Application:
• Some athletes take growth hormones to build muscles
Growth hormone (also known as somatotropin) is an anabolic peptide hormone that stimulates growth
- It acts directly to reduce the formation of adipose cells (i.e. less nutrients stored as fat)
- It acts indirectly via insulin growth factor (IGF) – produced by the liver – to increase muscle mass and bone size
Due to its role in promoting growth and regeneration, it is used by some athletes as a performance enhancer
- The use of human growth hormone is banned in sports, with proven cases of doping strictly punished
- Traditional urine testing could not detect doping, which historically made bans difficult to enforce
- Recent blood tests can now identify between natural and artificial variants of growth hormone
Effects of Growth Hormone on Athletic Capacity
