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NFL Bans GH Peptides
The National Football League (NFL) has finally banned the use of several popular performance-enhancing peptide drugs that professional football players were apparently permitted to use prior to the 2016-2017 NFL football season. The peptides have been readily available for over a decade and have seen widespread use particularly in the bodybuilding community but also in the broader athletic community as well.
The only peptides hormones and growth factors that were explicitly banned in previous years by the NFL were “animal growth hormones”, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and erythropoietin (EPO). The absence of other performance-enhancing peptides from the prohibited list was a major oversight that may have given many NFL players the green light to experiment with a variety of popular peptide drugs.
The newly-revised 2016 Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances aims to close that blatant loophole with the addition of the following peptides and peptide drug classes to the Prohibited List:
CJC-1295, Sermorelin and Tesamorelin as examples of peptides in the category of “Growth hormone releasing hormones (GHRH)”
Ghrelin, Ghrelin mimetics (Anamorelin and Ipamorelin) as examples of peptides in the category of “Growth hormone secretagogues (GHS)”; and Alexamorelin, GHRP-6, Hexarelin and Pralmorelin (GHRP-2) as examples of pepties in the category of “Growth hormone releasing peptides (GHRP).
The NFL figured out what athletes have long known – the administration of recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) and IGF-1 was not the only way to increase circulating plasma levels of growth hormone and IGF-1.
The GHRH category of peptides involves mimetics or analogs of the naturally-occurring GHRH. They operate in the exact same way as GHRH does. By increasing GH levels and IGF-1 levels, the effects in fat loss, muscle gain, and healing are similar to that of synthetic hGH administration.
The GHRP category of peptides involves mimetics of ghrelin. They operate by activating the ghrelin receptors in the pituitary, also known as the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R1a). The activation of the GHS-R1a brain receptors stimulates the release of endogenous GH and all the benefits that accompany it for athletes.
The new policy and program on (non-performance-enhancing) substances of abuse has added “synthetic marijuana”, also known by names such as Spice, K2 and Blaze. It also requires that all urine (and blood) specimens be provided within 4 hours of notification. Finally, the new policy prohibits any form of recording of the collection process.
The addition of synthetic marijuana appears to be the NFL's direct response to the hospitalization of former New England Patriots linebacker Chandler Jones due to a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana.
The prohibition on recording the collection process appears to be a direct response to Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison's repeated attempts to record the drug testing officers visits to his home during the previous season.
NFL teams and their players have been advised to pay careful attention to the changes. The new policies have been included as part of the League Policies for Players Handbook. If players have any questions about the changes, the questions should be directed to Todd Flanagan or Joe Briggs at the NFL Players Association (NFLPA).
The National Football League (NFL) has finally banned the use of several popular performance-enhancing peptide drugs that professional football players were apparently permitted to use prior to the 2016-2017 NFL football season. The peptides have been readily available for over a decade and have seen widespread use particularly in the bodybuilding community but also in the broader athletic community as well.
The only peptides hormones and growth factors that were explicitly banned in previous years by the NFL were “animal growth hormones”, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and erythropoietin (EPO). The absence of other performance-enhancing peptides from the prohibited list was a major oversight that may have given many NFL players the green light to experiment with a variety of popular peptide drugs.
The newly-revised 2016 Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances aims to close that blatant loophole with the addition of the following peptides and peptide drug classes to the Prohibited List:
CJC-1295, Sermorelin and Tesamorelin as examples of peptides in the category of “Growth hormone releasing hormones (GHRH)”
Ghrelin, Ghrelin mimetics (Anamorelin and Ipamorelin) as examples of peptides in the category of “Growth hormone secretagogues (GHS)”; and Alexamorelin, GHRP-6, Hexarelin and Pralmorelin (GHRP-2) as examples of pepties in the category of “Growth hormone releasing peptides (GHRP).
The NFL figured out what athletes have long known – the administration of recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) and IGF-1 was not the only way to increase circulating plasma levels of growth hormone and IGF-1.
The GHRH category of peptides involves mimetics or analogs of the naturally-occurring GHRH. They operate in the exact same way as GHRH does. By increasing GH levels and IGF-1 levels, the effects in fat loss, muscle gain, and healing are similar to that of synthetic hGH administration.
The GHRP category of peptides involves mimetics of ghrelin. They operate by activating the ghrelin receptors in the pituitary, also known as the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R1a). The activation of the GHS-R1a brain receptors stimulates the release of endogenous GH and all the benefits that accompany it for athletes.
The new policy and program on (non-performance-enhancing) substances of abuse has added “synthetic marijuana”, also known by names such as Spice, K2 and Blaze. It also requires that all urine (and blood) specimens be provided within 4 hours of notification. Finally, the new policy prohibits any form of recording of the collection process.
The addition of synthetic marijuana appears to be the NFL's direct response to the hospitalization of former New England Patriots linebacker Chandler Jones due to a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana.
The prohibition on recording the collection process appears to be a direct response to Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison's repeated attempts to record the drug testing officers visits to his home during the previous season.
NFL teams and their players have been advised to pay careful attention to the changes. The new policies have been included as part of the League Policies for Players Handbook. If players have any questions about the changes, the questions should be directed to Todd Flanagan or Joe Briggs at the NFL Players Association (NFLPA).