The hormonal disease that Lionel Messi suffered as a child

There is an Adidas ad, one of those that ends with the slogan of Nothing is impossible ('Nothing is impossible'), starring Lionel Messi. In the ad Messi alludes to the hormonal disease that he suffered as a child that eventually became an advantage to him.

Messi's parents detected, as a child, that his growth was not as expected for a child of his age. When Messi was 9 years old, his growth was stagnant.

Tests detected a deficiency in a growth hormone. It is not exactly a disease but a "medical condition."

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Messi says that, as he was smaller, he had more agility in front of his opponents and he really stood out well above the others on the pitch. So much so that River Plate himself became interested in him, but finally rejected him when he learned of his growth problem and that his treatment cost $ 900 a month.

I have come across this gem of video in which you can see Leo Messi with only 10 years:

His father decided to move to Lleida with Lionel when he was only 13 years old. Barcelona was already interested in the player. Carles Rexach as soon as he saw his agility on the pitch, he urged the club to sign that boy they nicknamed "The flea". The contract was so rushed that the signature was done on a paper napkin 🙂

Messi began training at La Masia, FC's football school. Barcelona. The club took over the player's treatment in Barcelona which consisted of injections of HGH (human growth hormone). Injections were given to him for more than four years.

If Messi hadn't dealt with his hormonal problem, his growth would have stagnated for life. But not only that, a deficiency of this growth hormone has other effects on general well-being (weakness), lack of energy, bone density (osteoporosis), muscle mass, etc. In short, a poor quality of life.

Injecting this growth hormone does not mean that the person will continue to grow indefinitely. Simply At age 18 it will stop growing due to genetics.

Curiosity

Growth hormone is banned in competitive sports for obvious reasons. However, this refers to athletes who inject it and are already producing their own growth hormone. This can give them greater performance but it can be bad for their health in the long run.

In the case of Messi, when he reached 18 years of age, he stopped injecting this growth hormone so this fact dismantles some conspiracy theories that attribute to HGH the excellent performance of the Barcelona striker.