How do I get a doctor to prescribe them? I want them for bodubuilding purposes. Not sure that's a legitimate medical reason!

Answer: you ask around the gym till you find a dodgy, usually OTD doctor. I'm indirectly aware of one of these guys, shonky as and uses his licence primarily as a money making venture from what I have heard. He prescribes HGH, which has moderate benefits in building muscle mass, not as potent as anabolic steroids though. No, it's not a legitimate medical reason - these hormones have subtle side effects. It wouldn't surprise if in a few years they finally show that they are oncogenic (cause cancer). If your physique and health is otherwise normal, and you're prepared to inject yourself with hormones to 'improve it', you'd sound a bit body dysmorphic syndromey to me and the only doctor I'd suggest you see is a psychiatrist.

So I can get them from a psychiatrist? Thanks. :-)

I'm guessing yes. Take a look at what happens to a plant when nitrogen fertiliser is used in excess -- rapid but weak and sappy growth.

Endogenous GH over production might very well result in the same over-growth of human muscle, resulting in muscles that are larger but more susceptible to soft tissue injury.

Speculation on my part, but it seems to fit as a general biological principle.

Paul, your analogy is incorrect and your statements about what excess nitrogen does to plants is also false. Speak to a farmer about Flexi N burn.

@Greg, there are a couple of different types of muscular hypertrophy. So when someone gains muscle rapidly it depends on what type of muscle gain it has been, the type that increases the fibre size (myofibrillar) or the type that increases cell size (sarcoplasmic). I'm thinking that the soft tissue injuries resulted from cell size increases without enough strength increase. Either that or a possibly the rapid growth, which has to be encouraged with muscle damage, left microtruma and scar tissue that made the muscles susceptible to tears. Or they could just have had crap trainers who created muscle imbalances, which combined with sudden strength and size gains to tear the weak muscle groups (hammys and groin are common for this).

For a really basic overview have a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_hypertrophy

Sorry to reply to myself. It was the only way I could thank you all for the comments and discussion. As none of you are pointing to a paper which specifically addresses this question I'll assume there is none (I could not find one on WoS).

So the summary that forms in my mind is that putting on bulk via a supplement and then training in a rash manner might combine to increase risk of tears. This sort of thing might happen if the physical training staff are unaware that supplements are being taken.

Greg, you would need to re-write the text books on plant nutrition if you believe excess nitrogen does not cause undesirable plant growth (especially with inadequate potassium). But if you're selling N fertilisers, then I understand your position. See here if you like (Rice Knowledge Bank):
http://tinyurl.com/alcxt9q

In any case, what you correctly describe (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy), in which cytoplasmic fluid etc is increased at the expense of sarcomere hypertrophy (and strength), seems to me very similar to what causes weak stems and lodging in plants with excessive nitrogen application. BTW, this is a better article on muscle hypertrophy:
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~uscience/exercise_science.html

IN addition, I like @Demonte's idea that ligaments and tendons might not grow in concert with excessive GH stimulation of muscle.

And @Danderson, not sure that the the tissue repair qualities of GH/IGF-1 necessarily negates the possibility of less than integrative muscle growth with excess GH production, especially if supplement dose was poorly estimated.

Paul, you really need to learn to read. You have just created a strawman and then called me a shill, which is just pathetic. It is sad you don't remember my name, I remember you, given how often I find myself correcting your misinformed posts here.

You stated that excess nitrogen causes rapid but weak and sappy growth. This is false. I even told you to ask a farmer about Flexi N burn, but what would anyone who works in food growing know. Initial stages cause a change in the root shoot ratios which then limits water and other nutrient uptake. This then makes plants susceptible to pathogens, frost, etc. Then you get overaccumulation of amino acids and proteins which increases the demand for water, which it is already lacking, which then "burns" the tips of leaves off, if not the entire plant.

So, once again, your analogy is incorrect and is nothing like sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

Also, it is rather commonly known that ligaments and tendons grow slower than muscle due to the lower blood flow. It could be a possible cause of the tears, but less likely, or maybe a minor contributing factor.

Tim, what surprises me is that for someone supposedly working in agriculture, how much you DON'T know. Thin stems, reduced stem strength, and lodging is a common characteristic of excess nitrogen in plants like rice (see that link from IRRI. Hey mate, that's 'weak and sappy growth'! You need to actually get outside and grow something rather than sit in an office.

I know very well what nitrogen burn is, and that's not the condition I described.

I made a simple speculative analogy about possible reasons for soft tissue injuries in players based on rapid, abnormal growth resulting from possible growth hormone excess. If you don't 'get it', then I'm not surprised. Your rudeness and ignorance is typical.

Paul, quite simply you are wrong. Get over it and actually read about root:shoot ratios from excess N applications and how that impacts water and nutrient transport in the plant. Your arrogance on a topic you are not working in is palpable.

Okay Tim, let's not bore the readers. It's easy enough to verify who is correct: Google search on "Excess nitrogen and sappy plant growth" will do it for those interested. Jeez, you don't have to be Norman Borlaug to know that.

I'll spell it out. My premise is that excessively stimulated growth with artificially induced or supplied growth factors not under the control of homeostasis can cause unbalanced growth, perhaps weakening the integrity of soft tissue structures like the muscle, ligament, and tendon complexes.

Excess secretion of growth hormone in conditions such as gigantism and acromegaly occur in humans. Structural abnormalities occur, and If untreated, lifespan is shortened.

Further, if you stimulate sarcoplasmic hypertrophy at the expense of sarcomere hypertrophy you get bloated, less dense muscle and not strengthened muscle. This imbalance could lead to injury, even if collagen tissue like tendon and ligament is eventually strengthened. Serious muscle building dopers tend to use anabolic steroids/testosterone in conjunction with HGH to get a balance. HGH is not anabolic to strength fibres in healthy individuals.

We don't know, publicly, what was used at Essendon - GHRP-6, other peptide secretagogues, or anything else - but it's not inconceivable to me that this could cause injuries, used injudiciously.

You do realise I'm a plant scientist right?
How about a link to some actual crop production sites and the nitrogen response curve: http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_92452.html
https://www.agronomy.org/publications/aj/abstracts/102/5/1415?access=0&view=article
https://www.soils.org/publications/aj/abstracts/92/4/644?access=0&view=article
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X07001357

Tim, give it up; you are embarrassing yourself. You are confusing 'excess N' with 'optimum N'.

This is such basic plant nutrition science that I can only believe you are trolling . . . for what purpose I cannot imagine. You need to self-debunk.

(BTW, I am a 30-year life member of a long-established garden club.)

I certainly would not be punishing any players if they were coerced into taking substances that management (medical, sports or other), claimed were safe and legal to take.

Ummm - I don't think the UCI has been doing much in the way leading. Perhaps the best that could be said is now the great unwashed have some insight into the issues in elite male road cycling. Have a read of ‘Bad Blood: The Secret Life of the Tour de France’. The issues have been widely known and for a long time. They just haven’t been part of a media circus.

As they say ‘you could have knocked me over with a feather’ – shock horror - various types of footballers abuse sport drugs. I’m sure the issues in these codes are well known (but not widely reported). I don’t think the crime commission spend 18 months poking around footy on the off chance they’d find something.

Come on even Shane Warne has been caught...