Dr. Terry Dubrow, an American cosmetic surgeon and television personality, is vocally anti-steroid. He believes anabolic steroids are “intensely scary, dangerous chemicals” that cause cancer, “organ derangement”, kidney failure and death. For a medical doctor and surgeon, Dubrow is surprisingly misinformed and ignorant about the evidence-based literature regarding the actual side effects of steroids. Unfortunately, give his high profile on American reality television, people actually listen to and believe what Dubrow has to say about steroids.
Dubrow is best known as the co-host of the popular new reality television show called “Botched” and the plastic surgery talk show “Good Work”. He also appears with his wife Heather on the reality TV shows “Real Housewives of Orange County” and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”.
Dubrow is staunchly opposed to anabolic steroid use for cosmetic and physical enhancement. He has been very vocal in his distaste for the muscle-building drugs The position may seem quite unusual for a doctor who makes a living cutting people up to improve their physical appearance. After all, the risks for any type surgical procedure are generally far higher than the risks associated with anabolic steroid use.
In an interview with the Queerty website, Dr. Dubrow was given an opportunity to elaborate on the reasons he thinks anabolic steroids are dangerous drugs.
“Look, these are intensely scary, dangerous chemicals that are self-administered in extremely high doses without any real knowledge of side effects that are often irreversible,” Dubrow said. “Steroids have such strong potentially negative effects that in order to get super-ripped, you have to take them into the dose range where the side effects profile gets extraordinarily high and the dangers are really excessive.”
Ignorance is very scary especially when it involves someone who chooses to self-administer anabolic steroids without conducting basic research into steroid side effects and the management of those side effects. Contrary to Dubrow’s assertion that steroids are “scary, dangerous chemicals”, the reality is that the category of drugs known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are remarkably safe. Ignorance is scary. Steroids are not.
“They can lead to kidney failure, thinning of the skin, propensity towards developing cancer, things that you literally die from,” Dubrow asserted. “But these guys are taking whatever it takes to look amazing. And to really change your body with steroids, you have to hurt your hurt your organs. You have to. You can’t separate cosmetic improvements with organ derangement.”
There is no strong evidence in the medical literature to support Dubrow’s assertion that steroids cause things like kidney failure, thinning of the skin or increase the risk of cancer. Nor is there any evidence to suggest that the dosages required to cause changes in body composition are linked to organ damage.
“It’s impossible to get shredded and huge with steroids without hurting yourself,” according to Dubrow. “Even if you cycle on and off, perfectly, the way bodybuilders do it, you’re going to pay the price.”
Dubrow has also offered anti-steroid commentary on a few episodes of “Botched”. In Season 2, Episode 5 “Mo’ Steroids Mo’ Problems” that aired on May 12, 2015, Dubrow discusses the evils of steroids as he helps a patient with steroid-induced gynecomastia. Rapper Guillermo “Big Caz” Eiland on the group Mo Thugs developed gyno after using aromatizable anabolic steroids with no regard to managing the side effects of uncontrolled estrogen conversion.
Gynecomastia is one of the most easily preventable side effects of anabolic steroid use. The widespread availability of anti-aromatase drugs and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) have allowed bodybuilders to avoid the negative consequences of aromatizable steroids.
Dubrow doesn’t see it this way. He only seems gynecomastia as another one of the inevitable side effects that comes with the use of steroids and the unavoidable side effect can only be treated by an experienced cosmetic surgeon such as himself.
Just like most drugs, anabolic steroids can be abused and misused. But it is ridiculous to suggest that steroids are inherently dangerous and can not be used safely. The drugs have been used safely in medicine for over 50 years.
The high dosages of steroids used by professional bodybuilders and elite amateur competitors may be accompanied by increased risks. This is not representative of the risks faced by the majority of people who use steroids. The primary risks involve cardiovascular risks and hypogonadism risks. The probability of developing ailments such as cancer and kidney failure are negligible and most likely non-existent.
Dubrow’s suggestion that steroid-induced changes in body composition guarantee “organ derangement” is laughable. Numerous medical studies have shown that supraphysiological dosages of steroids such as testosterone are linked to major changes in muscle mass and reduction in body fat with no significant side effects and certainly no evidence of any abnormal organ growth or dysfunction.
It is ironic that a plastic surgeon performing risky and invasive major surgeries to improve a patient’s physical appearance insists on sensationalizing the dangers of using anabolic steroids to improve individual’s physical appearance. It is disappointing that Dubrow uses his position of influence to demonize anabolic steroids and to promote hysteria rather than truly educate audiences about the real side effects of steroids, harm reduction and the management of steroid side effects.