First of all, unless they have completely invented some new way to test (which would cost BILLIONS), this test is completely unreliable. The only way currently is to test for elevated IGF-1 levels, and that is only sufficient shortly after injection. There are a lot of things that can cause elevated IGF-1 levels, including cancer, exercise and various other factors. so it's "iffy" at best HGH has a very short half life also.. it's pretty much only active in your body for about 30-60 minutes. Considering it's twice a day dosing, i imagine if they just stop the day before they won't be able to test for it. They may not even be able to test for it later that day. as far as the "bye bye clay matthews", HGH doesn't make you big or strong on its own. It actually has zero impact on both those factors. It'll keep you lean (reduce bodyfat) and help you recover faster. Eventually, if you were to combine it with actual IGF-1 and insulin, you could grow new satellite muscle cells but that isn't an immediate process. that takes years to even notice and i highly doubt pro football players are messing around with insulin (unless you're jay cutler and you have to). Stopping athletes from using HGH is actually stupid, because it helps them recover from injuries and surgeries quicker. It also serves as a preventative measure because it actually increase collagen production so ligaments and tendons are stronger and more stable as a result
this is just a "cover our ass" move by the NFL. Similar to how their current steroid and drug test is a joke, they want to avoid an MLB situation where there is NO testing in play.The reason baseball got screwed is exactly because of that so regardless of how unreliable or how easy it is to the beat the tests, at least they can put up the facade. that's all it is. there's no way to reliably test for it because it only has ancillary effects on other hormones
hey thanks. we will see what the long term effects are soon enough. i am sure they wont be that they are healthier.
Devil's advocate, just to create more thinking, no matter how bad: Psycho parent buys it for kid athlete? It's had to have happened by now.
It wouldn't be a cost effective solution, or even have that much benefit. maybe if they have legitimate growth problems, since it's administered clinically in children who are extremely short, but usually that's before they hit puberty(10-11). post puberty teenagers produce a great deal of GH naturally in their sleep, i'd find it nearly impossible to see the benefit for a high school athlete. GH really has the greatest benefit for those who are getting older, since their levels decline sharply, even more so than their testosterone levels. and like a psycho parent could just find access to legitimate HGH that isn't dudded or counterfeit.... only case is if they are prescribed it and give it to their kid instead, but that turns out to be even more expensive. if you get it via script you're paying $700-800 through the pharmacy. sorry dude, just not plausible
yes, lets make completely uneducated guesses on stuff that's already been around for a century or more, and has clinical and anecdotal evidence to the contrary of your point. you're really smart. Obviously pro bodybuilders, especially modern ones as big as Jay Cutler and ronnie coleman, tend to have issues, but that's because the massive amount of stuff they take and the doses they do would be equivalent to the regiment of half the Kentucky Derby's roster. They also NEVER stop taking it, because they basically have to stay on it (at absurdly large doses) to stay competitive. and lets not even get started on stuff like insulin, lasix and DNP. stuff that goes well beyond the scope of what would be beneficial to any athlete and i'm talking about steroids specifically in the above example. there are a shitton of celebrities that take HGH just for anti aging purposes. it isn't just botox that keeps those celebrities looking way younger than they should be. HGH is about as "mild" as you can get, since it's not actually a steroid.
Thank you. I understand everyones quasi ignorance on the effects of hgh. As the post here above correctly states hgh speeds up recovery time it doesn't make them physical freaks per se. Unless you are talking about undesirable side effects such as acromegaly. _ Trust me there will always be designer steroids to beat any up to date drug test. The major effects fans might notice are players remaining on the dl list much longer and smaller helmets.
As you clearly know what you're talking about, can you explain what HGH actually is then and more importantly what it does? You say it occurs naturally in varying amounts depending on age etc - do athletes take a synthesised version of the natural substance, or are they taking something to encourage the body's natural production of it?
Come on it doesn't take too much to have their hat size, foot size, hand size etc to continue growing, just look at Barry Bonds and you can see it in the odd look of Clay Mathews. Some of these athletes have been taking this shit for a decade plus. God knows what doses........ Did you really think I meant Andre the Giant or Richard Kiel acromegaly. It doesn't have to be disfigurement and exaggerated stuff to get my drift.
growth hormone is basically an amino acid chain (peptide hormone) excreted by the pituitary gland. Most people emit short pulses of GH when they sleep at night during REM sleep. It has a lot of ancillary benefits and functions, and doesn't necessarily effect any particular part of the endocrine system more than an another. It's so big for anti aging purposes because it effects so many different areas in the body (mostly positive). For athletic purposes, its biggest benefit is the increasing of IGF-1 (INsulin growth like factor) which helps prevent muscle wasting, eventually can lead to additional muscle cell development and pretty much regulates cell growth/regrowth and development in every type of cell in the body. it's more or less what can age us if it's absent. The downside, is that it can accelerate ANY cell, including cancer cells. But that means you already have to have cancer in the first place for it to become an issue. I'm not sure the mechanism in which it works, but it has a huge effect on Lipolysis (fat burning). I'm guessing it's tied into the insulin resistance it creates, which can be good and bad. Insulin resistance is not good long term, but in the short term it can lead to reduced bodyfat when it's caused by HGH. The biggest, and imho only real danger if taken in moderate doses, is insulin sensitivity/resistance control. Basically, if you don't space out your injections and carb consumption in the proper manner, there's a possibility you can become diabetic. If you know what you're doing and aren't predisposed, it's a non issue. HGH itself is a Recombinant peptide/hormone, so it's basically synthesized in a lab. Because of it's short half life, it doesn't seem to really effect your body's natural output (assuming you take it during the day), so just because you are adding a synthentic peptide it doesn't mean it'll suppress your natural output. there are drugs that help you produce more, like GHRP-6 and GHRP-2. They basically are peptides that send the signal to pituitary to produce more GH. It's not as effective because there's only to a certain point it can be stimulated, but it can help. Very similar to how HCG effects Luteinizing hormones and can stimulate or increase your natural testosterone production.
It's basically all here. Just read the parts you think pertain to your question and you will see the answer. HGH- Human Growth Hormone Wikipedia Edit: That isn't a detailed thing it should give you a basic level of understanding.
Barry was just bloated to all hell. The guy was a walking moon. There weren't really any bone structural changes. And not everyone who has prominent cheeks or jaw bones takes HGH. Most athletic types (and not due to drug use) tend to have that bone structure to begin with, and obviously when your body fat is low, it is accentuated. I have plenty of friends who are athletic or bodybuilders (that haven't done GH) that have always had that appearance. The guys you *actually* see it in are pro bodybuilders. They have the true caveman face AND a distended gut. and you can see it evolve as their career goes on. The distended gut is the first thing that usually occurs long before acromegaly, since IGF-1 seems to have a propensity to grow your internal organs/intestines.
which goes back to my original point, you can't detect the presence of HGH itself because it's such a fast acting peptide. You can only check for elevated IGF-1 levels, which isn't reliable at all. The elevation of IGF-1 is a very gradual and cumalative thing when taking HGH. There's a reason the players union is against it right now, and it;'s because the test is bogus and will produce a lot of false positives because so many other things can temporarily spike your IGF-1 levels.
Perhaps you haven't thought the issue through. Congress is interested in HGH use in professional sports partly because of the overall problems with PEDs in high schools. Yes, HGH use in high schools is not anywhere near as prevalent as steroids because supply is hard to get and/or expensive, but that doesn't mean there aren't issues with the kids going out and trying to obtain the stuff. What they are likely to get is going to be dodgy and more dangerous than the real material. In addition anyone who has experience in this area knows that whenever there is demand for something somebody someday is going to figure out a way to supply it. So yes, the concerns are legitimate.
shut up. you have no idea what you're talking about aren't you like 60 years old? what do you know about kids today, if anything?
