Growth Hormone – The Anabolic Debate
by Josh Hodnik
Human growth hormone was first experimented with by bodybuilders in the late 1970’s. This very expensive and once hard to find hormone was rumored to be the most effective bodybuilding drug to be discovered since the steroid era began in the 1950’s. The small number of bodybuilders that had access to HGH at this time were paying a small fortune for it in hopes of building a physique that was superior to other bodybuilders during this era. Human growth hormone was extracted from the pituitary of human cadavers until 1985, when it was then replaced by a synthetic version produced by recombinant DNA technology. Steroid guru Dan Duchaine, touted HGH as being a highly effective anabolic drug in his underground steroid handbook, which was released in 1982. Duchaine later contradicted his original view on HGH in 1989, when he claimed that HGH had little value to athletes in the second edition of his underground steroid handbook. This back and forth view on the effectiveness of HGH as a muscle builder has continued to this day.









