Questioning the safety of synthetic human growth hormone (HGH)

Wednesday, June 08, 2005 by: Dani Veracity
Tags: human growth hormone, HGH, anti-aging

As many middle-aged adults unfortunately know all too well, aging is often accompanied by weight gain. As Gary Null writes in Power Aging, "In fact, each year after the age of forty, a pound of fat replaces a pound of muscle. This means that by the time you are fifty, ten pounds of your muscle have been replaced with ten pounds of fat." But those of you who are middle aged and struggling with your weight don't need him to tell you that, right? You just want to get the pounds and inches off as quickly and easily as possible. If that is the case, you may be considering treatment with synthetic human growth hormone (HGH) injections.

Throughout our lives, our pituitary glands naturally make HGH. As the name implies, during childhood, HGH supports our continued growth. Then, even after we reach our full growth potential in adulthood, HGH continues to play an important role in keeping our metabolism efficient. However, as we get older and our bodies stop producing enough HGH, our metabolic rates decrease, leading to fatigue, weight gain, hypertension and the other ailments commonly associated with aging.

When scientists discovered a way to synthetically produce HGH, they and many consumers hailed synthetic HGH as an "elixir of youth." In study after study, human test subjects experienced increased bone density, increased muscle mass, a disappearance of wrinkles, improved sexual performance and, of course, weight loss. As Burton Goldberg describes in Alternative Medicine, "[Those taking synthetic-HGH injections] demonstrated a reversal in the aging process, appearing younger, sleeker and stronger and benefiting from an increase in muscle mass and a loss in body fat."

In A Physician's Guide to Natural Health Products that Work, Dr. James Howenstine writes, "These injections appear able to reverse 10 years of aging with one year of treatment." Furthermore, one 1987 study revealed that even young adults lose body fat and gain lean muscle mass from taking synthetic-HGH injections, according to Ronald Katz and Robert Goldman's book Stopping the Clock. These studies, combined with overwhelmingly popular media coverage, have created worldwide synthetic-HGH hype. But is it justified?

Looking deeper into HGH injections

When scientists first synthetically produced HGH, they didn't create the mythical "elixir of youth." They merely created a highly marketable product. Synthetic HGH fits right into modern society's dream of magic, no-effort, miracle cures. This is the same ideal that piles money into pharmaceutical companies and their million-dollar research schemes.

Synthetic HGH promises weight loss without effort -- without dieting, without exercise. All you have to do is find an anti-aging specialist and pay an outrageous amount of money for synthetic-HGH injections. As Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa writes in Brain Longevity, "Several of my patients report that it has helped them feel better, to lose weight, and to think more clearly. Synthetic HGH is, however, considerably more expensive than the other pharmaceutical drugs that help rejuvenate the body and brain."

Now researchers are exploring the possible dangers of synthetic-HGH injections. They simply may not be safe for long-term use, especially for people who are not already deficient in the hormone. Young athletes, for example, often use synthetic-HGH injections to boost athletic performance; in fact, the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta were popularly dubbed the "Growth Hormone Games," due to the large amount of Olympic athletes using synthetic HGH. According to the Dr. Donal P. O'Mathuna of Thompson American Health Consultants, synthetic-HGH injections overdose young people with HGH, potentially causing headaches, fluid retention, insulin resistance and gynecomastia. Even in later years, synthetic-HGH injections may not be safe for you, as you many not be deficient enough in HGH to warrant synthetic-HGH injections without the risk of overdose.

Furthermore, you don't have to rely on expensive and potentially dangerous injections to get the benefits of HGH. At any age, your body will naturally produce HGH after high anaerobic exercise, enabling you to safely and inexpensively lose body fat and gain muscle mass. You can learn how to make your body produce its own high levels of natural HGH by reading more of the Health Ranger's articles on HGH, found here on www.newstarget.com/HGH.html.

Your body already has the natural ability to combat aging-associated weight gain by producing HGH. It just takes effort to release it.

The experts speak on HGH

In an article that appeared in the 1990 New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Daniel Rudman and his colleagues at The University of Wisconsin released the results of their treatment of 12 men aged 61 to 80 with intramuscular growth hormone. After 6 months, these 12 men had lost 14% of their body fat and gained an average of 8.8% muscle mass. Their bone density increased and their skin became thicker and firmer. Wrinkles disappeared and sexual performance was improved in several. Dr. Rudman concluded that, "The overall deterioration of the body that comes with growing old is not inevitable. These injections appear able to reverse 10 years of aging with one year of treatment."
A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work By James Howenstine MD, page 233

In a 1990 study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, involving 21 men, 61-81 years old, Dr. Rudman found that after a six-month period of HGH injections, lean body mass and fat tissue changes were equivalent in magnitude to the changes incurred during 10-20 years of aging. In other words, the test subjects demonstrated a reversal in the aging process, appearing younger, sleeker, and stronger, and benefiting from an increase in muscle mass and a loss in body fat. Lung capacity and heart, immune, and kidney function all improved with HGH.
Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg, page 377

HGH mobilizes/lowers stored body fat 14.4% to be burned for energy, extends exercise capacity (and exercise spurs HGH), reduces fatigue. HGH rebuilds damaged heart muscles, the liver, kidneys, and lungs, pulmonary disorders, improves Oxygen uptake in emphysema patients, reverses organ shrinkage; lowers high blood pressure, hypertension; counters diabetes by normalizing sugar metabolism gradually. growth hormone burns fats, cholesterol, atherosclerosis plaques, viruses, chronic fatigue, (prostate) cancer, Immune suppression, autoimmune self-attack (rheumatoid arthritis), reduces 2-3 times higher than normal Natural Killer Lymphocyte levels; signals body tissue repair, obesity; enlarged prostate.
Anti-Aging Manual by Joseph B Marion, page 10

Dr. Daniel Rudman of the Medical College of Wisconsin gave a normal dose to elderly males 3 times a week for 6 months and returned muscle mass 10%, skin thickness increased 9%, body fat lowered 14%, and weight was added to the liver and spleen. Source: VesPro Enterprises'Pro-HGH with anterior Pituitary peptides,glycoamino complex Aminotrope, mono-poly-and -oligo-saccharidePolyose Complex, L-Glutamine, Arginine, Pyroglutamate, GAB A, Glycine, Lysine, Tyrosine, and Lacunabean (Vicia fabamajor) for L-Dopa. Homeopathic GH Hormonegentic. Take Indium.
Anti-Aging Manual by Joseph B Marion, page 10

If you begin a brain longevity program, you will probably lose weight, for several reasons. You will probably eat less fat, and therefore consume fewer calories. Your endocrine system will begin to function more efficiently, producing the hormones that help "burn" fat, such as human growth hormone.
Brain Longevity by Dharma Singh Khalsa M.D. with Cameron Stauth, page 229

A surprising number of studies show that excess serum insulin (hyperinsulinemia) is a major health problem (Despres et al. 1996; Chu et al. 2001; Thakur et al. 2001). For people trying to reduce body fat, excess insulin suppresses the release of growth hormone in addition to preventing fat from being released from cells.
Disease Prevention And Treatment by Life Extension Foundation, page 393

Human growth hormone. This may prove to be another valuable weapon in your arsenal of brain longevity medications. Several of my patients report that it has helped them to feel better, to lose weight, and to think more clearly. Synthetic HGH is, however, considerably more expensive than the other pharmaceutical drugs that help rejuvenate the body and brain.
Brain Longevity by Dharma Singh Khalsa M.D. with Cameron Stauth, page 414

Considerable research has been done on the effects of HGH over the past decade. In studies on middle aged and elderly people, HGH supplementation has increased muscle mass, skin thickness, and bone mass, while decreasing body fat.
Disease Prevention And Treatment by Life Extension Foundation, page 539

For people over 40, human growth hormone therapy may be indicated. HGH raises IGF-1 levels leading to improved insulin sensitivity, loss of body fat, and increased lean body mass. HGH therapy is administered and monitored by an anti-aging specialist.
Disease Prevention And Treatment by Life Extension Foundation, page 1091

Obesity is associated with decreased human growth hormone levels. Decreased levels of growth hormone are associated with obesity and corticosteroid use. Therapies that boost growth hormone can help facilitate weight loss. The cost of human growth hormone injections is cost-prohibitive for most people.
Disease Prevention And Treatment by Life Extension Foundation, page 1152

Numerous studies using immature mice have shown that LH, FSH and prolactin (the reproductive hormones), HGH (growth hormone), ACTH (adrenal regulating hormone), and TSH (thyroid regulating hormone) were all decreased following exposure to MSG. These hormone deficiencies were reflected in the animals by small size, low reproductive ability, gross obesity and low metabolism.
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 187

Rudman gathered a group of 21 men together. To half of them he gave a synthetic version of growth hormone three times a week. To the other half he gave nothing. He performed monthly examinations to note the manifestations of aging in all the men. The men treated with hormones recuperated 10% of their muscle, the skin increased its thickness by 9% and they lost 14% of their body fat. The livers and spleens of these men recovered mass. Some of the men felt mild pain in their hands due to an increase of muscle mass and the pressure it created on the joints. But in general, almost all reported noticeable improvements, compared to the group that received no hormones.
Health In The 21st Century by Fransisco Contreras MD, page 235

In 1987, a team of scientists at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine showed that what was true for children was also true for a group of normal, healthy adults—in five men and three women aged twenty-two to thirty-three, treatment with HGH trimmed body fat by 1.5 percent and increased muscle mass by an average of three pounds.
Longevity by Kathy Keeton, page 268

At the December 1996 Anti-Aging Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, I heard Dr. Bengt-Ake Bengtsson, one of the leading human growth hormone researchers in the world, discuss his landmark study of 333 patients with low levels of HGH. Dr. Bengtsson discovered that these patients were twice as likely to die from heart disease as the age-matched control group. Among patients treated with HGH replacement therapy, there was a uniform decrease in cardiovascular risk, as well as weight loss and a favorable increase in HDL and lower LDL blood fractions.
Optimum Health by Stephen T Sinatra MD, page 257

In fact, each year after the age of forty, a pound of fat replaces a pound of muscle. This means that by the time you are fifty, ten pounds of your muscle have been replaced with ten pounds of fat. Experts disagree on the benefits of supplementing with growth hormone. Some are excited about the antiaging benefits seen in scientific studies. In these studies, senior citizens given growth hormone show an increase in lean muscle mass, a decrease in body fat, increased energy, stronger immune systems, sharper eyesight, and better mental acuity. Other experts, however, caution that more research into safe amounts is needed. We certainly need to stay informed about new studies on this potential youth hormone.
Power Aging by Gary Null, page 88

Ornithine helps to prompt the release of growth hormone, which promotes the metabolism of excess body fat.
Prescription For Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A Balch CNC and James F Balch MD, page 50

According to reports in scientific literature, benefits from HGH replacement therapy include a reversal of declining pulmonary function, decreased body fat, increased capacity to exercise, increased bone mass in people with osteoporosis, and the improvement or reversal of many other age-related symptoms and disorders.
Prescription For Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A Balch CNC and James F Balch MD, page 713

L-arginine has been shown to stimulate the pituitary gland to produce and secrete human growth hormone in young males, at a dose of more than 3 grams daily. Human growth hormone helps in muscle building, leading to increased muscle strength and tone, and enhances fat metabolism (increases the burning of fats), which may help with weight loss. growth hormone in general seems to increase metabolism and energy.
Staying Healthy With Nutrition by Elson M Haas MD, page 46

Researchers wondered how supplemental HGH might affect healthy adults. Some work on this question had already been done by exercise physiologist Douglas Crist and his colleagues at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque in 1987. Crist and his associates worked with eight healthy, athletic young people, five men and three women, all between the ages of 22 and 33. After six weeks of getting HGH injections three times a week, these young adults—already in good shape—had nevertheless gained an average of close to three pounds of muscle while losing an average 1.5 percent of their body fat. Their overall ratio of muscle to fat—a key sign of being well conditioned—improved by an average of close to 25 percent.
Stopping the Clock by Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman, page 50

Human GH replacement therapy was anecdotally successful with some authors claiming it provided the beneficial effects of anabolic steroids without the harmful side effects. Typically, Kerr said, his patients took HGH for only three to six weeks. In that short time, bodybuilders claimed they got results that lasted up to 12 months. Some athletes claimed to have gained up to 40 pounds in six weeks while reducing their body fat.
Stopping the Clock by Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman, page 50

However, the other HGH users in Dr. Rudman's study increased their lean body mass by 6 percent, decreased their body fat by 16 percent, and generally experienced an improved level of physical fitness. An untreated control group, monitored over the same period, actually lost an average of 3 percent of their lean body mass. Supporters of HGH say it's just a matter of finding the correct dosage for each individual.
Stopping the Clock by Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman, page 55

What is that effect? If the intensity of the anaerobic workout is high enough, it causes the body to release human growth hormone. This exceptionally potent hormone has a number of important jobs in the body, one of which is to repair the microdamage done to muscle tissue during anaerobic exercise. It takes a lot of energy to do the repair job, and that energy comes from your stored body fat.
The Zone by Barry Sears PhD with Bill Lawren, page 62

A number of scientific studies, including a famous one by Daniel Rudman and his colleagues at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, have shown that injections of human growth hormone are something like an elixir of youth—even for people over sixty-five. In the Rudman study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1991, older men who were injected with human growth hormone for six months lost body fat and gained lean body mass. In fact, the researchers stated that in terms of body composition it was as if the old men were now fifteen years younger.
The Zone by Barry Sears PhD with Bill Lawren, page 62

Another study, this one using trained weight lifters, was conducted at the University of New Mexico Medical School in 1988. Half the weight lifters got injections of growth hormone during their six weeks of training, while the other half received injections of saline solution. At the end of six weeks, those who got the growth-hormone injections (providing more than 50% greater amounts than normal blood levels) had lost four times more body fat and gained four times more lean body mass than those who got the placebo injections.
The Zone by Barry Sears PhD with Bill Lawren, page 62