic androgenic steroids and polypharmacy: A review of the literature

Abstract

Background-A review of the literature was conducted to examine the relationship between the use of anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) use and the use of other drugs.

Review of the literature on negative health risks based interventions to guide anabolic steroid misuse prevention

“…Consistent accounts of AS use , polypharmacy (Dodge & Hoagland, 2011) and poor knowledge (Christiansen & Bojsen-Møller, 2012), combined with the emerging concern over AS dependency (Kanayama, Brower, Wood, Hudson & Pope, 2010;Pope et al, 2013) and mounting evidence for the long-term consequences of AS misuse (Lindqvist, Moberg, Eriksson, Ehrnborg, Rosén & Fahlke, 2013), underscore the need for targeted preventive measures. In these preventive efforts, health risks and consequences must be emphasized in such way that it reaches adolescents in a meaningful and credible way (Brashers, Goldsmith & Hsieh, 2002).…”

Use of androgenic anabolic steroids by patients under treatment for substance use disorder: case series

“…AAS also play a central role in muscle dysmorphia (an obsessive concern about the body, including a false belief that one's own body is insufficiently muscular) and the pathological manipulation of body image 9 . AAS use is a risk factor for substance use disorder (SUD), and possibly the other way round is also true 10,11 . Most AAS users never report its use or seek help to stop using it 2 .…”

A qualitative exploration of the motivations underlying anabolic-androgenic steroid use from adolescence into adulthood

“…The authors argued that AAS use represents a pattern of risk taking behaviours, rather than an independent problem. Further, Nilsson, Baigi, Marklund, and Fridlund (2001) provided strong evidence for patterned, multiple drug use, which excluded cannabis and tobacco (Dodge & Hoagland, 2011). Kanayama, Hudson, and Pope (2010) introduced biological evidence for this association, explaining that both human and animal research indicates both AAS and other illicit drugs involve similar brain structures and mechanisms.…”