Public health impact and implications of the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) and associated drugs amongst the male general population.
type: CreativeWork
description: Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) and associated drug use is now recognised as a significant concern and an emerging public health issue. Once restricted to the elite sporting arena, recent decades have seen AAS diffuse through bodybuilding and gym culture to an increasingly image conscious general population. This portfolio of research contributes to our understanding of this phenomenon in relation to our understanding of the extent and characteristics of AAS use, emerging harms and the policy response to the issue, as summarised below. While specific prevalence is unknown, data from needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) indicate growing numbers of people who inject AAS and associated drugs. Often portrayed in the media as a homogenous group of young male, working class men, a growing body of research indicates a much more diverse population in relation to demographic characteristics and motivations for use. Further research indicates that this is by no means confined to the United Kingdom (UK) but is a global public health issue although barely recognised in some countries such as the Republic of Ireland. Changes in the specific drugs of use and the regimes employed have been identified, with a growing pharmacopeia of easily accessible and affordable peptide hormones being used as a direct result of the rise of the Internet, coupled with developments in manufacturing and transportation. Opinion, anecdote and targeted marketing on the Internet fill the void of a lack of empirical evidence in the field of AAS, image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) influencing a trend towards higher dosages, multiple drugs and prolonged use. Drug use is not confined to IPEDs, with psychoactive drug use identified in populations in UK and Internationally. Our understanding of the chronic health harms associated with AAS has increased over the last 25 years, in particular cardiovascular damage, psychological harms and the potential for dependence. However, this research has mad…
abstract: Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) and associated drug use is now recognised as a significant concern and an emerging public health issue. Once restricted to the elite sporting arena, recent decades have seen AAS diffuse through bodybuilding and gym culture to an increasingly image conscious general population. This portfolio of research contributes to our understanding of this phenomenon in relation to our understanding of the extent and characteristics of AAS use, emerging harms and the policy response to the issue, as summarised below. While specific prevalence is unknown, data from needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) indicate growing numbers of people who inject AAS and associated drugs. Often portrayed in the media as a homogenous group of young male, working class men, a growing body of research indicates a much more diverse population in relation to demographic characteristics and motivations for use. Further research indicates that this is by no means confined to the United Kingdom (UK) but is a global public health issue although barely recognised in some countries such as the Republic of Ireland. Changes in the specific drugs of use and the regimes employed have been identified, with a growing pharmacopeia of easily accessible and affordable peptide hormones being used as a direct result of the rise of the Internet, coupled with developments in manufacturing and transportation. Opinion, anecdote and targeted marketing on the Internet fill the void of a lack of empirical evidence in the field of AAS, image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) influencing a trend towards higher dosages, multiple drugs and prolonged use. Drug use is not confined to IPEDs, with psychoactive drug use identified in populations in UK and Internationally. Our understanding of the chronic health harms associated with AAS has increased over the last 25 years, in particular cardiovascular damage, psychological harms and the potential for dependence. However, this research has mad…
author: McVeigh, J
keywords: RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
date published: 2019-03
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:30:25Z
provider: Liverpool Jon Moores University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Liverpool John Moores University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24377/LJMU.t.00010247