Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

Some believe that this natural alternative to anabolic steroids should replace them since it is safer, natural and undetectable in drug tests. The only problem is – HGH is very expensive. Human Growth Hormone is produced by a pituitary gland that is situated right underneath the brain; normally, the production of HGH hits the highest point before and during puberty. Once it is produced, the human growth hormone acts on other glands in the body which, in turn, produce testosterone and epitestosterone and other hormones that contribute to tissue development and natural body growth.

Back in 1985 a synthetic form of HGH was developed – a recombinant growth hormone or rHGH. It is intended to be used in treatments for patients with growth hormone deficiency or wasting diseases like AIDS.

This hormone is present in every person, so it is quite hard to tell whether there has been any artificial “illegal” intake. Compared to the use of anabolic steroids, HGH is taken in very small amounts, and also is very expensive since it can be obtained only from a human pituitary gland, but unlike anabolic steroids, HGH is not on the federal controlled substances list. Currently there are no standard or specialized drug tests that can detect the use of HGH by athletes, and the blood test for HGH has considerable weaknesses and is still not available for widespread implementation. Nearly a dozen of domestic and international research projects have been trying to develop an effective and efficient test for this substance for a few decades, but the complexity and the difficulty in detecting synthetic HGH in the blood bar pharmaceutical companies from mass-production of the tests that already exist.