Challenges in detecting the abuse of growth hormone in sport.

The history of doping and growth hormone abuse in sport.

The earliest records of doping in sport come from the Ancient Olympics games when athletes are reported to have taken figs to improve their performance. With the advent of modern pharmacology in the 19th century, many athletes began to experiment with cocktails of drugs to improve strength and overcome fatigue. As this practice was not illegal, there are good records of the lengths athletes wou...

Effect of Six Months of Aerobic Exercise on Serum Levels of Insulin, Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Hormone 1 in Sedentary Obese Women

ABSTRACT            Background and Objectives: Inactivity, obesity and hormone disorders can lead to various diseases in obese and non-athletic individuals. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of six months of aerobic exercise on serum levels of insulin, growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth hormone 1 (IGF-1) in sedent...

Ethical aspects and the prevalence of hormone abuse in sport.

Abuse of hormones by sportsmen or sportswomen might lead to some serious health consequences for the individual user. Such abuse also damages the very spirit of sport, cheating fellow athletes, the officials and spectators. Where hormone findings cause most controversy is with endogenously produced substances. Some hormone findings might be indicators of a medical condition, and it requires sen...

Challenges in Detecting the Abuse of Growth Hormone in Sports

Background: Growth hormone (GH) is reputed to be in widespread use in the sporting arena as a performanceenhancing agent and is on the list of banned substances published by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The detection of GH abuse poses many challenges. Unlike many substances of abuse, such as synthetic anabolic steroids, GH is a naturally occurring substance; therefore, demonstration of exogeno...

Growth hormone and sport: abuse, potential benefits, and difficulties in detection.