Adverse Health Consequences of Performance-Enhancing Drugs: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement

Despite the high prevalence of performance-enhancing drug (PED) use, media attention has focused almost entirely on PED use by elite athletes to illicitly gain a competitive advantage in sports, and not on the health risks of PEDs. There is a widespread misperception that PED use is safe or that adverse effects are manageable. In reality, the vast majority of PED users are not athletes but rather nonathlete weightlifters, and the adverse health effects of PED use are greatly underappreciated. This scientific statement synthesizes available information on the medical consequences of PED use, identifies gaps in knowledge, and aims to focus the attention of the medical community and policymakers on PED use as an…

• EL
  Eli Lilly and Company
• BA
  Brigham and Women's Hospital
• UO
  University of Virginia
• RP
  Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
• V
  Vetenskapsrådet
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• NI
  National Institute on Drug Abuse