Human Growth Hormone may not be the wonder drug of choice for athletes seeking to cheat and become stronger even though it's undetectable in urine tests.
Are some of baseball's scarred legends going to get a break now? In a report released by the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday March 17, 2008, HGH (Human Growth Hormone) may have no athletic performance enhancing effects.
In fact, HGH may actually worsen athletic abilities, according to Dr. Hau Liu, lead author of the review. Dr. Liu and colleagues from Stanford University studied the results of published reports on 27 studies involving 440 participants. They concluded that there is no evidence that muscle strength or exercise stamina was enhanced by the use of the drug.
Of course none of the studies included any of the athletes recently accused of doping in the Mitchell Report. None of the participants were given HGH at the dosage and frequency alluded to in this report, and it's not likely any studies will subject participants to this level of HGH use. The long term effects are also unknown at this point as well.
For some athletes such as Andy Petite who admits to using HGH only once or twice after an injury, this study may help to show that it is unlikely he had any physical enhancement from the drug.
Human growth hormone is naturally produced in the body by the pituitary gland. Its function is to promote growth. Synthetic versions of this hormone have been available since the 1980's but are restricted for use in treating specific conditions in children and adults. Some of those conditions include wasting from AIDS, growth hormone deficiencies and short stature.
