February 12, 2008
More Evidence Against HGH
Doctors tell Congress HGH doesn't help.
Posted by David Pinto at
02:51 PM
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If HGH didn't work then athletes wouldn't use it.
Oh, and their wives.
There's been a conflict between the scientific community and athletes for a long time. Scientists base their conclusions on definitive evidance (if we don't have a study proving it it doesn't exist) They typically have no hands on experience using the PED. For decades they told us extra protein wasn't necessary. Atheletes, on the other hand will use anything if they think it works. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
"The truth is probably somewhere in between."
Historically, baseball players believed that weight lifting was counterproductive, too. Obviously they would have been lifting weights in the 1940's if it helped to hit home runs, right?
If you see your competition doing (or not doing) something, it's basic human nature to follow suit. Athletes could very possibly be using HGH because some dude told them it works (and because it's against the rules, so it must work, right?).
Rich people have always been targets of quacks, and rich athletes are particularly vulnerable, since their livlihood is dependent on their health. Athletes might buy into unproven remedies, and think it is effective because of the placebo effect.
J.D. Drew swears by his use of infrared radiation, hyperbaric chambers, bio-pendants, and the like.
http://www.baseballmusings.com/archives/019155.php Does that prove the remedies are effective?
HGH doesn't have to be effective in order for players to think it is effective.
Don't forget that scientifically it is impossible for bumblebees to fly.
Actually, Dave, that's not accurate (or, in a modern vernacular, your truthiness and mine disagree):
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20040911/mathtrek.asp
The point is that there's a difference between a model of a thing and the thing itself. The simplest engineering model in 1934 said an insect couldn't fly; therefore the simplest model was wrong in at least one important detail.
It is certainly true that a few well-publicized anecdotes are dominating the discussion on both sides ("Think of the children!"/"Steroids make anyone great!") - that always makes for great reproducibility.
somehow....in the future I envision everybody being on HGH in one form or another. doctors will recommend it to "all" thier patients....health care insurers will demand it to bring "the sickly" costs down. somehow...within the next ten years HGH treatment will be as common as tanning salons. Me? I could care less. But lets face it fellow fans, we've seen crazier things happen. I honestly don't know what to think.