Are steroids that harmful?

[maxyogurt]

I keep hearing of hardening arteries, hairloss, impotence, etc...

I have also read that this is false, besides the hairloss part. That steroids have not been connected to any long term health conditions, or death. But then I look at Arnold who had heart surgery i think... what happened there.

I am just looking for more info on them. I am 18 myself and will not think about taking steroids until i am like 22. But otherwise, if you take safe doses of steroids and do not abuse tehm will you live a normal healthy life? will you grow into your 80's? by then will your test be like a 12yr old girl's? What are your opinions? many thanks.
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[Mr.X]

yeah steroids are really bad - especially for 18 year olds
dont touch steroids until you got 10 years training under your belt bro

[djsf]

Generally speaking steroids won't kill you (unless you do something truly stupid) but they definitely come with health risks. For one, there are numerous studies that show life span to be inversely related to testosterone levels, i.e. high angrogen levels seem to be related to shortened lifespan in many animals.

In addition to that, steroids cause high blood pressure and an increase in red cell count, both of which can cause problems. While I don't think steroids "cause" heart attacks, you are definitely more at risk with high blood pressure than not.

Add to that certain oral steroids throw your cholesterol levels out of whack, potentially contributing to heart disease, and in addition are liver toxic, possibly resulting in liver problems.

Granted, moderate steroid use that is done carefully in modest cycles with lots of offtime *should* minimize these risks (with no guarantee at all). However, some steroid users go always-on, cycling from one compound to another always trying to find gains to add onto their already massive body. I am speculating somewhat, but it is reasonable to guess that this type of use could easily result in s shortened lifespan for multiple reasons.