Doping and use of performance-enhancing substances find their way into sporting news, but now concern is growing as more teens report obtaining and abusing these dangerous substances. New survey results were summarized in a report released Wednesday by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids that confirmed a dramatic increase in reported lifetime use of synthetic human growth hormone (hGH) among teens.

The report shows that from 2009 through 2012, roughly five to six percent of teens surveyed reported using steroids or hGH at least once in their lifetimes. However, from 2012 to 2013, the percentage reporting use of hGH jumped to 11 percent, or slightly more than double the five percent recorded for 2012. Meanwhile, the percent reporting steroid use only increased from five to seven percent during the same one-year period.

The survey is an annual confidential polling of 3,705 high school students that are selected to represent high-school-aged teens across the nation. The sharp increase between 2012 and 2013 of lifetime use of hGH underscores a growing interest among teens in performance enhancing substances as well as an increased need for tighter, more effective regulation.

Growth hormone is produced naturally in the body. The abuse of synthetic hGH carries with it an increased risk for adverse and potentially irreversible effects which include abnormal growth of organs, diabetes or glucose intolerance, muscle and joint pain, lipid profile changes, and potentially enhanced cancer cell proliferation, according to Dr. Matt Fedoruk, science director for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.