Winstrol: negative effects

Back in 1988, the whole world of sports was shocked to learn that the famous Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who managed something that no one had previously succeeded in defeating the previous champion Carl Lewis in the Olympic hundred-meter race, was caught using anabolic steroids. Because of this, Johnson was suspended from the competition for many years, because his doping test showed that stanozololol was found in the athlete's blood. Johnson was also taken away a gold medal received earlier and a signed contract worth more than eight million dollars. After several years, in 1990, the Anabolic Steroid Control Act was drafted and adopted and, as a result, such substances began to be classified as requiring controlled use of controlled substances.

Content

  • 1 Low efficiency at great risk
  • 2 Is stanozolol so dangerous "> 3 Scientific research in the field of stanozolol
  • 4 Hepatotoxicity of stanozolol
  • 5 Other adverse effects of stanozolol
  • 6 Conclusion

Low efficiency at great risk

Stanozolol (or Winstrol, as it is called in the trading environment) is a weak steroid. Weak in terms of opportunities for increasing the muscle mass of athletes who take it, but at the same time it is very popular and widespread among athletes and bodybuilders. Immediately after its appearance, Vinistrol was sold only in the form of tablets with a low dosage of 2 milligrams or in the form of an aqueous suspension, in which one milliliter accounted for only fifty milligrams of the active substance. At present, this steroid can be found in any dosage and concentration, and several brands are organizing its release at once. Bodybuilders used to take Winistrol exclusively before important competitions, because thanks to the substance, it is possible to quickly improve muscle relief and density. In 1995, a series of audio recordings from the journal Masl Media 2000 was released, one recording of which is dedicated to an interview in which the narrator shares stories with the audience about how the most hardy and successful runners achieved their success by taking small doses of Winstrol to prevent muscle loss, which could arise as a result of catabolism, which often intensifies after long runs.

Stanozolol is a chemical compound with the following structure: 17-mityl-5alpha-androstano (3, 2-c) pyrazol-17beta-ol and is classified as an anabolic controlled steroid with the number 302-96-5 assigned to it. Due to the impressive anabolic-androgenic ratio, this steroid is a highly anabolic substance. Paradoxically, but at the same time, the effect of it to increase strength and muscle mass is not so great. Such a surprisingly low effectiveness of the drug can be explained by the fact that stanozolol itself is a rather weak androgen, but significantly inferior to testosterone in its effectiveness as an anabolic agent. If we compare stanozolol and testosterone taken in equal doses, then in this comparison stanozolol clearly loses to the enemy.

Surprisingly, despite its low efficiency, stanozolol is still quite popular. Perhaps the secret of such a popularity of the substance lies in its reputation as an absolutely safe steroid, which, although it does not give a stunning and as soon as possible effect, but also does not cause much harm to the body. Of course, such an opinion is erroneous. This steroid, although it does not cause strong side effects, like other highly androgenic steroids, but still is not completely safe. Quite the contrary: many experts, after conducting appropriate clinical trials, come to the conclusion that stanozolol can be considered the most dangerous steroid that exists in the world today.

Is Stanozolol So Dangerous?>> Research on Stanozolol

If we turn to the chemical structure of the type of steroids under consideration, it should be noted that it is a derivative of dihydrotestosterone given by a steroid. This means that stanozolol is not a substrate of the aromatase enzyme, which is responsible for the conversion of most androgens into estrogens (female sex hormones). Very few athletes taking stanozolol have estrogenic side effects if they have taken only one drug. However, it would be wrong to assume that there is no danger from taking stanozolol here either. Conducting research on laboratory mice, scientists have proved that this steroid has the ability to accelerate puberty in females in the puberty. It was possible to avoid such an effect only if, before the course of stanozolol, experimental animals received an estrogen blocker. After the blocker, stanozolol still caused early changes in the vagina in mice, however, these changes were quite insignificant. It is difficult to say that this approach also works for people, because the doses of the drug used during the experiment are much lower than those that athletes often take.

The mouse experiment and its results prompted scientists to hypothesize that stanozolol may act as an agonist for estrogen receptors in the same way as the more popular Novaldex (Tamoxifen). Stanozolol, although it does not belong to aromatase substrates and, due to this, has resistance to conversion to estrogen, still stimulates aromatase activity to some extent, and therefore, helps other androgens to convert to estrogen.

In another experiment, specialists tried to study the effect of stanozolol on skin cells in the laboratory. During this experiment, they found that stanozolol in some cases shows unique and unexpected results that cannot be explained solely by its association with the hormone testosterone.

One of the results was the ability of the steroid to increase the production of collagen, enzymes and some prostaglandins in the skin. Trying to explain this phenomenon, experts found that in the fibroblast of the skin (undeveloped, early skin cell), stanozolol is not replaced (not replaced) with nortestosterone (androgen), estradiol (estrogen) or dexamethasone (a derivative of cortisol). Instead, the steroid is replaced by progesterone, another female hormone. Progesterone has the ability to displace stanozolol from the receptors of skin cells, however, it cannot cause the same response itself. It turns out that the results of this experiment not only do not shed light on the effect of stanozolol, but also further confuse the situation - it becomes absolutely incomprehensible how stanozolol works. Perhaps it interacts with other receptors, it may interfere with the work of other hormones, and perhaps it acts as a weak substitute.

None of the studies conducted has shown that stanozolol is an estrogenic or feminizing compound, which can be confirmed by most people who have taken the drug. This steroid is not estrogenic and makes it possible to tighten muscle tissue by minimizing fluid retention. In the case of the use of the drug, gynecomastia can very rarely develop, but if you take stanozolol in combination with other agents, its negative effect on the body will be much more serious.

Hepatotoxicity of stanozolol

Stanozolol is available in various forms: it can be found in oral form and as a solution. Chemicals are absolutely identical in both forms, the difference between them is only that the cost of the solution for injection is slightly lower, while the concentration, on the contrary, is higher. Oral administration of stanozolol is possible due to the fact that in the structure of the drug there is a methyl group. This group allows him to become one of the seventeen alkylated steroids, which are widely known due to their high hepatotoxicity, which is significantly higher in comparison with the esters contained in injectable steroids.

Often, hepatic toxicity of stanozolol is also underestimated. Most athletes taking this steroid are confident that it is one of the least toxic steroid substances in existence, but this is far from the case. For many years, oral stanozolol has been actively used in medicine to treat completely different diseases. Even now, new areas for its application are still being studied. But even if stanozolol was prescribed to you by a doctor and legally obtained by you at a pharmacy, there is a high risk of serious damage to your liver.

During various long-term experiments, more than half of all subjects required a reduction in the dosage of the drugs or even cessation of use due to a significant increase in the level of enzymes in the liver, which is an indicator of damage at the cellular level. However, most scientists still believe that using the right intervention can completely get rid of all the signs and symptoms of liver damage. That is why stanozolol is often chosen as a safe alternative for the treatment of certain diseases.

Obviously, when using stanozolol, liver cell damage is a common symptom. Accordingly, the higher the dose of the substance, the more severe damage occurs. As a result of the studies, a binding protein was found that is present both in rat liver and in human liver. This protein is specific for stanozolol and another steroid, danazol. Studies have shown that stanozolol is toxic to the liver, but the effect of the highest possible dose of a substance (such as four hundred times the recommended dose) on liver cells has not proved that this steroid can cause or develop cancer of these cells, even if they act simultaneously several different carcinogens.

This does not mean that stanozolol can protect against cancer or its development. These results have not yet been confirmed, in addition, along with stanozolol, you can use other chemicals that were not taken into account during these experiments. There is also one report published officially, which describes in detail the case of a bodybuilder taking stanozolol with severe liver damage and the occurrence of acute renal failure. This athlete took fifty milligrams of the substance intramuscularly daily for eighty days, consuming an additional fifty milligrams of methanedienone. Three weeks after the end of the drug cycle, the young athlete went to the hospital for qualified help. By this moment, jaundice had developed in him, and the body was no longer able to deal with stress. The general condition of the patient worsened over the next seven weeks, until an expensive treatment began to operate.

Other adverse effects of stanozolol

The above case, unfortunately, is far from unique. Even with a superficial analysis of specialized literature, one can find evidence of the following incidents involving stanozolol: four heart attacks (two of which are fatal), one case of life-threatening blood loss, and one case of a sharp increase in heart rate. It should be noted that all these cases happened to young people, most often up to thirty years old.

It has long been known among athletes and bodybuilders that taking stanozolol increases the possibility of a heart beat or heart attack, because the substance lowers the “good” cholesterol in the blood and increases the concentration of the “bad” one. Women taking this steroid may have a masculinization effect, serious bleeding can occur (starting from banal nose bleeding and ending with varicose veins of the esophagus, which is life-threatening), the risk of getting tendon injury increases.

Stanozolol is easily detected when analyzing hair or urine, and the remains of the substance remain in the human body for several months after completing the course of the drug. It is proved that this steroid suppresses the body's testosterone production, lowers the level of androgen transporter protein in the blood.

Conclusion

Stanozolol, better known as Winstrol, is a popular steroid today. Most of the athletes who take it are absolutely sure that it does not do much harm to the body. Despite the fact that stanozolol does not show a clear risk of severe estrogenic and androgenic side effects, it is far from as safe as it seems. There is a lot of evidence that taking this drug negatively affects the functioning of various systems of the human body. The results of our studies convincingly prove that this steroid substance mimics the effects of the hormone estrogen, lowers libido, can contribute to the appearance and development of various mental disorders, weakens healthy aggression and sexual function, quite often causes damage to liver cells, and can also lead to a fatal outcome.

As a rule, bodybuilders take up to one hundred milligrams of stanozolol per day, but even taking six to ten milligrams per day can cause permanent damage to your body. Considering the fact that at the moment there are a huge number of different steroids, many of which have much less side effects and risks than stanozolol, if you are going to use this drug, think about whether the game is worth the candle.