HGH: Explained
This will explain the impact of HGH on sports, bodybuilding and how it functions when injected into the body.
HGH (Human Growth Hormone) is also known as somatropin and is a peptide hormone consisting of a 191 amino acids in a single chain. It is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland and is responsible for the growth of cells and regeneration of tissue in the body. The main need for HGH is during adolescence as it stimulates growth within the body during the years of puberty. However, if introduced beyond that point, will still elicit effects on the body that are quite profound. Basically it has an anabolic effect on all tissues in the body meaning growth of muscle, bone and organs. This makes the use of HGH very useful for bodybuilding and sports in terms of recovery and growth. It also creates an almost limitless capacity for a person in terms of muscle growth and overall size. Bodybuilding before the 1980's did not involve the use of HGH or at least not to the extent it is abused in today's competitions. When observing the effects of HGH on the body it is essentially a list of exactly what a bodybuilder wants. It promotes lipolysis or breakdown of lipids (fat mass), increases muscle mass and protein synthesis, strengthens bones, and stimulates the immune system for faster more efficient recovery.
The one issue with HGH is the growth of internal organs ,which can be hazardous when thinking of an enlarged heart or intestinal cavity. Growth in this sense is not ideal and leads to what people now call "HGH Gut or GH Belly". It appears that these organs grow and the abdominal region does expand at the same rate of the organ growth revealing a distended stomach area that looks quite grotesque if you ask me. Bodybuilders need to contract their abdominal region at all times to keep this look from being visible during shows, but if you look it up there are moments that you will see the distorted look that everyone has now. Old school bodybuilding was geared more towards the small waist and wide shoulder proportion while today it is simply about how much muscle and overall size can you fit on your frame. Anyway HGH in sports is very popular due to its recovery properties, which is ideal for athletes in-season or when recovering off an injury. I personally feel that the use of HGH should be implemented in sports to keep the health of athletes up to par with the rigors of their sport, but many would rebuttle that by stating it enhances performance and there is no way to regulate it, which is understandable. I believe there is a way to regulate it rather than turning a blind eye to the obvious use of it in the sport now. Even the playing field, help the athletes sustain careers and keep the integrity of the game all in one. But I'm sure that will not happen due to the negative connotation associated with HGH use.
Back to explaining the science behind HGH and the usage of it. HGH in liquid form is fragile and easily destroyed by heat therefore it must be kept in powder form until the injection. Using bacteriostatic water (sterile water) you need to insert a syringe into the vial to reconstitute the substance into liquid form for an injection. Injecting the water slowly into the vial is ideal and letting the vial sit in the fridge once the water is within the vial for about 30 minutes is an accepted amount of time to create a fully dissolved solution. Not a complicated procedure, but definitely a necessary one that needs to be followed carefully. Injection is either intra-muscular or subcutaneous (beneath the skin - usually in stomach fat). Dosages will not be discussed here, but it varies depending on your needs. Bodybuilders take incredible amounts of GH to promote growth, which explains their new found extreme size that has erupted the past few decades. HGH targets receptors rather than penetrating cell membranes due to its inability to pass through cell membranes. This is because polypeptide hormones are not fat-soluble and cannot pass through the phospholipid bi-layer of the cell membrane. Essentially it binds to the target cells to signal MAPK/ERK pathway activation. This is known as the mitogen-activated protein kinases or extracellular signal-regulated kinases pathway, which signals for the cell nucleus to perform a specific function. In this case it provides information for the DNA to replicate and cellular division occurs. This pathway is involved in mutated cell division or uncontrolled cell division due to its on and off ability of signaling cell division. Cancer is basically uncontrolled or unregulated cellular division and may be related to this pathway.
So that is pretty much it for HGH. Could be more detailed, but that should be enough to understand the usage and function in the body. Overall, HGH is a promising and an effective compound that is used for growth disorders and recovery from burn wounds and severe injury, but as always it becomes extremely controversial in sports and for recreational use. Though anti-aging effects are seen from use of HGH and many positive results come from usage, the abuse of the hormone creates a bad look for HGH as it does for anabolics steroids.
