Rise In Singapore Teenagers' Use Of Steroids?

"Muscular kids" gym bound at Holland V MRT today

I was a little annoyed with myself when I saw the Channel NewsAsia (CNA) headline on their website this morning.

I actually read about a similar report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) just two weeks ago and was going to write about it but I got sick last week and didn't write it yet. So CNA beat me to it. 

Well, my wife told me the journalist (from CNA) does this for a living, whereas I am just a Physiotherapist. So it's already good I have the ideas (but not the time to write it). Grrrrrrr, guess I have to blame it on the fact that our whole family fell sick recently. 

Next time .....

So what does an American journal finding got to do with our local youths?

Well, ever since Holland village has sprouted three gyms, I've noticed a lot more "muscular kids" walking around. Yes, we do have three gyms right here in Holland Village. First F45 set up shop, followed by Ritual gym  and then Virgin Active opened it's doors recently.

Similar to the American article, it may be a widespread misconception that anabolic steroids is only an issue in elite sports. Both the American article and the Channel NewsAsia article suggest that there may be more anabolic steroid users among our teenagers. The Jama article suggest that "most young men using these drugs are doing it to improve their appearance."

Personally, I don't think it's a new problem. I've definitely had cases of teenage bodybuilders and young adults see me in our clinics for sports injuries (and telling me in strict confidence of course) that they've been injecting themselves with anabolic steroids. And that's all I'm gonna say.

Reference

Pope HG Jr, Khalsa JH et al (2017). Body Image Disorders And Abuse Of Anabolic-Andrrogenic Steroids Among Men. JAMA. 317(1): 23-24. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2016.17441