Baseball Musings: Studying HGH

March 18, 2008

Studying HGH

Bob Tufts sends along another piece of literature that indicates HGH doesn't do much for athletes:

Athletes, in particular body builders, reportedly use growth hormone to increase strength and improve muscle definition (5, 17, 76). We found that although growth hormone significantly increased lean body mass and was associated with a near-significant trend toward decreased fat mass, it did not result in gains in biceps and quadriceps strength. How can increases in lean body mass not translate into strength improvements? Because methods for evaluation of lean body mass do not reliably distinguish lean solid tissue from fluid mass (77) and because the included studies evaluated only short-term changes, we suspect that much of the increase in lean body mass from growth hormone is due to fluid retention rather than muscle hypertrophy (77-79). A nonrandomized study in experienced weight lifters supports this view. Yarasheski and colleagues (80) provided high-dose growth hormone to college football players and weight lifters and found that growth hormone did not increase muscle protein synthesis or decrease protein breakdown, suggesting that an increase in muscle mass from growth hormone use in such athletes is unlikely.

This is not new research, but a synthesis of other research brought together in one paper. As the authors note, there are limitations to this method:

Our study reflects the limitations of the included studies. First, our review highlights the lack of published evidence about the physiologic effects of growth hormone among athletic, young adults. Although we reviewed thousands of studies, only 8 studies assessed strength and exercise capacity for growth hormone treatment in a randomized fashion. Thus, our analysis may not have detected small but clinically relevant differences in outcomes and adverse events. Since no studies evaluated growth hormone for periods longer than 3 months, there is no evidence with which to evaluate the long-term use of growth hormone for athletic enhancement.

Still, it makes you wonder if the money being spent on developing an HGH test is just being flushed down the drain.

Posted by David Pinto at 10:35 AM | Cheating | TrackBack (0)

Comments

I don't get it... HGH is in our body naturally, right? We still produce it ourselves, albeit less as we get older. So what exactly does it do in "natural" amounts?

I find it hard to believe that millions of years of evolution would keep some hormone around if all it did was make us retain water.

Posted by: Mike at March 18, 2008 12:07 PM

When combined with the study by the JISSN on the average steroid user shows us that our drug policy has been perverted by the focus on athletes. We are wasting time, energy and dollars due to the drug fascists at the WADA, USADA and Congress.

The average steroid suer is not a high school athlete or minority professional athlete..

http://www.jissn.com/content/4/1/12/abstract

Results
The majority of respondents did not initiate AAS use during adolescence and their NMAAS use was not motivated by athletics. The typical user was a Caucasian, highly-educated, gainfully employed professional approximately 30 years of age, who was earning an above-average income, was not active in organized sports, and whose use was motivated by increases in skeletal muscle mass, strength, and physical attractiveness. These findings question commonly held views of the typical NMAAS user and the associated underlying motivations.

Conclusion
The focus on "cheating" athletes and at risk youth has led to ineffective policy as it relates to the predominant group of NMAAS users. Effective policy, prevention or intervention should address the target population(s) and their reasons for use while utilizing their desire for responsible use and education.

Posted by: rmt at March 18, 2008 12:32 PM

Very insightful, rmt, thank you.

I don't have the appetite to read the whole thing, but if anyone out there does, can they please post weather or not the literature addresses the (perceived?) healing properties of HGH?

Posted by: WeWanttheFunk at March 18, 2008 12:58 PM

Still up for debate...but the odds are that it does not help build mass without a cycle of steroids.

"What athletes are doing is probably unlike anything we see in a clinical setting, so we don't know what it does," said Dr. Mary Lee Vance, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Virginia who wrote a 2003 study of growth hormone. "But the point is that none of our studies of aging populations have demonstrated measurable benefits other than to body composition."

Vance questioned athletes' belief in the substance's healing power.

"I think the key word is perception," Vance said, "because there's no evidence at all that it helps anyone recover from injuries."

Dr. Bill Howard, founder of the sports medicine clinic at Union Memorial Hospital, isn't so sure. He noted research on animals suggesting that growth hormone can help heal micro-injuries to the muscles. Such effects could help an athlete attempting to rehabilitate an injury, he said.

Posted by: rmt at March 18, 2008 01:38 PM

Dave -

If HGH is illegal, then a test to uncover its use is not a waste of money, because it will uncover people using an illegal substance.

Posted by: Phil at March 18, 2008 06:51 PM

and of course the science behind the HgH test will be solid...but the people who administer it will be fascists!

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/03/18/drug-war-goes-crazy-cyclist-forced-to-provide-sample-at-sons-c/?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Drug War Goes Crazy, Cyclist Forced to Provide Sample at Son's Cremation

Posted Mar 18th 2008 2:01PM by Michael David Smith . Filed under: Cycling, PEDs

This is Belgian cyclist Kevin van Impe. His wife gave birth prematurely this year, and their son died hours after he was born.

Last week van Impe was at a crematorium, making arrangements for his son's funeral, when a drug tester representing cycling's governing body showed up. Van Impe asked whether the tester would be kind enough to give him some space during his grieving process, but the tester would have none of it, telling him it was provide a urine sample immediately or be banned from the sport for two years:

"He wouldn't even come back later in the day. It was either do it right on the spot or it would be taken as if I had refused," van Impe said.

Posted by: rmt at March 18, 2008 08:03 PM

Phil- HGH is not illegal to use, only to distribute. Did you mean to say "if HGH is made illegal?"

Posted by: SleepyCA at March 19, 2008 01:27 AM

What ever happened to just eating Wheaties?

Posted by: Leco at March 23, 2008 01:20 AM

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