The UK has a steroid problem it refuses to measure. We're here for the people it refuses to help.
Nobody knows how many men in the UK are using anabolic steroids. Nobody is giving them honest medical information about the risks or how to use them more safely. SteroidSafe exists to change both of those things.
Our mission
Understand the scale. Reduce the harm.
Understand the scale
There has never been a UK-wide study into steroid use. We are campaigning for that to change.
Reduce the harm
Honest, medically informed guidance for users, parents, and professionals — not broscience or scare campaigns.
Read the article that started this project
“The Hidden Epidemic Among Our Young Men That Nobody Is Talking About”The hidden epidemic
We do not know the true scale of this problem. That should alarm you.
There has never been a comprehensive, well-funded national study into anabolic steroid use among young men in the UK. The figures we have are fragmented, outdated, or extrapolated from small regional samples. We are making policy in the dark — and young men are paying the price.
But even UKAD acknowledges this is likely a significant undercount.
The only broad population-level survey conducted in the UK — and it was limited to Wales.
Applying the Welsh rate to the UK's 3.8 million men aged 16–24. The real figure could be higher.
No UK-wide study has been commissioned. We are relying on estimates, not evidence.
We may not know the full scale of use. But we can see the damage.
While prevalence data remains patchy, the health consequences are increasingly visible across the NHS, coroners' courts, and needle exchanges. The picture that emerges is alarming — and it is almost certainly an undercount.
Cardiovascular damage
- The HAARLEM study found measurable cardiac damage — left ventricular hypertrophy, reduced ejection fraction — after just one 16-week steroid cycle.
- Premature CVD deaths (under 75) in the UK hit 39,000 in 2022 — the highest since 2008. Heart failure diagnoses rose 21% to 785,000 by 2025.
- A European study found severe heart muscle disease in both current and former long-term steroid users — the damage persists after stopping.
- None of this is tracked by the NHS as steroid-related. There is no hospital admission code linking AAS use to cardiovascular events.
Hormonal, fertility & liver harm
- 80% of UK endocrinologists have recently treated steroid-induced hypogonadism — but only 20% feel confident doing so. 84% tell patients to simply wait.
- Up to 40% of men on exogenous testosterone develop azoospermia (zero sperm count). 7% of men seeking fertility help are on testosterone therapy.
- Oral steroids are documented hepatotoxins. Liver disease deaths in the UK have risen 4-fold over 50 years. 11% of deaths occur in the 25–44 age group.
- 1 in 10 steroid injectors surveyed in the UK had exposure to HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C. 42% reported injection site complications.
Young men are dying — and we are not counting them
There is no routine UK system for tracking steroid-related deaths. The ONS drug-related death statistics do not separately report anabolic steroids. What we have instead are individual inquests: a 32-year-old in Dagenham found dead on Christmas Eve 2024, with the coroner citing steroid use as a likely factor. A 34-year-old in Sheffield whose body had “struggled to cope with prolonged steroid use.” A 37-year-old former Mr England runner-up, whose coroner urged the bodybuilding world to recognise the risks. A Danish study tracking steroid-positive men found they were three times more likely to die during follow-up. A Swedish study found mortality 18 times higher than expected. These are not isolated cases — they are the visible fraction of a problem nobody is systematically measuring.
Why the numbers we have are not good enough
Steroids are excluded from the Crime Survey
The Crime Survey for England and Wales — the main tool for tracking drug use in the UK — does not ask about anabolic steroids. We count ketamine users (120,000 annually among 16–24s). We do not count steroid users, despite likely use being two to three times higher.
One regional survey is all we have
The 2023 Welsh study remains the only broad population-level survey of steroid use in the UK. It found 6.2% prevalence among men, with a mean age of 33. There is no equivalent data for England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
Online indicators suggest rapid growth
UK Google searches for “looksmax” have increased 300% since 2023. Steroid-related searches are up 30% over the same period. There are 10.3 million TikTok videos featuring Trenbolone and over 500,000 tagged “looksmax.” The demand for this content — overwhelmingly from young men — is accelerating.
Young users are invisible to the system
Steroid users rarely present to drug services. GPs are not trained to ask. Needle exchange data captures only a fraction of users. The 500,000 young male NEETs — disengaged from education, employment and services — are the hardest to reach and potentially the most at risk.
Compound profiles
Know what you're putting in your body
Each profile covers what it is, what it does, side effects, specific risks, and what to watch for. No fluff — just what you need.
Testosterone
Also: Test, Test E, Test C
The base of almost every steroid cycle. Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and the most commonly used anabolic steroid.
Read full profileTrenbolone
Also: Tren, Tren A, Tren E
One of the most powerful and dangerous steroids in common use. Extremely potent but with a severe side effect profile that makes it unsuitable for most users.
Read full profileAnavar (Oxandrolone)
Also: Var, Oxandrolone
Often considered one of the 'milder' oral steroids. Popular among beginners and women. Still carries real risks, particularly to cholesterol and liver values.
Read full profileDianabol (Methandrostenolone)
Also: Dbol, Methandrostenolone, Diana
One of the oldest and most popular oral steroids. Known for rapid mass and strength gains, but with significant water retention and liver strain.
Read full profileNeed to talk to someone right now?
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