My Proposal

For many kids with are born prematurely, they growth potential is significantly cut off. For kids who have a disorder in their pituitary gland in their brain causing it to not function and secret hormones properly, their growth potential has also been diminished.

Thanks to the researchers at Genentech, scientists have been able to synthesize in the labs an FDA-approved growth hormone for therapy treatment with actual strands of DNA from the hormone that is secreted by your own body. This safe and effective breakthrough has shown to increase children’s final height by over 4 inches and it has brought many answers to children and the children’s parents.

HGH can be a great benefit for adults as well. As people age, their bodies tend to not work as well as the once used to. Studies show that by the time a person is in their 70’s, they produce three-fourths less of the growth hormone they had in their 40’s. Such deficiency leads to a slower metabolism, which increases weight gain, high blood pressure, and many more complications can stem off of that.

There are those people who abuse the growth hormone. Many famous athletes and bodybuilders have been accused of abusing it alongside anabolic steroid. This type of abuse is what is mostly shown in the media. This must stop. It portrays the treatment negatively, and since that’s the side most people see, it leaves people with a gloomed perspective.

In order change how people see HGH in the media, we must change what people see in the media. One example would be to purchase commercial time and advertised and clarified the benefits for children and adults. A commercial can be shot and aired on TV for as little as $1000. This would be a great investment. Radio commercials are much less expensive since there is less involvement with third party personnel. Businesses can now advertise on popular websites for as low as $10! The Growth Hormone Foundation is a non-profit organization that advocates for GH treatment for people with GH deficiencies. If they could have a spokesperson from the Foundation in the commercial ads, it could begin to change the way the media portrays growth hormone.

Putting out advocacy campaigns and advertisements on TV, the radio, and the internet is the first step towards the new image of HGH in the media. By showing the benefits this treatment has on children and adults with growth hormone deficiencies, it can hopefully start to change the dreadful image that was given by the abuse of athletes.

Cause and Effect

Cause: children with growth hormone deficiency grow 4-5 inches taller, on average
Effect: the synthetic hormone makes up for the deficiency that is naturally occuring in children. This hormone stimulates growth before puberty. Hence, no hormone, les growth.

Cause: adults who undergo HGH treatment in their 60's-80's lose weight and gain lean muscle.
Effect: the GH helps with your body's own metablic process. The less there is in your body, the slower your metablism, the less your body digest (ie, increase in body fat).

The Opposition...

In the article by Susan Gilbert titled "Growth Hormone Use in Children Found Innfective in Large Study" The first line is very eye catching, as a means to lure the reader in. It starts out, "A LARGE study has cast strong doubt on the increasingly common practice of giving growth hormone injections to short children to help them reach an average height." Here are some other ways the writer supports this claim:

• children grew 2.4-2.7 inches less than expected (statistics)
• the hormone therapy can actually inhibit natural growth
• kids don't usually grow to the target height until 6 years after the therapy

There seems to be a lot of flaws in this study, unless the article just leaves out a lot details about the study.