HGH Testing
A Human Growth Hormone test was first introduced in the year 2004 at the Summer Olympic Games at Athens in Greece. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) President, Dick Pound wanted to check on the athletes that they were not taking HGH drugs to participate and compete with other athletes. Sport is a physical activity for both men and women, who like to take challenges and believe in themselves, and that they have the spirit and the capability to stand out. To keep up to the spirits of sports, this test was introduced, so that no cheaters could get away.
Reliability of the test
The test for the detection of HGH abuse is a blood test. It is a very reliable test. There is another test in the final stage of its development. Both these tests will be combined to improve the detection of the window of the HGH abuse.
Reasons to perform the test
There are multiple symptoms of illness caused by the secretion of unhealthy human growth hormones. In order to check whether these symptoms are caused by excessive or deficiency of growth hormones in the body, an HGH test has to be carried out. Testing must be available with injection during the treatment to monitor the patient’s progress.
To ensure the accuracy of the test results, the patient can be asked not to make any movements and preferably be still for a quarter to sixty minutes before the blood is injected out from the body. Any sort of movement affects the production of the hormones. In order to avoid this, the patient is asked to stay still. The patient has to mention the other medications he or she has been taking. Certain medications like estrogen that is found in corticosteroids and birth control pills that may interfere with the performance of the test.
How to carry out the test?
The HGH levels change rapidly. For this reason, multiple blood tests have to be taken on different days. A test that measures IGF-1 should be taken, as its level of changes is much slower. The patient should remember to mention the medications he or she has been taking, or any other disorder that may lead to excessive bleeding at the point of injection.
There are other ways to detect the hormonal level in the human body. For instance, suppression tests for growth hormone. This test helps to check the level of hormone in the body before and after the consumption of sugar in large amounts. Once excessive sugar is taken, the hormonal level declines. If the level seems to be high, the patient is then suffering from acromegaly. Tests for growth hormone stimulation measure the HGH levels based on pre and post introduction of insulin in the body. The patient seems to be suffering from a HGH deficiency if the level of growth hormone after the intake of insulin continues to be higher.
Science will continue to work on the development of HGH tests that will assure correct results and which will help in the diagnosis of the negative symptoms of HGH.
