The 5 Interesting Human Growth Hormone Facts
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is a chemical substance that controls body growth. And while it is commonly associated with delayed aging and illegal use in sports, there are still lots of things you don’t know about HGH such as being a natural testosterone enhancer and the likes – Things that we are going to tackle in today’s guide.
So stick around as we are going to talk about the 5 interesting human growth hormone facts.
1. The Early Days
During the 60’s, scientists used human growth hormone to treat kids with growth deficiencies caused by the pituitary gland. And since HGH is a chemical that is naturally produced by the human body, the source of human growth hormone back then were cadavers.
Quite creepy don’t you think? But the results were promising according to records. Although, there’s just one awful side effect when HGH is harvested from cadavers and that is a condition called “Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease” which triggered prion (a nefarious type of protein) to create holes in the patient’s brain. And this would only happen if the harvested HGH is rotted. So careful measures were done to ensure any harvested HGH from cadavers was fresh.
20 years later, a synthetic version of HGH was created and these are the types of growth hormones that we use today.
2. Increased Muscle Strength
One of the most well-known human growth hormone facts is that HGH can increase muscle mass, but did you know that it can also increase muscle strength?
To be specific, HGH improves the physical capacity of an individual by stimulating collagen synthesis. As a result, the tendons and skeletal muscles of the body are enhanced and improve exercise performance.
3. HGH And Testosterone
Although HGH is often attributed to male enhancement, this chemical is not to be mistaken as testosterone. In fact, testosterone is a steroid hormone that enhances male characteristics when taken orally, being injected, or applied topically. The role of HGH however in this process is that it activates the receptor cells in the body to initiate growth.
4. Should Only Be Prescribed By Professionals
Taking HGH should be done with extreme caution to prevent harmful side effects. That’s why it’s only prescribed by professionals. Don’t be fooled by HGH kits that are suspiciously sold online like what a supposed fitness “guru” did.
Eric C. Opitz sold HGH kits via Craigslist for 450 dollars/kit. He claimed that he used HGH to treat dwarfism. In the end, he was apprehended by authorities for illegally prescribing HGH to consumers even if he is not a licensed physician and making false claims about the effects of HGH as he actually did not suffer from dwarfism.
5. Possible Aid In Sport-Related Injuries
And last but not the least is probably the most interesting human growth hormone facts that we can share to you.
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks has pledged $800,000 to the University of Michigan to determine the efficiency of human growth hormones in aiding the recovery of muscles after sustaining an ACL injury. This was done in an effort to help NBA players and other athletes play at their best after injury as ACL is one of the most common injuries in sports today.
As a result, the study gave a positive boost to the use of HGH in sports as opposed to the widespread doping and cheating controversies that gave HGH a bad reputation in the world of sports.
