BasicsStress, Anxiety, & AngerFertilitymore
Children'sTeenMen'sHealthy AgingCaregiving
BasicsStress, Anxiety & Angermore
Calorie CounterBMI Calculator
  Health Advocate  
+Search Our Health Library
Abuse & AddictionAcid RefluxAcromegalyADD & ADHDAging
Alternative MedicineFitnessNutritionWeight ManagementWorkplace Health
Quick Reference Guide
Member Literature
mv
Protecting Your Privacy
Member Authorization Form
FAQ
Member Newsletters
Contact Us
HealthAdvocate

Fitness Current Topics in Fitness


Performance-enhancing drugs can lower your sperm count


Men who take certain performance enhancing drugs such as androgenic (anabolic) steroids, namely testosterone, may have considerably lower sperm counts. Normally, the pituitary gland in the brain instructs the testicles to make more testosterone. But if the body has too much testosterone, then the gland won’t activate the testes to produce more, so it actually gets turned off. As a result, the testes shrink and sperm production decreases. So, a low sperm count is a natural consequence of taking androgenic steroids such as testosterone or other related precursors such as androstenedione (andro) and DHEA, which are converted into testosterone.

RELATED PROGRAMS
Video - Using Hormones for Sport Transcript