The only studies in which hGH was shown to have a positive effect on athletic performance were in anabolic steroid users, so testing for hGH alone may not be accomplishing the intended goal.
Physician-assisted doping of athletes has transformed high-performance sport into a chronically overmedicated subculture and spread so-called hormonal rejuvenation to the general public.
Distinctions between treatment and enhancement, and between supposedly authentic and inauthentic tools, often inform judgments about what is morally acceptable in sport.
This month theme issue editor, Trahern Jones, a fourth-year student at Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota, spoke with Dr. Edward Laskowski about the use of performance-enhancing drugs and substances among athletes today.