Growth hormone/Somatotrophin:
• polypeptide hormone secreted by anterior pituitary – synthetic version is now produced by DNA recombinant methods (risk of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease if hGH is obtained from cadavers). Medically used to treat growth deficiency.
• used by athletes because it stimulates protein and nucleic acid synthesis; increases lipolysis decrease in body fat; may enhance healing after injury; placebo effect
• therapeutic dose for those deficient in 0.2mg/g/wk – athlete believed to take 20 times this
• expensive
• possible benefits – increased muscle mass and strength
• side effects – gigantism (in young athlete) and acromegaly (in adult athletes), joint pains, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, cardiac complications, impotence, osteoporosis.
• not yet possible to detect the difference between endogenous and exogenous human growth hormone
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26222229?dopt=Abstract
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