Oral Anabolic Steroids, Liver Enzyme Tests and Liver Function

Steroids – you’ve just heard this word before. But many of us don’t know what oral anabolic steroids are and what they are used for. Many think they are only used to improve an athlete’s performance, but this is not true. They can have many medical benefits, but they can also be harmful to your organism.

Getting Started With Oral Anabolic Steroids

Steroids are synthetic compound which is used to help our body to increase its strength. There are many types of steroids; the most popular ones are anabolic steroids. But you’re probably asking yourself what the long-term consequences of taking steroids might be. Well, this is something we will discuss in the following text.

Must Read: Liver Damage While On Oral Steroids

Useful Tests:

When you’re done with your cycle, it’s expected that your liver enzymes are higher than usual. But, after taking a more extended break, when you do the test again, you may find yourself in a situation where liver enzymes are still higher than usual.

Two main liver enzymes show us what condition the liver is in. These enzymes are AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase). The AST/ALT ratio indicates the level of liver damage.

This is very useful in revealing certain diseases like hepatitis. But, these are not the only tests done, there are a few more, and every one of them reveals further damages and different causes of those damages.

Why is Liver Damage a Serious Thing?

The liver has a huge role in our organism. It is used to ‘’clean’’ (detox) our blood to collect all those harmful substances and process them. We can’t live without the liver, so it’s essential to preserve it in good condition.

But the food we eat, the fluids we drink, and the medicines we take all have a significant influence on our liver condition. Oral Anabolic Steroids usage also leaves a mark on it. Steroids can stay in our body and blood system long after we finish the cycle.

If you take them intravenously, you can find traces even months after stopping the usage. This is why oral steroids are more popular because it is estimated that they will stay in our organism only for a few weeks. This is also an extended period, but it looks short when you compare it to intravenously taken steroids.

The Higher Level of Liver Enzymes and Oral Anabolic Steroids

If you are in a situation where you have increased levels of liver enzymes, you should contact your doctor for further analysis. You must tell them that you’ve been taking steroids in the past. There are many types of steroids, and some of which are similar to others, but differences are normal.

Different steroids have a distinct influence on our organism; they have another usage, and further cycle treatment and the estimated time for staying in our organism is different. But, you need to know that the most reliable way to find out the cause of higher levels of these enzymes is liver pathology which gives the best results.

It will show the type of damage, its origin,, and its danger. But, if you decide to go only with AST/ALT ratio, you need to know that many factors can have an influence on the level that will be shown:

• body mass index
• time of the day when you are doing the test
• if you were physically active, like having an exercise
• Some muscle injury etc.

After all, Oral Anabolic Steroids can have many bad influences on our organism, but when you decide to start taking them, you should know what the risks are. The liver is first on the impact list, which is why you should control the enzyme levels often and choose the best possible type of steroids which will minimize the consequences (because there is no such thing as harmless steroids).