EON

Using Controversial Hormones For Athletes May Be Psychological

Sydney, Australia-The effects of a growth hormone on athletes may be mostly mental, and not physical as previously thought.

In a recent study 64 athletes were given either a growth hormone, or a placebo, which was completely inactive.

The athletes were not told which they received; they all believed that they were receiving a “growth-enhancing hormone.”

Nearly 8 weeks after receiving the hormone, the researchers found that the subjects that received the placebo thought they had a rise in performance equal to those athletes that actually received the growth hormone.

All of the Athletes that received either the placebo or the actual hormone realized a boost of between 1 and 2 percent in performance.

“This is a very real case of the biology of the human mind,” said Dr. Ken Ho, one of the study co-authors.

Dr. Ho is on staff at Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia where the study was conducted.

The athletes who actually received a hormone were given small amounts of the human growth hormone GH, that has shown in the past to stimulate cell and muscle tissue growth.