aluminum seats

Not sure if this has been addressed, but I'm wondering if someone could tell me exactly what kind of physical edge HGH provides? Steroids are such an obvious, visible thing--is hgh the same?

More to the point with Harrison, if he was taking this stuff, and now he's not, will we not see him return to the great form he showed last year before he got hurt, or in the preseason before his suspension?

TheseColorsDontRun

His reasoning was that he was taking it to recover from an injury to his knee. And it does work for things like that, it also allows for faster growth in the muscles and the like. It's not the same as a steroid - but you'll get people who say it is.

I think he'll be just as good, if not better from having a chip on his shoulder after being held out for four games.

5 Rings for Brady!!

HGH is a natural chemical that our body gives off in the night to help overcome the stresses of the day on our body. It is a recovery hormone more than a building hormone like steriods, which will do crazy stuff to your body and your emotions.

If HGH was anything like steriods, it wouldn't be widely available at any vitamin shop.

If you took huge doses of HGH you would not turn into the incredible hulk. If you took huge doses of steriods, you would.

That being said, it is not at all clear whether Rodney was really abusing the HGH by over-taking it, or whether he was simply trying to keep his body fresh.

People take this stuff as they age simply because your body doesn't make as much of it, and it keeps you healthy.

Rodney got in trouble because the NFL bans the stuff, but it is impossible to speculate whether he was even close to taking 'abusive' levels of the stuff. I doubt it. He was breaking the rules and trying to get an edge in staying healthy, like mot NFL players, IMO. And he got caught, and paid his dues.

Pat_Nasty

Actually, that's not really very accurate.

While there have been numerous claims about HGH's ability to aid in injury recovery and muscle growth, the vast majority of them have been propagated by people trying to market products containing HGH.

There has been zero convincing evidence so far that HGH has any efficacy as a performance enhancing drug. This article on Slate from last month on the HGH myth lays it out pretty well.

The problem is that athletes THINK it will give them an edge, so they're willing to risk their health and reputation to take it. When they're caught, the sports media don't feel they can talk about it's lack of efficacy without coming off like apologists, so they act like it's in the same ballpark as steroids. This in turn influences the public perception, which only fuels the athletes' conviction that there's some benefit to it.

mtbykr

I'm not a doctor, but it was explained to me this way: As the body gets older it stops producing things that help it heal faster...hence the phrase "you not as young as you used to be" HGH basically replaces that stuff so that you are able to function more like you would if you were a normal kid again (by kid i mean early 20's) I am 31 now, and I take longer to recover from injuries than I did when I was in high school...HGH would help me to get back to that state.

__________________
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits". - Albert Einstein

BostonBullit

another myth put out there by the talking heads looking to further the story after it was leaked that he bought the stuff first just before the 04 playoffs. He never specifically said what injury it was that he was trying to recover from, he simply said that he was taking it to recover faster from injuries sustained while playing in the NFL. most people ASSUMED he meant his knee injury and then tried to make him out as a liar when it was discovered he had purchased the stuff before that....

aluminum seats

Thanks for the responses; this is all pretty encouraging, in that it would seem taking hgh didn't really have any substantive impact on Harrison's playing at all. Excellent.

cstjohn17

Despite all the in depth medical reports posted by fellow message boarders the whole post reeks of mind blowing homerism. Harrison cheated, he used HGH to either to improve his strength or more quickly recover from injuries. The use of HGH created an advantage. He is a Safety in his 30s coming off two major injuries, he level of play will decrease. He is savvy enough to mitigate some of the decline but in other cases he will be a step or two behind.

I said it before but the whole thing comes down to 'Rodney you cheated, but you are our cheater. Welcome back.'

aluminum seats

Huh??? Your comment doesn't really track at all. My question was about what the scientific/physical aspect of HGH was, because I didn't know. It appears from the links that the impact is minimal, which would please me. If you know something else--"the use of HGH created an advantage"--then that's too bad, I guess. But the post had absolutely nothing to do with disputing that Harrison broke the rule.

Plenty of homerism on the board, I'm sure, but there's none in my posts here.

betterthanthealternative

I have a kid who took HGH to overcome a reduction in the natural production of it, caused by another medication she took. The stuff is remarkable when used appropriately.

Her specialist was pretty clear that once the myths and resolved, and production methods developed to increase the supply, it will become a commonly used anti-aging supplement. Wealthy people do it already.

Right now, the "common knowledge" that's out there about it is largely due to its low supply and cost. There's barely enough to go around for the people who, like my daughter, need it for a deficit, for a problem. And, insurance companies don't want to pay for it as a routine treatment. So the information about it that is released to the public remains very negative.

Like everything chemical, if abused, it will create trouble.