Growth Hormone Effects Limited in Athletes

For several years, athletes have taken human growth hormones believing that they will increase physical performance and strength. However a recent study has deemed this incorrect and signs may even show a decrease in athletic performance.

Human growth hormone (HGH) successfully adds muscle tissue, however this increase in size doesn’t increase strength as previously expected. A study was performed on young athletic men, but the data found no increase in strength as expected.

Professional athletes Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte are among those accused of consuming HGH for physical enhancements. Long term effects of GHG usage is still unclear, since such performance enhancement practice is illegal, and are likely to remain such due to the nature of the hormone.

Human growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland and promotes tissue growth. The synthetic version of HGH is legal only for treatment of particular children’s and adult’s diseases.

Although this study has revealed otherwise, there are still many theories of the effectiveness of HGH for performance enhancement. Athletes often choose HGH as a source of enhancement because it is not detectable in a urine sample.

Research on usage of HGH revealed that the average athlete taking HGH supplements achieved five pounds more muscle and two pounds less fat than those not on treatment. However the strength of the treated athletes did not improve strength or physical ability.

I personally found this article interesting because, as an athlete in high school, I know of several people who attempted to increase performance by using steroids and hormones.

full text: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/17/hgh.athletes.ap/index.html