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Why Athletes Risk Using Human Growth Hormone, Anabolic Steroids

By Daniel J. DeNoon WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

July 13, 2012 -- As in previous years, the 2012 Olympics likely will be marred by at least one doping scandal, experts predict.

Many athletes abuse human growth hormone and/or steroids to build muscle and strength. While elite athletes are in the spotlight, the problem is much greater in recreational athletes. For example, at least 1 in 16 high school students admits to using performance-enhancing steroids. And users rarely take just one kind of drug.

Why do athletes and young people do this? Are there any benefits? What are the risks? WebMD's FAQ is based on an Endocrine Society webinar featuring two experts on athletic doping:

Human growth hormone, HGH, is produced by the pituitary gland. It's not really a single hormone, Rogol says, but a mixture of several "isoforms" coded by several different genes.

Children do not develop normally if their bodies don't make enough growth hormone. Fortunately, researchers have used recombinant gene technology to produce large amounts of recombinant HGH, or rHGH, to treat them.

More recently, rHGH has been used for other reasons.

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Doping With Muscle-Building Drugs: FAQ