Dr Ray O’Connor looks at the latest clinical studies on therapeutics a) Anabolic steroids Androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) are highly effective in promoting muscle growth. In 2014, it was estimated that about three to four million individuals in the US had used AAS in their lifetime. Unfortunately, these drugs are associated with a range of serious adverse effects including severe cardiovascular and psychiatric morbidity, and death.
Dr Ray O’Connor However, data are limited to case reports and smaller cohorts. The authors of this case-control study 1 investigated mortality and cause of death among a large cohort of AAS users, with a comprehensive 11-year follow-up period, and compared the cohort with a control group. The study included 1,189 males sanctioned for doping with AAS and 59,450 male control participants.
The mean age among AAS users and control participants was 27.4 years. The study found an increase in mortality from both natural and unnatural causes among AAS users sanctioned in fitness centres compared with control participants.
b) Beta Blockers post Myocardial Infarction with Preserved Ejection Fraction Most trials that have shown a benefit of beta-blocker treatment after myocardial infarction included patients with large myocardial infarctions and were conducted in an era before modern biomarker-based diagnosis of myocardial infarction and treatment with percutaneous coronary intervention, antithrombotic agents, high intensity statins, and renin–angiot.