GH
Growth hormone (GH), also known as somatotropin or human growth hormone (hGH), is a 191-amino-acid polypeptide hormone synthesized and secreted by somatotropic cells in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland.[1] It plays a central role in promoting postnatal somatic growth through direct effects on tissues and indirect actions via insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), while also influencing metabolism, body composition, and cellular regeneration throughout life.[1][2] In children and adolescents, GH drives longitudinal bone growth, muscle development, and organ maturation via episodic pulsatile secretion regulated by hypothalamic growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin, with peak levels during deep sleep and exercise.[3] Deficiency results in impaired linear growth and short stature, treatable with recombinant GH therapy, which has restored normal height in many cases of isolated GH deficiency since its approval in the 1980s.[4] Excess GH, often from pituitary adenomas, causes gigantism in youth or acromegaly in adults, leading to disproportionate overgrowth, metabolic dysregulation, and increased mortality from cardiovascular and neoplastic complications.[5][6] Beyond medical applications for GH disorders, recombinant hGH has been widely misused for athletic performance enhancement and purported anti-aging benefits, despite limited evidence of ergogenic effects in healthy individuals and substantial risks including insulin resistance, joint disorders, edema, and potential carcinogenesis.[7][8][9] Banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since the 1990s due to its anabolic properties, GH doping remains prevalent in elite sports, though detection challenges and modest performance gains—primarily in strength-trained athletes—highlight ongoing debates over its efficacy versus health hazards.[10][11]Science and Medicine
Growth hormone
Growth hormone (GH), also known as somatotropin, is a 191-amino-acid peptide hormone produced and secreted by somatotropic cells in the anterior pituitary gland.[1] Its secretion is pulsatile, with peaks during sleep and exercise, and is primarily regulated by the hypothalamus through growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), which stimulates release, and somatostatin, which inhibits it; feedback mechanisms involving insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and nutritional status further modulate this axis.[12] [1] GH exerts direct effects on tissues by binding to GH receptors, activating the JAK-STAT signaling pathway to promote lipolysis, protein synthesis, and insulin resistance, but many of its growth-promoting actions are mediated indirectly via hepatic production of IGF-1, which circulates bound to binding proteins and stimulates chondrocyte proliferation in growth plates during childhood.[1] In adults, GH maintains lean body mass, bone mineral density, and metabolic homeostasis, counteracting catabolic states, though its precise role diminishes post-puberty as IGF-1 levels stabilize.[13] [14] Deficiency in children manifests as impaired linear growth and short stature, often due to pituitary tumors, genetic mutations, or idiopathic causes, while in adults it leads to reduced muscle mass, increased adiposity, fatigue, and elevated cardiovascular risk; diagnosis relies on stimulation tests like insulin tolerance or GHRH-arginine, with IGF-1 levels as a supportive marker.[15] Excess GH, typically from pituitary adenomas, causes gigantism in children via accelerated skeletal growth or acromegaly in adults, featuring coarsened features, arthropathy, diabetes, and cardiomyopathy, with treatment involving surgery, somatostatin analogs, or GH receptor antagonists.[16] Recombinant human GH (rhGH), first approved by the FDA on October 18, 1985, for pediatric GH deficiency, revolutionized therapy by replacing cadaver-derived extracts linked to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease transmission; it is now indicated for conditions including Turner syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and small for gestational age infants, with daily subcutaneous injections restoring growth velocity to normal ranges in deficient patients, though long-term monitoring for side effects like slipped capital femoral epiphysis or glucose intolerance is required.[17] [18] Off-label uses for athletic enhancement or anti-aging lack robust evidence of efficacy and carry risks including insulin resistance, edema, and potential tumor promotion, as GH elevates IGF-1 which correlates with certain cancers in observational data.[18] [6]Geography
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a coastal nation in West Africa situated along the Gulf of Guinea, with land borders shared with Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to the east.[19][20] The country encompasses a total area of 238,533 square kilometers, consisting primarily of low coastal plains rising to dissected plateau in the south-central region and savanna in the north, with the highest elevation at 885 meters on Mount Afadjato.[21][22] Its climate is tropical, characterized by warm and dry conditions along the southeast coast, hot and humid interiors in the forest zone, and hot, dry harmattan winds in the northern savanna from December to March.[22] The capital and largest city is Accra, located on the southern coast.[23] Ghana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on March 6, 1957, under Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah, marking it as the first sub-Saharan African country to gain sovereignty from colonial rule.[24][23] Natural resources include gold, bauxite, manganese, timber, fish, and offshore oil reserves discovered in 2007, which have bolstered export revenues.[25] As of 2024, Ghana's population is estimated at 34.4 million, with a youthful demographic where over 57% are under age 25, concentrated in urban areas like Greater Accra.[19] The economy recorded a real GDP growth of 5.7% in 2024, driven by services, agriculture, and mining, with major exports comprising gold (approximately $15.6 billion), crude petroleum ($5.1 billion), and cocoa beans ($1.29 billion).[19][26] Despite resource wealth, challenges persist from commodity price volatility and debt restructuring efforts post-2022 default.[19]Computing and Technology
gh (GitHub CLI)
gh is the official command-line interface (CLI) tool developed by GitHub for interacting with GitHub repositories, pull requests, issues, and other platform features directly from the terminal.[27] Released in version 1.0 on September 17, 2020, it enables developers to perform GitHub-specific operations without switching to a web browser or graphical interface, complementing the git tool for version control.[28] Unlike earlier unofficial tools like hub, which extended git commands, gh operates as a standalone binary focused on GitHub workflows.[27] It supports GitHub.com, GitHub Enterprise Cloud, and GitHub Enterprise Server version 2.20 and later, across macOS, Windows, and Linux platforms.[29]
The tool facilitates authentication via gh auth login, which handles OAuth tokens or SSH keys for secure access. Core commands include repository management such as gh repo clone to fetch repositories, gh repo create for new ones, and gh repo [view](/page/View) for details. For pull requests, users can create them with gh pr create, check out branches via gh pr checkout, review and merge with gh pr merge, and list open requests using gh pr list. Issue handling follows a similar pattern, with gh [issue](/page/Issue) create, gh [issue](/page/Issue) list, and gh [issue](/page/Issue) comment for triage and discussion. Additional capabilities encompass managing releases (gh release create), invoking the GitHub API (gh [api](/page/API)), and interacting with GitHub Actions workflows (gh run list).[30]
Installation options include downloading pre-built binaries from the official repository, using package managers like Homebrew (brew install gh) on macOS, Chocolatey on Windows, or APT/YUM on Linux distributions, or building from source for custom needs.[31] GitHub pre-installs gh on hosted runners in GitHub Actions environments, with weekly updates to the latest stable version.[27] Extensions enhance functionality, such as gh-dash for a TUI dashboard or gh-everywhere for Vim/Neovim integration, discoverable via gh extension list. Configuration persists in ~/.config/gh/config.yml, allowing aliases like gh alias set co "pr checkout" for streamlined commands.
As an open-source project under the MIT license, gh is hosted at github.com/cli/cli, with contributions governed by GitHub's guidelines. Since version 2.50.0, releases include build provenance attestations via Sigstore for verifying artifact integrity.[27] The tool emphasizes scripting and automation, such as querying repository data with gh api repos/:owner/:repo or batch operations in CI/CD pipelines. While powerful for terminal-centric workflows, it requires GitHub authentication and does not replace git for core version control tasks like committing or pushing changes.[29]