Athletes caught using steroids and performance-enhancing drugs are nothing new to us. Since the 1988 Tour de France brouhaha involving several cyclists up to last year’s scandal that banned English rugby league player Terry Newton from playing for two years, the issue of HGH continues to charter the headlines. Indeed, there must be something special about HGH.

According to medical literature, the human growth hormone is a kind of performance-enhancing drug that help athletes build muscles. Players who went through a surgery were even reported to recover easily from their injuries through HGH therapy.

HGH is widely considered by many to be different from steroids since the latter builds new muscle cells, while the former only enhances the existing ones. Still, HGH has valid uses such as an aid to healing old injuries and a supplement that strengthens one’s tissues to decrease the likelihood of future injuries. Studies are still ongoing but for now, at least we know how athletes can justify their use of human growth hormone.