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4 May 2010, Vol 152, No. 9>
Summaries for Patients | 4 May 2010

Effects of Growth Hormone Doping on Athletic Performance FREE

[+] Article and Author Information

The summary below is from the full report titled “The Effects of Growth Hormone on Body Composition and Physical Performance in Recreational Athletes. A Randomized Trial.” It is in the 4 May 2010 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine (volume 152, pages 568-577). The authors are U. Meinhardt, A.E. Nelson, J.L. Hansen, V. Birzniece, D. Clifford, K.C. Leung, K. Graham, and K.K.Y. Ho.


Ann Intern Med. 2010;152(9):I-44. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-152-9-201005040-00003
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What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Growth hormone is naturally produced by the body and is important for growth and metabolism. Injectable growth hormone is available for use by people who have growth hormone deficiency. Many healthy athletes without growth hormone deficiency use the drug because they believe that it bulks up their muscles and improves their physical performance (growth hormone “doping”). However, no scientific research has shown that growth hormone improves physical performance.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

To see whether growth hormone affects athletic performance.

Who was studied?

103 healthy recreational athletes aged 18 to 40 years who engaged in regular athletic training for at least 1 year.

How was the study done?

The researchers first measured physical fitness and the ability to pull a weight, jump, and sprint on a bicycle. They then assigned half of the group at random to receive either growth hormone or salt water injections for 8 weeks. At the same time, they assigned half of the men at random to also receive testosterone or salt water injections. They measured physical performance at the end of the 8-week period and again at 14 weeks after the athletes had stopped receiving the drug or salt water injections.

What did the researchers find?

Growth hormone increased the athletes' ability to sprint on a bicycle but had no effects on fitness or their ability to pull a weight or jump. The effect on sprint capacity was nearly doubled in men who also received testosterone injections. Performance returned to normal 6 weeks after participants stopped receiving growth hormone and testosterone injections. Athletes who received growth hormone did not increase muscle mass but retained body fluid and had swelling and joint pain more often than those who received salt water injections.

What were the limitations of the study?

The investigators used lower doses of growth hormone than athletes are reported to use, and for a shorter time. Therefore, the drug's effects on performance might be greater than in this study, and its side effects may be more serious. How the drug's effects on performance might translate into competitive advantage for athletes is unclear.

What are the implications of the study?

Growth hormone injections seem to increase athletic sprinting when given alone or in combination with testosterone. The drug also causes a person to retain body fluid and have swelling and pain. This is the first demonstration of improvement in a particular aspect of physical performance with growth hormone, but if and how the findings translate into a competitive advantage for athletes is unclear.

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Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Compression-Only CPR: Pushing the Science Forward
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AAM 2010;304:1493-1495.
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BMJ 2010;341:c5893-c1494.

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