HGH Use Is On The Rise Among Teens

When fall arrives, so does Friday night high school football. However, what was once seen as a wholesome American activity now has a bit of a sinister side, as a result of a noticeable increase in the use of HGH by high school students. Teen HGH use is up.

Results from a recent survey showed that 3,705 teens were using or had used synthetic human growth hormone without a prescription. The survey was done by ‘The Partnership for Drug Free Kids,’ and a MetLife Foundation grant funded the survey.

3,705 teens using HGH, equates to 11% of teens in Grades 9-12. That’s the equivalent of on any given high school football game having at least 2 players on the field that are using or have tried HGH. Those are numbers to be concerned about.

What’s more concerning is that it is not just athletes who are trying human growth hormone. The survey found no significant difference between athletes and non-athletes in the teens who said they had used synthetic human growth hormone or who were currently using it.

For a number of years now sports doping scandals have been front and center, dominated by the use of steroids. One study of adults did confirm that there is a gradual increase in teens who said they were lifetime steroid users. In 2009 there was a 5% increase in teens using steroids, but in 2013 that had jumped to 7%. More alarming, that number is said to be more than double for 2014.

Even though the CEO of the US Anti Doping Agency, Travis Tygart said these numbers are alarming, he was not surprised by them. This agency is in charge of managing the anti doping program for the US Olympic sports, so they likely have a very realistic expectation of what the usage is.

Tygart says, “The pressures to win at every level of our sports today are incredible. And you can see young kids in high school, who maybe have a hope and a prayer for a financial scholarship to go to college or maybe just so their parents can brag at the office, the pressures that are put on them to win by any means necessary. It’s ripe for them to use these drugs in order to gain an advantage.”

The availability of synthetic human growth hormone is not new. It has been available since back in 1985. It is approved to be prescribed for a few conditions including adult hormone growth deficiency, childhood growth disorders, muscle wasting related to AIDS/HIV. Without a prescription is is commonly used to build muscle.

Professional sports have always had some athletes that use synthetic HGH, which has come to the forefront more recently with changes in regulations regarding the use of HGH. However, young athletes will often get the cue from some of these athletes. Often, these are the athletes that they admire, even see as the heroes.

Major League Baseball was the first major sports league in the USA to introduce in-season testing for the use of HGH, but other sports weren’t as quick to come on board. In September 2014 the NFL finally reached a drug policy agreement with the players’ union that includes testing for HGH use. Those negotiations took 3 years to reach.

Tygart said, “Kids in our country idolize the players, and the lack of leadership and no testing for HGH in the NFL has been hurtful to the fight for clean athletes’ rights and the integrity of the sport. It is ridiculous that it has taken this long for the HGH test to be put into place, and while it is a good first step, the proof will really come from how it is put into practice.”

In those that are non-athletes and using HGH the spike can still be attributed to social pressure. A recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics in January found there was close to 18% of adolescent boys worried about their physique and their weight. What is often not recognized is that boys just like girls feel the pressure to lose weight and they also feel the pressure to be muscular.

Young women also dabble in HGH and according to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids survey, marketing makes sure to include them by offering them a way to obtain that perfect body. The difference between the number of boys compared to the number of girls using synthetic human growth hormone was not significant. 12% of boys compared to 9% of girls.

Prescription HGH isn’t cheap! In fact, it is very expensive. Daily injections range from $125 to $250 a week. Non prescription HGH supplements are also fairly expensive costing hundreds of dollars for a month’s supply and then you are not even sure what you are getting. There are all kinds of powders and supplements that claim to include HGH can be found in fitness stores and online. However, these are not regulated by the FDA instead under the regulation of the Federal Trade Commission, so the scrutiny is much different.

“People believe that if it’s on the shelf it must be OK,” said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. “But these are only ever taken off the market if they’re proven harmful. Whereas a drug or food product has to first be proven effective before it goes on the market. The public doesn’t understand that nuance. It’s an important one, but they don’t understand it.”

A look at the study and there is room for hope. Only 8% of teenagers agreed that the use of substances that enhance performance thought it was OK. This percentage has declined continuously over the last 5 years.

Pasierb feel there is an opportunity here for parents to talk to their kids about HGH risks. The research shows that kids living in households where parents reinforce the health risks associated with drugs tend to not use as enhancing drugs as often as those who don’t hear about these drugs in their homes.

Pasierb said, “Parents think they have no power. But in the end, disappointing your parents is one of the key reasons kids don’t use. It’s higher than whether it’s illegal or anything like that. I often say to folks, Your kids want to push you to the wall, but they don’t want to push you that next step. They don’t want to lose your love and respect. They’ll make you nuts, but they don’t want to lose you.”

So while teen HGH use might be up, there is still hope that over the long term there will be fewer using.