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" Scientists have provided the first evidence that growth hormone does indeed have a positive effect on athletic performance. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that injectable growth hormone can provide a 0.4 second improvement in a ten-second sprint. That would be enough to move a last-place Olympic sprinter into the gold medal position. Professor Ken Ho, head of pituitary research at Sydney&amp;#039;s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, confirmed that athletes who received growth hormone during the study improved their sprint capacity by four to five per cent. His study involved 103 healthy recreational athletes, aged 18 to 40 years, who were given injections of growth hormone or a placebo (dummy drug). &amp;#039;We used lower doses of growth hormone than athletes are reported to use, and for a shorter time,&amp;#039; he revealed. &amp;#039;We can speculate, therefore, that the drug&amp;#039;s effects on performance might be greater than shown in this study, and its side-effects might be more serious.&amp;#039; Side-effects observed during the study included body fluid retention, swelling and joint pain. Growth hormone is banned by the International Olympic Committee. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a19513/growth-hormone-shown-to-boost-athletic-performance/>