The 2008 Growth Hormone Summit was held by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in conjunction with Major League Baseball (MLB) and the law firm of Foley and Lardner at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California on November 10, 2008. Dr. Gary Green, professor of family medicine at the UCLA medical school, chaired the conference of leading anti-doping experts and scholars. “Growth Hormone: Barriers to Implementation of hGH in Sports” addressed several scientific, legal and ethical issues involving testing athletes for human growth hormone (”Landmark conference to look at use of human growth hormone by athletes,” October 22).
understanding the currently available methods for identifying use of hGH and understanding the viability of urine testing for hGH in the future;
building a consensus on the most effective methods of implementing widespread blood testing for abuse of hGH;
identifying future strategies for hGH testing; and
understanding the United States Laws regarding the regulation and distribution of hGH
The current state of HGH testing involves blood testing. Anti-doping expert Don Catlin supervised growth hormone testing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics which involved approximately 1,000 blood samples; no athlete tested positive for HGH. In fact, no athlete has ever tested positive for human growth hormone using this test which has led many experts to question the effectiveness of the test (”Officials Question a Blood Test That Is Never Positive,” November 10)
Three hours into a conference held Monday by Major League Baseball on human growth hormone, the real question of the day emerged when officials from the commissioner’s office and the players union wondered aloud about how effective the current blood test for human growth hormone was if no one had tested positive.
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Osquel Barroso, the senior manager of science for the World Anti-Doping Agency, was one such expert invited to the conference. WADA, which oversees the testing of Olympic athletes, has tested 8,500 athletes for human growth hormone since 2000 and has never had a test come back positive.
The big news at the Growth Hormone Summit was the increasingly viable urine test for human growth hormone that utilizes nanotechnology to identify urinary HGH markers. Don Catlin, CEO of Anti-Doping Research and Professor Emeritus at the UCLA School of Medicine is collaborating with Lance Liotta, MD, PhD of George Mason University to validate the utility of this test for WADA Read the rest of this entry »
According to the New York Times, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has purchased thousands of doping kits that will be used to screen blood for exogenous human growth hormone (HGH). The top-secret HGH test has been available for some time but WADA only recently found a secret European-based manufacturer capable of producing significant quantities of the blood screening kits (”Agency will increase blood tests for HGH,” April 2).
WADA says the out of competition testing for HGH will begin within weeks The test will be used at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Additionally, a WADA spokesperson says the the HGH screening kits will be used to analyze previously frozen blood samples from athletes. Read the rest of this entry »
Claims that growth hormone enhances physical performance are not supported by the scientific literature. Although the limited available evidence suggests that growth hormone increases lean body mass, it may not improve strength; in addition, it may worsen exercise capacity and increase adverse events. More research is needed to conclusively determine the effects of growth hormone on athletic performance.
The steroid hysteria related to steroids in sports continues to have an adverse impact of the availability of anabolic-androgenic steroids and human growth hormone for legal use in legitimate medical conditions. Congressional attacks upon anabolic steroids and other anabolic drugs (solely because athletes use them) are hurting those patients who stand to benefit from these highly beneficial and effective drugs.
Filip Bondy wrote a story today about the likelihood that growth hormone would be more expensive and more difficult to obtain for parents of children with growth-related disorders as a result of a Congressional bill that would reclassify human growth hormone as a controlled substance (”Littlest victims of an HGH bill,” March 17).
Here’s the problem: The proposed legislation would re-classify HGH as a Schedule III drug, increasing penalties for its illegal use and limiting access in several ways. The penalties are fine, the parents agree. Limiting access for growth-challenged kids is the deal breaker.
The Champs, for example, would need to go to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan once every month for a new prescription, which would last 30 days. Currently with each visit, they are able to obtain a three-month supply of HGH, with two refills. They only need to go once every nine months. Meanwhile, their insurance co-pays would triple for the extra doses.
John Lombardo, M.D. is the drug advisor to the NFL on anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. He has granted waivers to football players who have tested positive for anabolic steroids based on medical need. The medical rationale was “testicular disease” in each case.
John Lombardo, has granted waivers to players who have failed drug tests but then explained their medical need for testosterone. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello won’t disclose names or reveal how many players have been allowed to pump synthetic hormones into their bodies except to say it’s “a very small number.”
This is the National League Football (NFL) version of the therapeutic use exemption that can be submitted after failing a drug test. An interesting article by Tom Farrey of ESPN the Magazine suggests this is a precedent opening the door to widespread use of hormones in sports like football. Read the rest of this entry »
