Growth Hormone - The Controversy That Never Was

A funny thing happened to me this summer. One day I was checking my e-mail and I came across a message that appeared to be from a popular primetime news program. (I’m not looking to burn any bridges here so I will refrain from identifying them.) I get tons of junk e-mail so I was a bit incredulous as to its source. As I read, sure enough, it was the real thing from one of the big 3 networks. They were interested in contacting me after coming across an article on hGH I wrote for Mesomorphosis.com. Feeling as if I was about to experience my first taste of fame, I quickly called the cell number provided in the e-mail. Turns out they weren’t really interested in my article, or me for that matter. They were looking to dig up dirt on the hidden dangers of using hGH for anti-aging purposes.

I watch just enough of these types of news/entertainment programs to know their angle. It’s all about controversy. They were hoping that I knew someone who had experienced horrible side effects from using hGH. It turns out they had been working on the story for nearly a year but had not been able to come up with a "victim" of hGH.

Still believing that this might actually lead to some airtime for me, I offered to assist them in their search. After all, appearing on camera would be extremely cathartic for me. Let me explain because I am sure many of you have felt the same way on occasion while watching this stuff. I sit getting all riled up as I watch the media misrepresent things like diets, nutrition, supplements, and yes hormones, to the point where my wife finally just turns the TV off so I’ll quit ranting and settle down. I naively thought this might be my chance to set the record strait on the safety and usefulness of hGH. In an honest effort to help, I contacted everyone I knew who might know someone using hGH. Nevertheless, no one had any negative experiences to share.

I eventually got back to the producers of the story to tell them I had come up empty handed. This most certainly eliminated my chances of presenting the voice of reason for sensible hormone replacement therapy.

I am well aware that anything I would have had the chance to say on air about this or any other topic would simply be taken as "one point of view" by the millions at home watching. Not only that but I would probably be presented in little audio blurbs, taken out of context, that would make me sound like some sort of fanatic, totally out of touch. I remember the episode where they highlighted low carb diets. They had one guy on who wrote a book called the "Neanderthal Diet". The diet involves eating only unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables and meat. He mentioned that his children ate this way as well. The producers aired this comment with over-dramatized music and camera angles making him out to be some sort of child abuser. They would have undoubtedly done the same thing to me, considering I think hormone replacement isn’t immoral. Oh, and if you’re interested in reading the article that got their attention, you can find it at http://www.mesomorphosis.com/exclusive/haycock/growth-factors.htm. Keep in mind that this article is NOT about hormone replacement by any stretch of the imagination. It is simply an examination of the use of GH and other pharmaceuticals in bodybuilding.

I guess the moral of the whole experience is that there are proper channels for disseminating information. First and foremost, those channels must be interested in the truth, not ratings. The drive to get ratings has led the major media outlets far away from truth. I think that is why the internet is so important. It allows the truth to be presented to those looking for it without sensationalism. I’m not saying every thing on the internet is truth, far from it. But I can say that our goal and mission here at Think Muscle is to find the truth, whatever it may be, and bring it to our readers. And at the end of the day, we can sleep in peace knowing we have been true to you, and ourselves.