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Dit stukje gaat over Chinese groeihormonen.
Another drug being misused and abused in some circles is human growth hormone. "Everybody here is doing it," says Tommy Pooch, a prominent party promoter on South Beach. "You have to inject yourself in the stomach a few times a week, but that isn't stopping people." Pooch says he is not a user.
HGH is produced by the human pituitary gland, but as a person ages the body produces less. It has been used to help children whose growth has been stunted and to help fight the wasting away of body mass in AIDS patients. Modern medicine now can clone the hormone and it has been used by some physicians as an anti-aging treatment. Patients say they feel and look younger, says Kamlet, who says he has used it with a limited number of his patients.
"It's being bootlegged here, too," Pooch says, because legitimate HGH is so expensive. "With regular lab tests, it comes to about $2,000 per month," Kamlet says of the most-used legal HGH, marketed by the Swiss firm Serano. "People can't afford that so they are going to other sources. "Some people are buying it over the Internet from China, but most of the growth hormone out there right now is counterfeit. And who knows what you're getting?"
Growth where it isn't wanted
Doctors say the worst thing for a patient is to take too much HGH. That can lead to diabetes and a condition called acromegaly, which can cause enlargement of the hands, feet and head. The use of medicines from unknown sources and administered by untrained personnel also carries more general risks.
"Let's just start with the danger of it being tainted by the AIDS virus or hepatitis," Barr says.
Another drug being misused and abused in some circles is human growth hormone. "Everybody here is doing it," says Tommy Pooch, a prominent party promoter on South Beach. "You have to inject yourself in the stomach a few times a week, but that isn't stopping people." Pooch says he is not a user.
HGH is produced by the human pituitary gland, but as a person ages the body produces less. It has been used to help children whose growth has been stunted and to help fight the wasting away of body mass in AIDS patients. Modern medicine now can clone the hormone and it has been used by some physicians as an anti-aging treatment. Patients say they feel and look younger, says Kamlet, who says he has used it with a limited number of his patients.
"It's being bootlegged here, too," Pooch says, because legitimate HGH is so expensive. "With regular lab tests, it comes to about $2,000 per month," Kamlet says of the most-used legal HGH, marketed by the Swiss firm Serano. "People can't afford that so they are going to other sources. "Some people are buying it over the Internet from China, but most of the growth hormone out there right now is counterfeit. And who knows what you're getting?"
Growth where it isn't wanted
Doctors say the worst thing for a patient is to take too much HGH. That can lead to diabetes and a condition called acromegaly, which can cause enlargement of the hands, feet and head. The use of medicines from unknown sources and administered by untrained personnel also carries more general risks.
"Let's just start with the danger of it being tainted by the AIDS virus or hepatitis," Barr says.
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