Possible Solutions for HGH Abuse in athletes

The need to be the best over everyone else is the ultimate high in the sports arena. It is no secret that there are athletes who take performance enhancing drugs to give them an edge, a spurt of energy to give them that flying leap to the finish line. Because of the relative ease by which steroids can be detected, athletes all over the world have turned to HGH (Human Growth Hormone) as a miracle drug to give them an additional boost that even the rigorous of practice cannot give.

Rampant false advertising of HGH have constantly bombarded athletes into believing that it is indeed a miracle drug for athletes. Such claims include the ability to undergo rigorous training more efficiently, faster recovery from injuries, to the development of larger and stronger muscles. These are false claims to tempt the athletic world into patronizing their product. Although the FDA has strictly enforced that these products can only be legally sold if prescribed by a doctor, there is still a flourishing black market for HGH.

What should the government do to counteract the widespread false advertising of HGH? Athletes should not be allowed to use, abuse, or misuse HGH and taint the world of sports. There should be massive information campaigns to show that HGH when taken alone and in high doses is ineffective in enhancing performance and may increase the risk of developing negative effects such as gigantism, increase risk of diabetes, joint pains, and some types of cancers. There is a need to educate the athletes that HGH can only be effective if taken in combination with anabolic steroids. Each potentiates the action of the other. But the problem is anabolic steroids can easily be detected in a simple urine test so the risk of detection is highly possible.

An important part of the solution would be to come up with a HGH test that can easily detect HGH even long after its use. This would create awareness and caution in athletes and more would be avoiding taking it to avoid getting caught and banned from participating.