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Home > Anti-aging Research > Growth Hormone.

Growth Hormone

Update, 8/1/07.  First a note of caution on hGH.  I took it for five years and stopped.  The reason being is that I got cancer of the tonsil that spread to a lymph node in the neck.  It was a stage III about the size of a golf ball.  How it got that big without me noticing it sooner is beyond me.  85% of head and neck cancers are with smokers and I've never smoked plus I've taken a lot of supplements that should have prevented the cancer so I blame it on the hGH.  Oncology told me I had a 30% survival if I got surgery and radiation and an oncology intern told me I didn't have a chance if I didn't get radiation yet I refused the radiation thinking I was a goner anyway.  They had me convinced I'd be dead in 10 months.  I didn't consider living without saliva caused by radiation an option.  I had the surgery.  They removed the tonsils and cut from the back of my ear down to the collar bone and then again over to my Adams apple and removed the neck tumor.  You can barely see the scars now and I've been cancer free for almost three years now but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.  Having had that death sentence really changed my life though.  See Cancerous Growths: Mouth Growths - "if the cancer has spread to lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is only 25%"

Update 8/27/07:  Maybe it was HPV not growth hormone that got me.  Click here for the whole story.  See:

Oral Sex Implicated in Some Throat and Neck Cancers - washingtonpost.com, 8/27/07 - "Human papillomavirus (HPV), which is believed to be responsible for most cervical cancers, may also be at the root of many cancers of the mouth and throat ... Previous research has found that up to 50 percent of nonsmokers with throat and mouth cancers were infected with HPV"

Related Topics:

• ghrelin / growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) / growth hormone secretagogues / growth hormone releasing peptide-6 (GHRH-6)

Specific Recommendations:

• HGH at International Antiaging Systems
• Saizen - drugstore.com (prescription)
• Humatrope - Purchasing in Tijuana
• hGH formulas at iHerb

Alternative News:

• HGH: A Shortcut to Healthy Aging? - Dr. Weil, 2/23/07
• Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) Supplements - ConsumerLab.com, 12/14/03 - "The amino acids arginine, glutamine, histidine, methionine, phenylalanine, and lysine all appear to cause a rise in growth hormone that lasts for an hour or so ... the effects are very short-lived ... HGH spiked for a half hour or so after use of supplement, but then fell back to its original level"
• Do noninjectable forms of human growth hormone work? - Nutrition Science News, 11/00
• DHEA and Aging - Medscape, 3/15/00 - "DHEA administration resulted in an elevation of serum IGF-I levels in men (16 +/- 6%, P = 0.04) and in women (31 +/- 12%, P = 0.02)."
• Growth Hormone Enhancer - Nutrition Science News, 1/00
• Neuroendocrine evidence for dopaminergic actions of hypericum extract (LI 160) in healthy volunteers - Biol Psychiatry 1999 Aug 15;46(4):581-4 - "Following HP relative to placebo, there was a significant increase in plasma GH [growth hormone] and a significant decrease in plasma PRL [prolactin]" (prolactin is bad for your sex like)
• The Growing Impact of Growth Hormone - Life Extension Magazine, 6/97

General Information:

• Human Growth Hormone - Life Extension Foundation
• Human Growth Hormone - DermaDoctor.com
• AACE Clinical Practice Guidelines For Growth Hormone Use in Adults and Children - aace.com
• Human Growth Hormone -Table of Contents - USDoctor.com
• Growth Hormone - Colorado State University
• Saizen® Full Prescribing Information (32k) .pdf
• Effects of human growth hormone in men over 60 years old - NEJM, 7/5/90 [Medline]
• hGH books - Amazon.com

Other Anti-aging News:

• Hormone May Hold Key To Helping Elderly Men Live Longer - Science Daily, 5/27/08 "Elderly men with higher activity of the hormone IGF-1--or insulin-growth factor 1--appear to have greater life expectancy and reduced cardiovascular risk ... Subjects with the lowest IGF-1 function had a significantly higher mortality rate than subjects with the highest IGF-1 bioactivity" - Note:  Response to growth hormone is measured by IGF-1.  I was scared away from it when I had neck cancer but I would think that this would support the use of hGH.  My IGF-1 was never that low to begin with.
• Direct Evidence for Beneficial Effect of Growth Hormone Replacement on Mortality in Adults With Deficiency - Doctor's Guide, 5/7/08 - "Levels of insulin growth factor I (IGF-I) correlate with mortality rates in patients with severe growth hormone deficiency (GHD) on growth hormone (GH) replacement therapy ... Significantly increased mortality rates in the study population were seen for: females (1.36; 95% CI, 1.10-1.66); diabetes insipidus (1.66; 95% CI, 1.31-2.07); craniopharyngioma (2.00; 95% CI, 1.40-2.77); and malignancy as underlying disease (3.03; 95% CI, 2.15-4.16). Nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma was associated with significantly decreased SMR (0.57; 95% CI, 0.45-0.72)"
• Review: Growth hormone effects limited in athletes - CNN, 3/17/08
• IGF-1 and IGFBP-3: Risk of prostate cancer among men in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial - Int J Cancer. 2007 Jun 27 - "our large prospective study showed no overall association between the insulin-like growth factor axis and prostate cancer risk, however, IGFmr was related to risk for aggressive prostate cancer in obese men" - One less thing to worry about for men on hGH. - Ben
• Growth Hormone To Boost Athletic Performance Risks Diabetes - Science Daily, 2/26/07 - "The authors believe that this is the first reported case of diabetes associated with the use of high dose growth hormone, and urge anyone taking high doses to regularly check their blood sugar levels"
• Growth Hormones Not Fountain of Youth - WebMD, 1/16/07 - "participants who took human growth hormones were significantly more likely to develop joint swelling and pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome ... While growth hormone did appear to increase lean muscle mass and reduce body fat by an average of just over 4 pounds, it did not appear to have an effect on other measures of fitness, including bone densitybone density, cholesterol, and lipid levels"
• HGH Threat: Works Like Steroids but Undetectable - ABC News, 6/14/06
• Patient Instructions for Human Growth Hormone - Mount Rogers Clinic
• Growth Hormone - The Controversy That Never Was - Think Muscle Newsletter
• Growth Hormone Deemed Illegal for Off-Label Antiaging Use - Medscape, 10/28/05 - "1988 and 1990 amendments to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) make off-label distribution or provision of GH to treat aging or age-related diseases illegal in the U.S."
• Growth Hormone Treatment Improves Symptoms Of Metabolic Disorder In Postmenopausal Women - Science Daily, 4/10/05 - "the GH treatment in postmenopausal women significantly reduced their intra-abdominal fat, increased thigh muscle area, reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration, and improved insulin sensitivity"
• Hormone Raised Patients' Exercise Capacity by 7% - Clinical Psychiatry News, 12/04 - "Physiologic doses of growth hormone can increase exercise capacity in adults with growth hormone deficiency, as well as improve their body composition and lipid levels ... Subjects in the study group lost an average of 1.9 kg of fat, and gained 1.8 kg of lean body mass. Their total and LDL cholesterol levels both dropped an average of 0.5 mmol/L. Treatment increased the subjects' maximal oxygen uptake by 6%, compared with placebo"
• Growth Hormone Injections Increase Muscle Mass, Decrease Fat Mass in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Doctor's Guide, 9/10/04 - "lean body mass increased significantly in the two growth hormone groups compared with placebo and with baseline. The gains were noticeable as early as 1 month into treatment. At month 3, the 1-mg group increased by a mean of 1.3 kg, the 2-mg group increased by a mean of 0.9 kg, and the placebo group lost a mean of 0.1 kg"
• Higher Circulating Concentrations of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 and Main Binding Protein Appear Associated with Increased Risk of Common Cancers - Doctor's Guide, 4/23/04 - "The odds ratios of patients in the 75th percentile compared with the 25th percentile of IGF-1 concentrations were 1.49 for prostate cancer, and 1.65 for premenopausal breast cancer, compared with 1.18 for colorectal cancer, 1.01 for lung cancer, and 0.95 for postmenopausal breast cancer" - Note:  hGH therapy increases IGF-1.
• Can a shot a day (safely) keep aging away? - MSNBC, 4/19/04 - "The types of studies we should be using to resolve this question are few, small and have rarely included women. Here are some of the more notable ones:"
• Growth Hormone May Be Fat Fighter - WebMD, 2/13/04 - "the dosage of growth hormone was increased to 400 µg per day in men and 600 µg in women ... those who used growth hormone lost an average of about 5 pounds and kept it off for up to nine months. Researchers say the weight loss was entirely caused by a loss of body fat ... growth hormone improved cholesterol profiles -- increasing the level of "good" HDL cholesterol by 19%" - Maybe my math is off but I calculate 500 micrograms to be 1.5 IU (0.5 mg/5mg = x /15 IU, x = .5 mg * 15 IU/5 mg, x = 1.5 IU) - Ben
• Insulin-Like Growth Factor I Has Direct Effect on Glucose and Protein Metabolism in Type 1 Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 1/29/04 - "circulating IGF-I may act in concert with insulin to control glucose and protein metabolism" - Note:  Growth hormone increases IGF-I.
• Growth Hormone May Aid Weight Loss - WebMD, 6/30/03
• Obese Individuals Experience Modest Weight Loss with Growth-Hormone Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/03 - "9-month study ... were encouraged to slowly lose weight by exercising and reducing their daily caloric intake by 500 calories. Twenty-three subjects self-injected growth hormone nightly and 17 self-administered placebo injections ... People who took growth hormone lost an average of 2.4 kg, or 5.25 pounds. This weight loss was all due to loss of body fat; they did not lose any muscle mass ... Most of the fat loss was in the abdominal area. There were also improvements in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of about 19%"
• Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Improves Body Composition in Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency - Doctor's Guide, 4/29/03 - "After 6 months of therapy, patients receiving recombinant human growth hormone had significant increases in lean body mass compared with patients taking placebo ... This increase was significantly higher in men than women ... Overall, therapy was well tolerated, with the most common side effects being arthralgia, myalgia, peripheral oedema and paresthesia. Most often, these were mild or moderate in severity" - I calculate Saizen® 0.005 to 0.010 mg/kg/day to be 1.03 IU to 2.06 IU per day for a 150 pound person.
• Growth Hormone Increase Bone Content In Osteoporotic Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 3/12/03 - "80 osteoporotic postmenopausal women, aged between 50 and 70, who were using oestrogen therapy (HRT), were randomised to receive either recombinant human growth hormone (GH), 1.0 U or 2.5 U/day, subcutaneous, or placebo. Calcium (750 mg) and vitamin D (400 U) were given to all patients as well ... At 3 years, when GH was discontinued, total body and femoral neck bone mineral content had increased in both GH-treated groups, and differences were not significant ... At the fourth year of follow-up, total body boner mineral content had increased 5% and lumbar spine bone mineral content increased 14% among women who received GH 2.5 U, and compared with placebo. Femoral neck bone mineral density increased 5% and bone mineral content 13% for women taking GH 2.5 U compared with those taking GH 1.0 U"
• Geriatric Growth Hormone Interventions Not Ready For Clinical Use - Doctor's Guide, 11/13/02
• GH, Sex Steroids Should Be Confined to Controlled Trials - Medscape, 11/12/02 - "These drugs increase lean body mass and decrease fat mass, and increase cardiovascular endurance a little in older men, but there are significant adverse effects ... After 26 weeks of treatment, both men and women had significant increases in lean body mass and decreases in fat mass after treatment with hGH. Men treated with both hGH and testosterone had greater improvements in these measures than did those who were treated with either hormone alone ... Arthralgias occurred in 41% of the men taking hGH but in none of the women, and carpal tunnel symptoms occurred in 32% of the men taking hGH plus testosterone but in none of the women.  However, edema developed in none of the men, in 39% of the women taking hGH alone, and in 38% of the women taking hGH plus HRT"
• Growth Hormone in Older Patients Risky - WebMD, 11/12/02
• Growth Hormone Benefits Cardiomyopathy Patients - Doctor's Guide, 9/2/02 - "Growth hormone reduces serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines in patients with chronic heart failure secondary to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. It also reduces soluble Fas and soluble Fas ligand system in these patients ... The investigators also observed significant improvements in peak oxygen consumption"
• Sex And Age Influence Hormone Relationships In Acromegaly - Doctor's Guide, 7/31/02 - "Healthy females secreted three times more growth hormone than males but had similar serum IGF-I levels. In those with growth hormone deficiency, women needed 30-50 percent more exogenous growth hormone to maintain the same serum IGF-I as men"
• Low Levels of Insulin-like Growth Factor I Linked to Cognitive Decline - Doctor's Guide, 7/29/02 - "low levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) impair information-processing speed ...  IGF-I levels below a certain threshold (<9.39 nmol/L) affect both the level and rate of decline of information-processing speed ... increasing the level of IGF-I by improving nutritional status in elderly with low IGF-I levels may prevent cognitive decline" - Note:  Growth hormone also increases IGF-1.
• Growth Hormone for CFS in Older Patients - Medscape, 5/02 - "Only 1 study was located in which patients with CFS were treated with GH therapy.[7] Twenty patients with CFS with peak serum GH levels below 10 mcL during sleep were randomized to receive either GH therapy (6.7 mcg/kg/day) for 12 weeks or placebo. When this treatment period ended, 17 individuals were given GH treatment at the previously identified dosage, leading to significant increases in IGF-1, fat-free body mass, and total body water at 12 months. However, quality of life (assessed by 2 measures) in this cohort did not improve during treatment, but 4 participants resumed work after an extended period of sick leave"
• Human Growth Hormone in a Pill - Part 2 - Cooper Wellness, 4/02
• Human Growth Hormone in a Pill - Part 1 - Cooper Wellness, 3/02 - "Medical professionals only use HGH intravenously, because the substance is destroyed in the digestive tract when taken by mouth. Manufacturers of oral supplemental HGH, of course have not shared this information with consumers. Although many of these nutritional products claim to have a special patented formula, which is "backed by research", take precaution because these "studies" are most likely not from the actual testing of the product, but from the mere "borrowing" of studies using the intravenous form. In addition, many "HGH" products do not even have HGH listed on their label, but instead include a wide variety of amino acids"
• Growth Hormone Benefits Children With Steroid-Dependent Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Doctor's Guide, 2/5/02
• Oral Estrogen May Aggravate Metabolic Abnormalities in Women with Growth Hormone Deficiency - Doctor's Guide, 11/30/01
• Conference Report -Specialized Nutrition in Critically Ill Patients - Medscape, 11/01 - "Growth hormone is a polypeptide responsible for increasing carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and stimulating protein synthesis ... a recent study performed by Takala and colleagues[1] demonstrated an increase in mortality associated with the use of growth hormone. The heterogeneous population enrolled in this large, randomized, multicenter study included cardiac and abdominal surgical patients, trauma, and respiratory failure patients ... Unlike the trauma and burn patient population studied previously who were at their maximal metabolic and inflammatory state of the disease process, these patients were not yet at that level. Therefore, administration of growth hormone at this time within the disease course produces an initial energy deficit due to an increase in cellular metabolism and an increase in cytokine levels. These hypermetabolic and proinflammatory effects of growth hormone are thought to have led to a lack of oxygen supply to vital tissues, resulting in multiple organ failure and death. Dr. Gervasio concludes that growth hormone, at this time, should not be given to patients with critical illness with the possible exception of thermally injured or trauma patients."
• Saizen Improves Cardiac Performance As Well As Body Composition in Hormone Deficient Adults - Doctor's Guide, 7/9/01 - "showed a decrease in systolic volume of 4.29 percent compared with a decrease of 1.14 percent in the placebo group ... Men who used the hormone had a mean increase in lean body mass approaching 4 kg, whereas women experienced an increase of less than 1 kg. Similarly, the average man’s total fat decreased by more than 2 kg while women’s total fat decreased by less than 2 kg"
• Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Helps Predict Retinopathy Of Prematurity - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/01 - "has been shown to be associated with low serum levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 in pre-term children"
• Increased Bone Density Following Two Years Of Growth Hormone Treatment In Men With Idiopathic Osteoporosis - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/01
• Growth Hormone, Alendronate And Tissue-Selective Estrogen All Effective In Osteoporosis - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/01
• Youth for Sale, Antiaging Patients Looking, Feeling Good -- But Long-Term Safety Unknown - WebMD, 10/13/00
• Poor Sleep Erodes Middle-Aged Men - Intelihealth, 8/16/00 - "We actually know that if we increase deep sleep, we can increase growth hormone"
• Hormones' Anti-Aging Potential Draws Attention - WebMD, 6/26/00
• Human Growth Hormone Not Beneficial In Ischemic Heart Failure, May Impact Markers For Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 6/22/00
• Vigorous Exercise Not Linked To More Growth Hormone Production In Elderly - Doctor's Guide, 6/20/00
• Growth Hormone Improves Symptoms In Crohn's Disease Patients - Intelihealth, 6/1/00
• Growth Hormone IGF-1 & Prostate Cancer - Life Extension Magazine, 5/98
• Sleep's healing properties - CNN, 8/25/99 - "During deep sleep, the production of growth hormone is at its peak. Growth hormone speeds the absorption of nutrients and amino acids into your cells and aids the healing of tissues throughout your body. The hormone also stimulates your bone marrow, where your immune system cells are born"
• Stimulating Growth Hormone Reduces Body Fat, Increase Hormone Levels - Doctor's Guide, 6/14/99
• Comments on HGH from Dallas - A. Smith, 1/6/99
• Human Growth Hormone Leads Anti-Aging Revolution - Doctor's Guide, 11/22/97
• Growth Factor May Help Control Blood Sugar In Diabetic Teens - Doctor's Guide, 10/24/97
• AIDS Patients on Growth Hormone Gain Significant Amount of Lean Tissue - Doctor's Guide, 11/29/96
• Human Growth Hormone Leads Anti-Aging Revolution - Doctor's Guide, 11/22/96
• Humatrope Approved for Somatropin Deficiency Syndrome in Adults - Doctor's Guide, 8/8/96
• AIDS Patients On Growth Hormone Gain Weight Without Eating More - Doctor's Guide, 6/8/96

To Increase Height:

• Anastrozole Increases Predicted Adult Height of short adolescent males treated with growth hormone: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Trial for One to Three Years - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Dec 28 - "Anastrozole increases adult height potential of adolescent boys on GH therapy while maintaining normal pubertal progression after 2-3 yrs. This treatment offers an alternative in promoting growth in GH deficient boys in puberty"
• Predicting Growth Hormone Treatment Success - Science Daily, 12/17/07
• Growth Hormone Injections Add Height, But Kids Stay Short - Doctor's Guide, 7/18/07
• Iplex Available in U.S. for Children With Severe Short Stature - Doctor's Guide, 5/25/06
• Tercica Launches Increlex (mecasermin [rDNA origin] injection) in United States - Doctor's Guide, 1/4/06
• Drug approved for children with stunted growth - MSNBC, 9/1/05
• FDA Approves Tercica's Increlex for Short Stature Caused by Severe Primary IGF-1 Deficiency - Doctor's Guide, 8/31/05
• Study Shows New Method Of Growth Hormone Dosing Improves Height - Science Daily, 6/7/05
• Norditropin NordiFlex (somatropin [rDNA] injection), Treatment for Growth Hormone Deficiency, Now Available in US - Doctor's Guide, 1/26/05
• Growth Hormone Helps Short Children Achieve Normal Adult Height - Medscape, 10/13/04
• New Diagnosis for Very Short Kids - WebMD, 9/10/04
• Short Kids Benefit From Growth Hormone - WebMD, 8/20/04
• Growth hormone improves height in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: 4-year data of a controlled study - J Pediatr. 2003 Oct;143(4):512-9
• Zinc May Increase Stature in Some Growth Hormone-Deficient Children - Healthwell Exchange Daily News, 10/16/03
• FDA Approves Humatrope (Somatropin) for Short Stature - Doctor's Guide, 8/5/03
• Debating The Use Of Growth Hormone In Healthy But Short Children - Intelihealth, 6/20/03
• Short Kids May Get Growth Drug - WebMD, 6/11/03
• FDA advisers back growth hormone for healthy but short kids - USA Today, 6/11/03
• Growth Hormone Adds Height to Short, Normal Kids - Doctor's Guide, 5/6/03
• The Role of Growth Hormone Therapy in Short Children Born Small for Gestational Age - Medscape, 11/27/02
• Raised Cancer Risk From Human Growth Hormone Treatment - Doctor's Guide, 7/25/02
• Adult height after long term treatment with recombinant growth hormone for idiopathic isolated growth hormone deficiency: observational follow up study of the French population based registry - Doctor's Guide, 7/15/02
• Growth Hormone Administration Enhances Peak Bone Mass After Full Height Achieved - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/02
• Psychological Impact Of Growth Hormone Deficiency May Need Lifelong Management - Doctor's Guide, 2/7/02
• Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Does Not Promote Linear Growth In Children With Cystic Fibrosis - Doctor's Guide, 12/20/01
• FDA Grants Orphan Drug Status to Genotropin (Somatropin) For Growth Failure in Small for Gestational Age Children - Doctor's Guide, 7/26/01
• Growth Hormone Adds Centimetres To Final Adult Height - Doctor's Guide, 7/10/01
• “Short-Normal” Kids Don’t Benefit From Growth Hormone Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 7/9/01
• Growth Hormone Gives Kids a Boost That Lasts - WebMD, 9/27/00
• FDA Approves Nutropin Depot For Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency - Doctor's Guide, 12/24/99
• Growth-Hormone Deficient Babies Are Normal Length At Birth - Doctor's Guide, 5/3/99
• Growth-Hormone Treatment Effective In Short But Healthy Children - Doctor's Guide, 2/18/98
• Growth Hormone Treatment is Falling Short - Doctor's Guide, 9/23/97
• Early Treatment With Growth Hormone In Short Girls Has No Long-Term Side Effects - Doctor's Guide, 3/27/98

Other News:

• Growth Hormone Boosts Exercise Capacity in Heart Failure - Medscape, 12/19/07
• Long-lasting Growth Hormone Developed - Science Daily, 9/4/07
• FDA approves growth hormone - USA Today, 5/31/06
• Guidelines Issued for Management of Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency - Medscape, 5/1/06
• Supplemental Growth Hormone in Healthy Adults - Medscape, 4/20/06 - "Without sufficient scientifically based evidence for anti-aging effects of GH, our professional societal responsibility is to adhere to regulatory guidelines appropriately restricting expensive (~US$8,000 or more per annum) adult GH therapy to bona fide replacement needs"
• New Research May Explain Why Some Who Receive Growth Hormone Therapy Develop Colon Polyps - Science Daily, 4/10/06
• Growth Hormone Is Made In The Brain, Report Scientists - Science Daily, 3/28/06
• Does Growth Hormone Cause Cancer? - Medscape, 2/9/06 - "Finally, even if GH/IGF-1 therapy does result in a small increase in cancer risk compared with untreated patients with GH deficiency, it is likely that the eventual risk will be the same as the general population"
• Growth Hormone Stimulates Healing, Regeneration - Physician's Weekly, 1/26/04 - "it may also activate a gene critical in enabling the body's tissues to heal and regenerate. The findings of the study may provide clues to explain why people age"
• Aetiology of Growth Hormone Deficiency Impacts on Response to Replacement Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 4/30/03
• Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Changes Linked To Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy - Doctor's Guide, 3/17/03 - "They suggested that patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy show a deficit in intraocular production of free IGF-1. Finally, they argued that the findings suggest that IGF-1 produced by the eye plays a role in retinal homoeostasis"
• Researchers Discourage Human Growth Hormone as Anti-Aging Treatment - WebMD, 2/26/03 - "Last November, one of the largest studies published suggested that injected HGH did build muscle and bone mass and help healthy seniors lose weight. However, 40% of the 131 men and women studied developed serious side effects -- including arthritis-like joint pain and swelling, carpal tunnel syndrome, and diabetes-like changes in blood glucose levels ... is especially concerned about the use of amino acid pills, which are sold on various anti-aging web sites and through magazines ... Besides increasing risk of liver damage, these products could interfere with other medications, such as the blood-thinner Coumadin ... "We have yet to see serious sustained side effects in anti-aging patients treated under the recommended protocols taught at our conferences," says Klatz"
• Growth Hormone Affects Women Similarly Regardless of Weight - Doctor's Guide, 12/12/02
• Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Reduces Fat Redistribution in HIV+ Patients - Doctor's Guide, 10/4/02
• Growth Hormone Eases Fibromyalgia Pain - WebMD, 6/27/02
• Fibromyalgia Responds to Growth Hormone Treatment - Doctor's Guide, 6/20/02 - "Patients with fibromyalgia get relief from many of their symptoms when they are treated with growth hormone therapy ... We had previously found that a high number of patients with fibromyalgia have low levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1] ... The results suggest that a secondary growth hormone deficiency may be responsible for some symptoms of fibromyalgia"
• Women With Fibromyalgia Have Impaired Growth Hormone Secretion - Doctor's Guide, 5/22/02
• Fibromyalgia: A Growth-Hormone Defect? - WebMD, 5/3/02 - "They found that growth-hormone levels went up in the healthy women, but not in the women with fibromyalgia ... What caused this growth-hormone defect? The researchers guessed that it might be too much of another hormone -- somatostatin -- which blocks growth hormone"
• Growth Hormone Secretion Impaired In Children With Sleep Apnoea - Doctor's Guide, 4/3/02
• Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Improves Malnourished Kidney Failure Patients - Doctor's Guide, 11/13/01
• No Increased Risk Of Second Neoplasms Among Childhood Cancer Survivors Treated With Growth Hormone Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 7/9/01
• Human Growth Hormone, Serostim (Somatropin for Injection) Lot Counterfeit - Doctor's Guide, 5/18/01
• Children and Parents Overwhelmingly Prefer Norditropin Cartridge (Somatropin Injection) and NordiPen Delivery System - Doctor's Guide, 4/27/01 - "NovoFine needles benefit from thin wall technology, which allows for thinner needles with a wider bore than standard needles, resulting in less discomfort during injection"
• Norditropin Cartridges, Premixed Growth Hormone, Available In The US - Doctor's Guide, 10/3/00
• FDA Approves Cool.click Needle Free Device For Saizen (Somatropin) Growth Hormone - Doctor's Guide, 6/26/00 - "Based on our clinical studies, the Cool.click needle-free delivery device reduces the fear and anxiety that many parents and patients experience with needle injections"
• FDA Approves Liquid Norditropin (Somatropin [rDNA Origin] Injection) Growth Hormone - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/00
• Somavert (Pegvisomant) Blocks Excessive Growth Hormone In Acromegaly - Doctor's Guide, 4/20/00
• Single-Use Genotropin, For Growth Hormone Deficiency, Available In US - Doctor's Guide, 1/20/00
• Norditropin Human Growth Hormone Launched in the U.S. - Doctor's Guide, 2/20/97

Abstracts:

• Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor gamma agonism modifies the effects of growth hormone on lipolysis and insulin sensitivity - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2008 Mar 10 - "Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor gamma (PPARgamma) agonists such as thiazolidinediones (TZD) improve insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes via effects on fat metabolism, whereas growth hormone (GH) stimulates lipolysis and induces insulin resistance ...Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind parallel-group study including 20 GH-deficient patients on continued GH replacement therapy. The patients were studied before and after 12 weeks ... Adiponectin levels almost doubled during pioglitazone treatment (P = 0.0001). Pioglitazone significantly decreased basal free fatty acid levels (P = 0.02) and lipid oxidation (P = 0.02). Basal glucose oxidation rate (P = 0.004) and insulin sensitivity (P = 0.03) improved in the patients who received pioglitazone treatment. The change in insulin-stimulated adiponectin level after pioglitazone treatment was positively correlated to the change in insulin-stimulated total glucose disposal (R = 0.69 ... The impact of GH on lipolysis and insulin sensitivity is modifiable by administration administration of TZD" - See pioglitazone at OffshoreRX.com.
• Growth Hormone Replacement Therapy in Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency Improves Maximal Oxygen Consumption (VO2 Max) Independently of Dosing Regimen or Physical Activity - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Oct 23 - "GH replacement therapy in GH-deficient adults improved VO2 max similarly with both dosing regimens, without any influence of physical activity. There was no effect on submaximal exercise performance"
• Effect of Growth Hormone on Body Composition and Visceral Adiposity in Middle Aged Men with Visceral Obesity - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Sep 4 - "GH therapy is associated with small but statistically significant decreases in visceral adiposity and an increase in lean mass and body weight"
• IGF-1 and IGFBP-3: Risk of prostate cancer among men in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial - Int J Cancer. 2007 Jun 27 - "our large prospective study showed no overall association between the insulin-like growth factor axis and prostate cancer risk, however, IGFmr was related to risk for aggressive prostate cancer in obese men"
• Short-term administration of an angiotensin-receptor antagonist in patients with impaired fasting glucose improves insulin sensitivity and increases free IGF-I - Eur J Endocrinol. 2006 Aug;155(2):293-6 - "received 100 mg losartan during 8 weeks ... After the treatment period, the HOMA score for insulin resistance had decreased from 5.3 +/- 1.1 to 3.7 +/- 0.9 (P = 0.004) and the 2-h CIGMA score from 23.4 +/- 3.1 to 15.9 +/- 2.1 (P = 0.07). The serum levels of free IGF-I had increased from 57 +/- 18.8 to 134 +/- 31.3 pmol/l" - Does that mean you can more than double you IGF-1 just by taking an ARB instead of hGH?  I don't know.  See losartan at OffshoreRx.com. - Ben
• Long-term monitoring of insulin sensitivity in growth hormone-deficient adults on substitutive recombinant human growth hormone therapy - Metabolism. 2004 Jun;53(6):740-3 - "rhGH therapy determined an increase in fasting glucose and insulin levels, causing in the short-term period a worsening of IS. The sustained reduction in BF%, without further deterioration of IS, suggests that long-term beneficial effects on body composition may overcome the negative influence of GH on glucose metabolism"
• Low-Dose Growth Hormone Inhibits 11beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 1 but Has No Effect upon Fat Mass in Patients with Simple Obesity - J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003 May;88(5):2113-8 - "Although GH treatment significantly raised IGF-I, we were unable to demonstrate significant differences in body composition or metabolic profiles between GH- and placebo-treated groups. In addition, there was no alteration in total fat mass over time in the GH-treated group ... However, in comparison with baseline values, systolic blood pressure increased (119 +/- 3 vs. 130 +/- 4 mm Hg, P < 0.05 vs. baseline) and serum F/E ratio decreased (6.1 +/- 0.5 vs. 3.9 +/- 0.5, P < 0.05 vs. baseline) in the GH-treated group only ... Treatment with low-dose GH in obesity fails to alter fat mass despite a significant elevation in IGF-I and a shift in the global set point of E to F conversion consistent with inhibition of 11beta-HSD1" - I think it's saying that it reduced the active form of cortisol by a third.  That sounds like a big plus in itself.  See my 11beta-HSD1 page.
• Inadequate Copper Intake Reduces Serum Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I and Bone Strength in Growing Rats Fed Graded Amounts of Copper and Zinc - J. Nutr. 133:442-448, 2/03 - "In summary, growing rats fed low and marginal Cu had lower serum IGF-I than those fed high dietary Cu. Bone strength was also reduced with low dietary Cu, despite compensatory changes in the bone matrix" - So maybe a copper deficiency is a reason that many aren't getting an IGF-1 rise from growth hormone.  A copper deficiency can be caused by taking too much zinc.
• Serum insulin-like growth factor I regulates brain amyloid-beta levels - Nat Med 2002 Dec;8(12):1390-7 - "Because IGF-I treatment of mice overexpressing mutant amyloid markedly reduces their brain Abeta burden, we consider that circulating IGF-I is a physiological regulator of regulator of brain amyloid levels with therapeutic potential"
• Growth Hormone and Sex Steroid Administration in Healthy Aged Women and Men: A Randomized Controlled Trial - JAMA, 11/13/02 - "In this study, GH with or without sex steroids in healthy, aged women and men increased LBM and decreased fat mass. Sex steroid + GH increased muscle strength marginally and O2max in men, but women had no significant change in strength or cardiovascular endurance. Because adverse effects were frequent (importantly, diabetes and glucose intolerance), GH interventions in the elderly should be confined to controlled studies"
• The Influence of the Growth Hormone in the Profile of Blood Pressure. Results in Adult Patients with a Deficiency in this Hormone - Rev Esp Cardiol 2001 Apr;54(4):469-75 - "Lower systolic blood pressure was observed in GH deficiency patients"
• Endocrinology of Aging, Experimental Administration of recombinant human GH (rhGH) in Older Adults - Medscape, 3/00
• Growth hormone has no direct effect on human adrenal steroid and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein secretion - Endocr Res. 1999 Aug-Nov;25(3-4):281-93 - "hGH is unable to directly stimulate cortisol secretion"
• Effects of hGH, IGF-I, and diet and exercise on body composition of obese postmenopausal women - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1998 May;83(5):1477-84 - "These data show that obese postmenopausal women can lose weight and fat without compromising fat free mass, BMR, or gains in muscle strength, and that GH and IGF-I given together may enhance fat loss over either given alone."
• Low dose recombinant human growth hormone normalizes bone metabolism - Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1996 Jul;45(1):27-32 - "Our results suggest that 12 months of rhGH treatment at the lowest doses so far used normalizes bone metabolism and cortical bone density, and improves trabecular bone density without causing adverse events."
• Effects of growth hormone on fat mass and fat distribution - Acta Paediatr Suppl. 1992 Sep;383:62-5; discussion 66 - "treatment with GH reduces adipose tissue, and redistributes adipose tissue from abdominal to peripheral depots"
• Growth hormone treatment in growth hormone-deficient adults. II. Effects on exercise performance - J Appl Physiol. 1991 Feb;70(2):695-700 - "We conclude that rhGH treatment in adults with GH deficiency improves and normalizes maximal exercise performance and improves submaximal exercise performance and that these changes are related to increases in lean body mass and muscle mass. Improved cardiac output may also contribute to the effect of rhGH on exercise performance."
• Growth hormone treatment in growth hormone-deficient adults. I. Effects on muscle mass and strength - J Appl Physiol. 1991 Feb;70(2):688-94
• Effects of hGH in Men Over 60 Years Old - N. E. J. Med. 7/5/90 - "The effects of six months of human growth hormone on lean body mass and adipose-tissue mass were equivalent in magnitude to the changes incurred during 10 to 20 years of aging."
• Psychological well-being before and after growth hormone treatment in adults with growth hormone deficiency - Horm Res. 1990;33 Suppl 4:52-4 - "Preliminary analysis of treatment results shows that after 6 months, those patients receiving active treatment experienced less perceived illness than the placebo group. Significant psychological improvements were noted in the patients' perception of their energy level and mood."

Related Searches:

• Doctor's Guide search of growth hormone
• Doctor's Guide (2) search of growth hormone
• Life Extension Foundation search
• Medline search of growth hormone replacement
• Medscape search of growth hormone
• Google search of growth hormone
• The Natural Pharmacist search
• Nutrition Science News search
• WebMD search of growth hormone

Recommended Books:

• Grow Young with HGH - Dr. Ronald Klatz

Related Web Sites:

• Humatrope.com

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