HGH treatment for athletic enhancement
Encyclopedia
Growth hormone in sports refers to the use of human growth hormones for athletic enhancement, as opposed to growth hormone treatment
for medical therapy. Use for this purpose is illegal in most jurisdictions, including the United States of America and Europe.
. Use of exogenous human growth hormone (HGH), through needle injection, was originally for medical purposes until athletes began abusing HGH with the goal of increasing their abilities. Before recombinant human growth hormone (rHGH) was developed in 1981, HGH was only available from cadavers. The arrival of rHGH combined with other biotech advancements has increased the availability of HGH on both the legitimate and black markets. In 1989 the International Olympic Committee became the first to brand human growth hormone a banned substance. Even though supplying human growth hormone for athletic purposes is illegal in the U.S., over the past decade it appears that abuse of HGH has spread to athletes of all levels. This is fueled at least in part by the fact that HGH is more difficult to detect than most other performance enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids. Athletes competing in power sports, bodybuilding, professional wrestling
, mixed martial arts
, swimming
, baseball, strength sports, track and field
, cycling, soccer, weight lifting, and endurance sports have been said to abuse human growth hormone, often in combination with other performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, testosterone, products claiming to enhance HGH, and EPO.
There has never been an adequately large randomized controlled trial
showing definitively that HGH provides benefits to athletes and that there are no significant adverse drug reaction
s; there have been many small studies and several of these studies were recently reviewed and analyzed in a meta-analysis
. While the authors indicated that the meta-analysis was limited by the fact that few of the included studies evaluated athletic performance and by the fact that dosing protocols in the studies may not reflect real-world doses and regimens, their conclusions were as follows: "Claims that growth hormone enhances physical performance are not supported by the scientific literature. Although the limited available evidence suggests that growth hormone increases lean body mass, it may not improve strength; in addition, it may worsen exercise capacity and increase adverse events. More research is needed to conclusively determine the effects of growth hormone on athletic performance." With regard to adverse drug reactions, there is data from animal studies that "a long-term administration of human growth hormone can increase the risk of diabetes, retention of fluids, joint and muscle pain, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, osteoporosis, irregular menstruation, impotence and elevated HDL cholesterol."
does.
on December 13, 2007, 86 players were revealed to have taken steroids while playing in the Major Leagues. The report stated: "Players who use Human Growth Hormone apparently believe that it assists their ability to recover from injuries and fatigue".
Growth hormone treatment
Growth hormone treatment refers to the use of growth hormone in medical treatment. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. In the past, growth hormone was extracted from human pituitary glands. GH is now produced by...
for medical therapy. Use for this purpose is illegal in most jurisdictions, including the United States of America and Europe.
Overview
Human growth hormone occurs naturally in the human bodyHuman body
The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...
. Use of exogenous human growth hormone (HGH), through needle injection, was originally for medical purposes until athletes began abusing HGH with the goal of increasing their abilities. Before recombinant human growth hormone (rHGH) was developed in 1981, HGH was only available from cadavers. The arrival of rHGH combined with other biotech advancements has increased the availability of HGH on both the legitimate and black markets. In 1989 the International Olympic Committee became the first to brand human growth hormone a banned substance. Even though supplying human growth hormone for athletic purposes is illegal in the U.S., over the past decade it appears that abuse of HGH has spread to athletes of all levels. This is fueled at least in part by the fact that HGH is more difficult to detect than most other performance enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids. Athletes competing in power sports, bodybuilding, professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, baseball, strength sports, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, cycling, soccer, weight lifting, and endurance sports have been said to abuse human growth hormone, often in combination with other performance enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, testosterone, products claiming to enhance HGH, and EPO.
There has never been an adequately large randomized controlled trial
Randomized controlled trial
A randomized controlled trial is a type of scientific experiment - a form of clinical trial - most commonly used in testing the safety and efficacy or effectiveness of healthcare services or health technologies A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a type of scientific experiment - a form of...
showing definitively that HGH provides benefits to athletes and that there are no significant adverse drug reaction
Adverse drug reaction
An adverse drug reaction is an expression that describes harm associated with the use of given medications at a normal dosage. ADRs may occur following a single dose or prolonged administration of a drug or result from the combination of two or more drugs...
s; there have been many small studies and several of these studies were recently reviewed and analyzed in a meta-analysis
Meta-analysis
In statistics, a meta-analysis combines the results of several studies that address a set of related research hypotheses. In its simplest form, this is normally by identification of a common measure of effect size, for which a weighted average might be the output of a meta-analyses. Here the...
. While the authors indicated that the meta-analysis was limited by the fact that few of the included studies evaluated athletic performance and by the fact that dosing protocols in the studies may not reflect real-world doses and regimens, their conclusions were as follows: "Claims that growth hormone enhances physical performance are not supported by the scientific literature. Although the limited available evidence suggests that growth hormone increases lean body mass, it may not improve strength; in addition, it may worsen exercise capacity and increase adverse events. More research is needed to conclusively determine the effects of growth hormone on athletic performance." With regard to adverse drug reactions, there is data from animal studies that "a long-term administration of human growth hormone can increase the risk of diabetes, retention of fluids, joint and muscle pain, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, osteoporosis, irregular menstruation, impotence and elevated HDL cholesterol."
Lean body mass
HGH might reduce the amount of subcutaneous (meaning underneath the skin) fat. One study found that taking HGH led to a significant increase in lean body mass, but the change was primarily for the short term. The putative increase in lean body mass is attributed to a simultaneous decrease in fat related tissue as opposed to accelerated muscle growth. No increase in muscle strength was observed in laboratory testing. To the extent that HGH might make a user more lean, the muscles would be more visible but there would be no enhancement of muscular strength.Muscle mass
Researchers are still debating whether the more noticeable muscles are larger in size as well. It should be clarified, though, that muscle mass is not the same as muscle strength. Some say that human growth hormone will build muscle mass through raised insulin-like growth factors levels leading to heightened protein synthesis without any side effects while other researchers argue that there have been no such findings on young healthy adults. The second argument is more supported by research discoveries that HGH affects muscle protein synthesis no differently than a placeboPlacebo
A placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient...
does.
Injury resistance
HGH may build up connective tissue within muscles, at least in the short term. If these effects are real they “may promote resistance to injury or faster repair [but] would make the muscle no more capable of force generation”. With the release of the Mitchell ReportMitchell Report
The Mitchell Report is a document that was created by an American fact-finding committee, led by former US Senator George J. Mitchell, on the state of the Arab-Israeli conflict, during the first stages of the al-Aqsa Intifada...
on December 13, 2007, 86 players were revealed to have taken steroids while playing in the Major Leagues. The report stated: "Players who use Human Growth Hormone apparently believe that it assists their ability to recover from injuries and fatigue".