We have already touched upon the fine job HGH does in beefing up the muscles. Still, the topic deserves a few more words. As with fat loss, muscle gain is a result that can readily be observed, without complex scientific measurement and testing; and to carry out such testing might strike some as on a par with a person sitting out on the patio, and listening to the radio to find out what the weather is doing.

In any case, researchers, being the curious lot they are, have scrutinized the effects of HGH in the field of muscle gain. And persiflage and joshing aside, the research does bear out what the eye has seen.

An early study by D.B. Cheek and D. E. Hill back in the 60's gave an early indication of muscle mass gain exhibited by HGH therapy. Other studies since, building on Bengtsson's study at Sahlgrenska and Dr. Rudman's initial study in the U.S., all indicate strongly that HGH replacement therapy consistently brings about gains in muscle mass.

The study done by Cheek and Hill suggests that HGH brings about increases in muscle mass by stimulating an increase in the number of muscle cells, as opposed to merely increasing the size of the cells. Bengtsson's study, which showed a 6% increase in body cell mass after one year of HGH treatment, does tend to support this conclusion.

There is further evidence to attest to muscle mass gains that perhaps in some cases the eye cannot see - biochemical evidence. We have in our bodies a white crystalline compound, creatinine, which is produced mainly in the muscles as a result of metabolic activity. Measurements of how much creatinine is passed out of the body in the urine during a 24 hour period, correlate well with the quantity of muscle mass in the body, provided the kidneys are healthy.