Steroids can indeed be helpful for people with HIV

For people living with HIV, a good trip to the gym can do far more than just pump up those biceps. The infection can cause physical problems from insomnia and fatigue to "wasting" and fat redistribution while building up confidence and a positive body image. The benefits are more than physical. Several studies have proved what regular gym goers have always known: working out counters depression. The reason is that lifting weights releases endorphins, a substance your body produces that has a similar effect to mood-altering drugs. Research is disproving the commonly held assumption that running a few miles is better at burning body fat than weight lifting. Not only does this disprove the stereotype of the over sized gym rat, but according to a study done in Copenhagen, only strength training reduces total body fat in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy, that unsightly side effect of some HIV meds that causes pockets fat often at odd places and always unnatural looking. Of course, for many people with HIV, gaining too much weight and increasing body fat aren’t their principle concerns. Rather, it’s the exact opposite. In Africa, AIDS is widely known as "the wasting disease," because advanced HIV prevents the body from retaining body mass. Not everyone can use the meds that help ward off wasting. Many discovered that one of the best ways to counter wasting is the same "juice" that Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger used to bulk up. Back in the early ’90s, a few doctors realized that the same reason why bodybuilders take them to gain thick muscle mass quickly could be a lifesaver for patients who were rapidly losing weight. "Juice" not only helped HIV-positive patients live longer and fuller lives; as they bulked up, they helped change the look of HIV.

As administered by a doctor, steroids can indeed be helpful. But the negative side effects that dog bodybuilders are that much greater for people with compromised immune systems. Among many other things, they can inhibit Vitamin D metabolism and interfere with meds. Another reason why doctors may prescribe steroids is for those men whose testosterone level is dangerously low, another side effect of HIV. Vergel has used testosterone replacement effectively for years and has written a whole book about it.