Man's Secret Use of Synthetic Livestock Steroids Nearly Ruined His Heart

Over an 11-year period, a Massachusetts man repeatedly faced life-threatening health issues, including heart failure that required life support. Throughout multiple hospitalizations and tests, he concealed the fact that he was consuming illicit anabolic-androgenic steroids, including a derivative approved exclusively for use in livestock. Doctors publishing the case in the New England Journal of Medicine used it to highlight a growing public health concern regarding illicit steroid use. They warn that clinicians should expect an increase in patients presenting with long-term complications from such drugs, which can severely damage cardiovascular health.