For Some, Anabolic Steroids
May Lead to Hard Drugs

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men being treated for addiction to heroin or similar drugs are more likely to have been anabolic steroid abusers than alcoholics or cocaine addicts, the results of a small study suggest.

The findings indicate that at least some men who begin abusing steroids may find it easier to progress to opioid drugs such as heroin or oxycodone, which is found in the prescription drugs OxyContin and Percocet.

Seven of 24 men in the study with opioid dependence and previous steroid use learned about such drugs at the gym and later obtained their first opioids from the person who sold them steroids. Eighteen of those men, or 75%, said steroids were the first drugs they had self-injected.

"These observations, while hardly conclusive, suggest that (anabolic) steroid use may have served as a 'gateway' to opioid dependence for these individuals," according to the report in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

In the study, Dr. Harrison G. Pope, Jr. of the McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts and colleagues assessed lifetime anabolic steroid use among 223 male substance abusers who were undergoing treatment for alcohol, cocaine or opioids.

Of 88 men who listed an opioid as their preferred drug, 25% reported prior anabolic steroid use, according to the study. Only 5% of men addicted to alcohol or other drugs reported steroid use

The authors say that more studies at other rehabilitation centers need to confirm their findings.

It's possible that anabolic steroids and opioids stimulate similar pathways in the brain, and that people who respond to one class of drug may respond to the other, they said. Or it's possibly that certain "psychological attributes" may make some men prone to abusing both drugs, according to the report.

Anabolic steroids first gained popularity among adult bodybuilders because of their effectiveness in speeding muscle buildup. However, subsequent studies have concluded that chronic use of the drugs increases the risk of a host of health problems including high blood pressure, liver dysfunction, cancer, blood clotting abnormalities and even psychological disturbances.

The American College of Sports Medicine has long condemned the non-medical use of anabolic steroids.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2003;64:156-160.

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