Human Growth Hormone
Human Growth Hormone is produced in the body by the pituitary gland. Before this happens, Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone (Human Growth Hormone RH) and Somatostatin (SST) are released by the hypothalamus, and that determines whether more or less Human Growth Hormone is produced by the pituitary.(1) Many factors influence the release of Human Growth Hormone, however, including nutrition and exercise (6)(7).
Once it is released, Human Growth Hormone (Human Growth Hormone), which is also called Human Growth Hormone (STH) has many functions in the human body. Human Growth Hormone is a protein that stimulates the body cells to increase both in size, as well as undergo more rapid cell division than usual. In addition, it enhances the movement of amino acids through cell membranes and also increases the rate at which these cells convert these molecules into proteins. Clearly, you can see that this would amount to an anabolic (muscle building) effect in the human body. Human Growth Hormone also has the ability to cause cells to decrease the normal rate at which they utilize carbohydrates, and simultaneously increase the rate at which they use fats.(1) Fat loss and lean mass increases with Human Growth Hormone have been found at a dose as low as . 0.028 iu/kg/daily for 24 weeks (4), however, in my estimation, that would be insufficient for a bodybuilder trying to gain muscle. Lets use .028iu/kg as a working number; that's 2.8iu for a 100kg (220lbs) bodybuilder. That's certainly not unreasonable, and I would say that that dose to 2x that dose is the range most bodybuilders and athletes are finding their best results with. Also, that length of time used in the study I just mentioned (24 weeks) is very typical of Human Growth Hormone use, and in conversations with my friends who have used this compound, have told me that they experience consistent results starting well after the 2-month-mark, and they tend to either run this stuff for 6 months at a time, or year-round (if they have sufficient funds). One of my friends is able to consistently retain a shredded 6-7% body fat all year round with the assistance of Human Growth Hormone, whether he is on steroids or off. He also has noted that his cardio (fast walking, for an hour a day) was much easier while on Human Growth Hormone than when off, and certainly the research Ive done would support his claim that sub maximal aerobic ability is improved with Human Growth Hormone use (5) (15).
How anabolic is this stuff? Well, even endurance athletes at rest (!) were observed in one study to be in an anabolic state (8). Yeah, so you can basically run marathons and take this stuff, and still build some muscle. Pretty impressive, right?
Human Growth Hormone is usually secreted in rhythmic pulses while you are sleeping, as two peptides, Human Growth Hormone RH and Somatostatin (SST) are alternately released. As you can guess, Human Growth Hormone RH (Growth Hormone Releasing Hormone) is the one responsible for the Release of Growth Hormone (And who said scientists have funny ways for naming things.(1)
Human Growth Hormone also has the ability to stimulate the production (or reproduction, in the case of an injury) of cartilage. This, however, requires the presence of a mediator substance, Somatomedin (IGF), which is released from the liver in response to Human Growth Hormone, and the IGF, in turn, actually promotes the growth of cartilage.(1)
Although Human Growth Hormone requires IGF to actually grow new cartilage, Human Growth Hormone is directly able to stimulate the elongation of bone tissue.(1), and Human Growth Hormone has also been shown to elicit a positive effects on erythropoeisis (9), which is great for both anabolism as well as endurance.
Remember the negative feedback loop I always tell you about? Well, of course, your body has one which can stop the secretion of Human Growth Hormone, and it involves IGF. When your liver receives secretes IGF-1, it sends a message to both your Hypothalamus as well as your Pituitary to stop producing Human Growth Hormone. (1)
As you have probably guessed by now, your body produces the majority of its Human Growth Hormone during your early years, when you are experiencing growth spurts. As you get older, however, you just produce less of this stuff, and its effects are much less pronounced. This was the driving force behind the (always weird) life-extension crowd embracing Human Growth Hormone in the early 90s. And, as usual, the driving force behind the athletic world embracing Human Growth Hormone was Dan Duchaine, which Im sure comes as no surprise to many. He first wrote a teaser about it in his Underground Steroid Handbook, and then wrote extensively about it for the next couple of decades. At that time, Grorm, was being used. This nasty stuff was Human Growth Hormone extracted from (are you ready?): the pituitary of dead bodies? Thats real "Dawn of the Dead" style science, in my opinion. I guess its an advance from a couple of centuries ago, when Descartes (the "I think therefore I am" guy) declared the pituitary the part of the human body where the soul resides. Anyway, back to the cadaver-thing, the Human Growth Hormone extracted from the cadavers was found to be able to (in rare cases) carry a rare brain disease. This of course, infected the kids who received the infected Human Growth Hormone. The use of Human Growth Hormone from cadavers was subsequently discontinued. Back then (the 80s) there was also a fake version of some purple looking Human Growth Hormone going around (it was HCG I believe, mixed with B-12) called "Rhesus Monkey Growth Hormone", which is pretty funny, looking back on it. To this day, however, if you get fake Human Growth Hormone, its still probably HCG, since both come presented as a powder and bacterioistatic water you need to use to reconstitute it (and then it needs to be refrigerated).
Even if you are using the non-cadaver-derived stuff (and at this point, Im 100% sure that theres none of the old Grorm left on shelves anywhere), its possible that you experience some side effects like carpal tunnel syndrome, acromegaly (a thickening or growth of bones, most noticeable in the feet, hands, and forehead), and enlarged organs. Gynocomastia is also possible as a side effect of Human Growth Hormone use, as well as Fluid retention (16) (the later being initially pointed out to me by a female colleague who had a pre-contest bodybuilder using Human Growth Hormone as part of his contest prep).
Source:
Types of Steroids - Steroid.com