What does Human Growth Hormone (HGH) do to you??

WARNING: IF YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE COMPETING UNDER A REGULATORY BODY CHECK WITH THEM IF YOU ARE ALLOWED TO USE HUMAN GROWTH HORMONES SINCE THE MAJORITY HAVE BANNED THEM

Human Growth Hormones, more commonly referred to as HGH’s are pretty much what’s described by the name. They are naturally occurring hormones, produced by the body to stimulate it’s growth. However, in large doses, their effects are increased. A LOT. They came under the spotlight after they became officially banned by all major sporting bodies due to the unfair competing advantages it gave to athletes taking them. However, that hasn’t stopped some athletes risking their careers for them. But why?

It’s claimed that HGH can stimulate muscle growth, improve athletic performance, burn fat and slow down ageing. This is because during youth (Age of 30 and below) HGH interacts with muscle cells stimulating their growth but after that it rapidly decreases. Supplementing your body with additional sources of HGH will not only further stimulate muscle growth, but also provide your body with extra resources after the onset of the rapid decrease at the age of 30 or so.

HGH has a lot of research to back it up, showing how it can boost the muscle synthesis pathways and also the protein metabolism resulting in net muscle gain. However this muscle gain doesn’t correspond to an improvement in athletic performance, in fact, some studies have gone even further to say that it hinders training! The only noticeable change is an improvement in the muscle to fat ratio improving the body’s composition, however, it’s unclear whether this change is due to an increase of muscle mass, or whether it’s because HGH acts as a fat burner or a combination of the two previous factors.

Speculations of HGH’s ability to slow down ageing are in fact untrue, they don’t have any impact on cholesterol nor oxygen capacity, hence not acting to slow down ageing.

A lot of side effects are associated with HGH which were greatly discussed in a review of the safety of HGH published in The Annals of Internal Medicine which concluded that HGH drastically increased the risk of: “soft tissue edema, arthralgias, carpal tunnel
syndrome, and gynecomastia and were somewhat more likely to experience the onset of
diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting glucose.”

Also it can cause a decrease in the natural production of HGH since the body becomes used to the abnormally large stores within the body, hence shutting down it’s natural methods of production.

However, if you do chose to take it, the recommend dose is anything between 14-36mg per Kg of body weight.

In summary, HGH is a fairly dangerous supplement to take. Firstly, it’s banned by most sporting authorities, however, if you’re taking it for bodybuilding purposes then it would give you noticeable gains. However, the gained mass wouldn’t be counted towards functional muscle, meaning you’re athletic performance wouldn’t be improved.

References

1. Crist DM, Peake GT, Egan PA, Waters DL. Body composition response to exogenous GH during training in highly conditioned adults. J Appl Physiol 1988; 65: 579-84

2. Healy ML, Gibney J, Russell-Jones DL, Pentecost C, Croos P, Sonksen PH, Umpleby AM. High Dose Growth Hormone Exerts an Anabolic Effect at Rest and during7 Exercise in Endurance-Trained Athletes. J Clin Endo Metab. 2003; 88 (11): 5221-26

3. Liu H, Bravata DM, Olkin I, Friedlander A, Liu V, Roberts B, Bendavid E, Saynina O, Salpeter SR, Garber AM, Hoffman AR. Systematic Review: The Effects of Growth Hormone on Athletic Performance. An Int Med 2008 148 (10): 747-58

4. Skaggs SR, Crist DM. Exogenous Human Growth Hormone Reduces Body Fat in Obese Women Horm Res 1991; 35: 19-24

5. Rudman D, Feller AG, Nagraj HS, Gergans GA, Lalitha PY, Goldberg AF, Schlenker RA, Cohn L, Rudman IW, Mattson DE. Effects of human growth hormone in men over 60 years old. N. Engl. J. Med. 1990; 323 (1): 1–6. PMID 2355952.

6. No proof that growth hormone therapy makes you live longer, study finds”.
PhysOrg.com. 2007-01-16. http://www.physorg.com/news88140162.html. Retrieved 2011-11-04.

7. Moller N, Jorgensen JOL. Effects of Growth Hormone on Glucose, Lipid, and Protein Metabolism in Human Subjects. End Rev 2008; 30 (2): 152-77.