Human Growth Hormone and Aging

Posted on | January 20, 2009 | Comments Off on Human Growth Hormone and Aging

What you need to know about HGHHGH is a large, complex protein molecule made up of 191 amino-acid building blocks. It’s produced in the pituitary gland, a peanut-sized organ in the base of the brain. Scientists first began to focus on the growth hormone in the early 1940s as they struggled to understand and help a group of children of abnormally short stature who were unable to grow. They learned that injecting the children with ground-up pituitary glands, harvested from cadavers, could stimulate new growth in the children.

What they could not have imagined at the time was that some children of the 40s, growing up as the leading edge of the Boomer generations, would latch on to HGH for a very different purpose that is both illegal and harmful. This small segment of aging citizens, in search of a “Fountain of Youth,” is now supporting the underground sale of some $2 billion worth of HGH-related products a year in the United States in hopes that these products will help maintain youthfulness and promote longevity. The global market is estimated at $64 billion a year and it includes the exercise and fitness industries, designer beverages and foods, vitamins and supplements, cosmetics and “cosmeceuticals,” and plastic and cosmetic surgery.

It all got started when, in 1990, The New England Journal of Medicine quite innocently reported on a study of 21 men, age 61 to 81, with low levels of a chemical precursor of human growth hormone who were therefore viewed to be deficient in HGH. The numbers from the study suggested a variety of youth-enhancing results for the subjects, such as a gain in lean muscle and a decrease in fatty tissue.

But there were problems with the study – the small numbers, the short period of observation with limited opportunity to observe side effects, and the absence of double-blind design (which would have given injections to all, some with and some without HGH). An editorial that accompanied the article warned about jumping to inappropriate conclusions based on the results.

Unfortunately, a wide range of traditional and new media health marketers were not closely following these expert words of caution. The article led to an explosion of ‘anti-aging clinics’ and lay publications extolling the benefits of human growth hormone as an anti-aging substance.

We know that as a part of normal aging, HGH begins to decline at about age 40 in humans. Numerous studies since 1990 have confirmed that if you give HGH to older individuals, they do achieve modest increases in muscle mass and bone density as well as decreases in body fat. But studies also confirm that the drug does not increase muscle strength, functionality or cellular metabolism. What’s more important is one-quarter to one-half of those on the injection develop diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, symptoms of arthritis, tissue edema, or carpal tunnel syndrome as a complication.

In 2006, there were an estimated 100,000 illegal U.S. Internet purchases per year as well as 213,000 prescriptions written for HGH in the U.S., 30% or more of which have been written for non-approved purposes such as to combat aging or enhance athletic performance.

But with Boomers on the roll, it’s hard to get the cat back into the bag. Current editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, stated recently that "If people are induced to buy a ‘human growth hormone releaser’ on the basis of research published in the Journal, they are being misled.” The National Institute of Aging, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, the GAO, Scientific America, and AARP have all raised the alarm as well.

So if you’re a Boomer, or related to one, take heed of these warnings and think twice about the wisdom of taking HGH.