The proportion of teens using human growth
hormones doubled in just one year, according to a report published this week by
the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Doping and
use of performance-enhancing substances find their way into sporting news, but
now concern is growing as more teens report obtaining and abusing these
dangerous substances. New survey results were summarized in a report released
Wednesday by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids that
confirmed a dramatic increase in reported lifetime use of synthetic human
growth hormone (hGH) among teens.
The report
shows that from 2009 through 2012, roughly five to six percent of teens
surveyed reported using steroids or hGH at least once in their lifetimes.
However, from 2012 to 2013, the percentage reporting use of hGH jumped to 11
percent, or slightly more than double the five percent recorded for 2012.
Meanwhile, the percent reporting steroid use only increased from five to seven
percent during the same one-year period.
The survey
is an annual confidential polling of 3,705 high school students that are
selected to represent high-school-aged teens across the nation. The sharp
increase between 2012 and 2013 of lifetime use of hGH underscores a growing
interest among teens in performance enhancing substances as well as an
increased need for tighter, more effective regulation.
Growth
hormone is produced naturally in the body. The abuse of synthetic hGH carries
with it an increased risk for
adverse and potentially irreversible effects which include abnormal growth of
organs, diabetes or glucose intolerance, muscle and joint pain, lipid profile
changes, and potentially enhanced cancer cell proliferation, according to Dr.
Matt Fedoruk, science director for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
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