The major sports are increasingly concerned about the use of human growth hormone, or HGH, by athletes seeking to illegally boost their performance. And with good reason; A nre Australian study found that HGH could speed up an Olympic sprinter by 4 percent to 5 percent-enough to turn a last-place finisher into a gold medalist. The study, which examined the effects of HGH on 96 recreational athletes over several weeks, is the first to show improved performance from the drug. The volunteers recieved smaller doses than pro athletes are said to use, and showed no telltale increase in their muscle mass. But the effect on sprint speed was startling, and even more so when combined with doses of testosterone, says David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which found the study. "The real effects of growth hormone are, or could be, far greater than what's reported", Howman tells the Los Angeles Times. "Equally, the side effects could be much more serious". Ominously, the subjects who took growth hormone complained of joint pain and swelling. Howman said the results show that both amateur and professional sports authorities "should wake up and see they should be putting a lot more effort into detection of this substance".
