Growth hormone, or GH, has taken the sports and medical worlds by storm in the last 5 to 7 years. In the past few years, doctors have been prescribing this useful compound to their patients to help offset the effects of aging. Patients who use GH have noticed elevated energy levels, restored libido, gains in muscle mass and strength, loss of fat, and overall improved vitality, even at low doses. Medical professionals wrote about these effects, and word quickly spread to the sporting world, which had already been quietly using GH for years with elite athletes at the Olympian level. Soon many professional and college athletes were using GH. When trainers and ex-players of professional sports were arrested for various charges, they began using their knowledge of GH use in professional sports as a bargaining chip to remove themselves from the way of legal harm. The media embraced the stories from an all too eager law enforcement arm eager to boost their funding by detailing their heroic involvement in keeping our streets safe from a low-dose, highly expensive drug which makes people stronger and healthier.
The use of growth hormone in bodybuilding is certainly an afterthought to that of the medical and sporting community use. The market is so small, and potential profits so minimal, that the bodybuilding world is ignored for the most part as far as GH is concerned. There have been some higher profile bodybuilders mentioned when large clinics have been the focus of an investigation, but most people outside of this cult sport don’t recognize the name, so the story never grows legs.
One story that should be gaining legs for the sake of bodybuilders hoping to be able to secure growth hormone for years to come is the remarkable saga of the uses of GH in the medical field. For every piece of legislation which passes making it easier for people to secure GH for medical purposes, the drug becomes cheaper and more available for bodybuilders seeking it as well.
Real growth hormone is being used most successfully for patients suffering from muscle wasting illnesses. These can include cancer, HIV, or other immune system deficiencies which result in the patient losing body mass, strength, and weight. These patients recover a good amount of the initial weight lost, and are able to maintain both muscle and fat levels on par with healthy people, despite their body’s natural tendency to not want to hold this weight. Physical deterioration stops or slows greatly, plain and simple.
It’s easy for lawmakers and people on the sidelines healthy people to stand on their pulpits and talk about how GH is dangerous and should be banned. It may come naturally for them to denigrate the use of artificial hormones for medical purposes. However, one day, statistically speaking, they will more likely than not suffer from cancer, as one-third of our population eventually does. Or they will watch a family member or loved one succumb to the illness. Will HGH be available to help them or a loved one maintain strength and health for those final months and years? The medical uses of GH cannot be emphasized enough for our bodybuilding agendas, as well as for that ailment that awaits all of us one day.
