As more people are getting  interested in fitness and body sculpting, the severe consequences of anabolic steroid injections are being recognized.

With the current fitness boom in South Korea, various health-related side effects of anabolic steroids are gaining the attention of the public as there is a gradual increase in the number of Koreans who experienced the drug.

Recently, boxes filled with ampoule-shaped injections were found in an officetel in Incheon, South Korea. 

On the injections, it was written “testosterone,” which refers to the male hormone. 

Furthermore, hundreds of injectables that appear to be made in China were stored in the refrigerator. 

The shelves were lined with medicines, all prescription drugs and steroids that could not be bought or used without a doctor's prescription.

It was later revealed that these steroid injections and pills were sold to 12,000 people through Telegram. 

Those arrested are expected to have  sold 1.8 billion won worth of steroids and specialty drugs between 2015 and early 2020.

But why is this a problem?

Anabolic steroid is a type of steroid known to increase the rate of production of male hormones for people to build muscle in a short time.

By definition of the term, this biologically active organic compound may sound like something magical. 

A magical drug that could transform one’s body dramatically. 

However, there is something that people must be aware of: its side effects.

According to WooYoung Yoon, an internal medicine specialist, there are extreme side effects of anabolic steroids: decreased sperm production capacity, weakened sexual function, myocardial infarction, heart attack, sudden death, enlarged prostate and prostate cancer, hyperlipidemia, and much more.

Yoon has been constantly and clearly depicted and provided the information in the world of bodybuilding. 

In the fitness industry, there have always been so many inexplicable cases where steroid users experience serious physical damage or even death.

The case of Andreas Munzer is a good example.

Munzer, a professional bodybuilder from Austria, died in 1964 at the age of 31 due to the use of steroids. 

A few months before his death, he had suffered from serious side effects of steroids: internal bleeding from the stomach, progressively damaging liver and heart, and intestines failing to function properly.

After his death, the results of the autopsy shocked everyone. 

The size of Munzer’s heart was twice as big as that of an ordinary man, most of the intestines were damaged beyond repair, and there was a massive cancerous tumor in the liver.

Even with these side effects, many people in South Korea have an excessive desire to look “ideal.” 

Such a tendency is reflected in the recent fitness boom in South Korea. 

With a rapid increase in the popularity of fitness and weight lifting, many Koreans became aware of the presence of anabolic steroids.

However, there are also unfortunate cases where people unintentionally become aware and even experience steroids. 

According to a South Korean fitness trainer Dong Hyun Kim, there were many cases in Korea where fitness trainers secretly put edible steroids in clients' water bottles during fitness classes.

The reason behind such an act was  marketing reasons. The only way trainers could prove their ability as instructors is by showing dramatic body transformations to their clients. 

One victim of this case said, “I experienced changes in the body that are hard to accept as a woman. I didn't even know the cause of these changes at first. When I went to a personal training shop and explained the changes in my body, the manager there told me that they were side effects of anabolic steroids. Some of these side effects included beard growth, voice change, and mandibular hypertrophy”.

Therefore, the current trend in fitness and weight training poses a critical threat to people as they now live in a society where they can more easily encounter anabolic steroids. 

Seungyeon (Simon) Kim
Grade 12
Chadwick International School