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FeedHGH Fix
The benefits and big concerns of human growth hormone.
(page 1 of 3)
The players’ names were listed for all to see, and there was no dissent. (OK, so one man did try to refute the findings of Major League Baseball’s Mitchell Report last winter—and we’ve seen how that has gone down for Mr. Roger Clemens.) Nope, they were caught. Dozens of big-league ballplayers had been using human growth hormone (HGH) to help them become bigger, stronger, faster and more resilient.
One by one, they issued their apologies. They gave their reasons: a comeback from injury; a chance to play just one more year—or two; everybody else was doing it.
One player, the New York Yankees’ Andy Pettitte, came under considerable scrutiny. The Mitchell Report found that Pettitte, one of baseball’s more productive pitchers, used HGH without a prescription. As a friend of Clemens, who was accused of steroid and HGH use, he felt the heat of the spotlight more than most.
Instead of denying everything, as Clemens did, Pettitte issued an apology. It wasn’t much of a mea culpa, mind you, because it sought to minimize his use and any subsequent public relations fallout. But it was an admission nonetheless. He said he used HGH twice, in 2002 and 2004, solely to recover from injuries. Few believed he hadn’t employed it on other occasions, but he did receive credit from many for stepping up, especially while Clemens stonewalled.
“I am sorry,” he said at a news conference prior to his taking part in spring training. “I know in my heart why I did things. I know that God knows that. I know that I’m going to have to stand before him one day. The truth hurts, and sometimes you don’t want to share it. The truth will set you free. I’m going to be able to sleep a lot better.”
Produced naturally in most humans from birth until about age 30, HGH is responsible for bone and muscle growth in the young, along with increased height. As people move through their 20s, levels of HGH dwindle significantly. It is rare to find anyone in their 30s with HGH levels in the blood beyond a trace. Its job is done, so it goes away.
While athletes used HGH to increase muscle size and speed recovery, doctors around the country were discovering that it had some benefits for patients beyond traditional therapies designed for younger people with deficits of the hormone. Older patients began using HGH as an anti-aging weapon, calling it the “Fountain of Youth” due to its restorative properties. They felt stronger, younger and more vibrant because of it.
According to a 2005 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association that cited statistics from the National Institute on Aging, the HGH market was booming. Sales worldwide were $1.5-$2 billion—and growing. And 30 percent of HGH prescriptions here in the United States were written for reasons never approved by the FDA, such as anti-aging regimens.
“HGH does provide muscle mass,” says Dr. Andrew Frankel, an orthopedic surgeon at Paoli Hospital. “The normal function of the hormone is to stimulate longitudinal bone growth in kids. It’s responsible for the ‘growth spurt.’”
If HGH helps kids grow, it has to have some benefits for adults, doesn’t it? A 1990 report in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that men over the age of 60 who used HGH had increased lean body mass, bone density and skin thickness, as well as decreased fat mass. The ravages of age had been attacking their bodies, and HGH was a weapon in the fight.
Soon, athletes weren’t the only ones looking to HGH for some help. Average citizens were asking their doctors for prescriptions and injections of the stuff to improve their quality of life. Many complied, looking at the mounting evidence that there were some short-term gains to using HGH.
