Editing Growth hormone (section)

==Performance enhancement==
{{Main|Growth hormone in sports}}

The first description of the use of GH as a doping agent was Dan Duchaine's "Underground Steroid handbook" which emerged from California in 1982; it is not known where and when GH was first used this way.<ref name="pmid19467612">{{cite journal | vauthors = Holt RI, Erotokritou-Mulligan I, Sönksen PH | title = The history of doping and growth hormone abuse in sport | journal = Growth Hormone & IGF Research | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 320–6 | date = August 2009 | pmid = 19467612 | doi = 10.1016/j.ghir.2009.04.009 }}</ref>

Athletes in many sports have used human growth hormone in order to attempt to enhance their athletic performance. Some recent studies have not been able to support claims that human growth hormone can improve the athletic performance of professional male athletes.<ref name="pmid18347346">{{cite journal | vauthors = Liu H, Bravata DM, Olkin I, Friedlander A, Liu V, Roberts B, Bendavid E, Saynina O, Salpeter SR, Garber AM, Hoffman AR | title = Systematic review: the effects of growth hormone on athletic performance | journal = Annals of Internal Medicine | volume = 148 | issue = 10 | pages = 747–58 | date = May 2008 | pmid = 18347346 | doi = 10.7326/0003-4819-148-10-200805200-00215 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=awlswGxIiU5c&refer=home | title = Athletes Don't Benefit From Human Growth Hormone, Study Finds  | vauthors = Randall T | date = 2008-03-17 | publisher = Bloomberg | access-date = 2011-08-28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/2008/03/review-from-sta.html | title = Steroid Nation: Review from Stanford says HGH no benefit as PED | vauthors = Gaffney G  | date = 2008-03-17  | publisher = Steroid Nation | access-date = 2011-08-28 }}</ref>  Many athletic societies ban the use of GH and will issue sanctions against athletes who are caught using it. However, because GH is a potent endogenous protein, it is very difficult to detect GH doping. In the United States, GH is legally available only by prescription from a medical doctor.{{cn|date=November 2024}}