Human growth hormone (HGH) shots may not help stop the aging
process and relieve the aging-related conditions, at least not as much as expected;
according to a review study reported in the Jan. 16
Annals of Internal
Medicine.
Growth hormone secreted from human pituitary glands is involved
in anabolism in humans stimulating division and multiplication of chondrocytes
of cartilage and promoting growth in children and adolescence. It also stimulates
production of insulin-like factor (IGF1).
As people become older, the growth hormone level decreases, which is associated with a range of aging-related conditions. Growth hormone deficiency in adults could negatively affect body
composition, lipids in the blood, muscle strength, bone composition, exercise
capacity and energy, cardiovascular risk, psychological well-being, according
to antiaginggroup.com.
The review of 31 studies led by researchers from
Stanford
University concluded that the benefits
of human growth hormone therapy are insignificant compared to the increased
risk of many conditions including joint swelling and pain, carpal tunnel
syndrome, and diabetes and prediabetes.
For the review, Hao Liu, M.D. and collogues selected 31 randomized
and controlled studies of a few hundreds of relatively healthy people who were overweight,
but not obese at average age of 69 when entering the studies. These studies are
believed to be reliable and trustworthy.
They found that the only benefit associated with use of exogenous
growth hormone is slightly increased lean body mass. The therapy increased 2 kilograms
of muscle mass and reduced 2 kg of fat in the study subjects.
Other than the change in the body composition, the researchers
did not find an effect of growth hormone therapy on other measures of fitness
such as bone density, cholesterol, and lipid levels, according to news reports.
But Liu admitted that the clinical trials involved only 220 participants.
Large trials are needed to test the
effectiveness of the growth hormone treatment for adults.
Use of growth hormone in healthy elderly people has been controversial
and drawn some debate among the opponents and proponents although use of growth
hormone is officially allowed in children and adults as well to treat growth
failure or to treat weight loss caused by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Quackwatch, a critic of many alternative remedies, published earlier an article by Stephen Barrett, M.D. whose affiliation is unknown, to disapprove
the benefits of growth hormone for aging-related conditions.
In his article, Dr. Barrett writes “Although growth hormone levels decline
with age, it has not been proven that trying to maintain the levels that exist
in young persons is beneficial. Considering the high cost, significant side
effects, and lack of proven effectiveness, HGH shots appear to be a very poor
investment.”
Dr. Barrett cited Robert N. Butler, M.D., who founded and
heads the International Longevity Center-USA as saying that “it might even turn
out that lower growth-hormone levels are an indicator of health. Research
findings indicate that mice that overproduce growth hormones live only a short
time, suggesting that growth-hormone deficiency itself does not cause
accelerated aging, but that the opposite may be true.”
But proponents of growth hormone treatment criticized Liu’s
study.
"The Liu et al paper is flawed, as it is based on an incomplete
compilation of clinical studies of HGH replacement in healthy adults,"
said Dr. Ronald Klatz, president of the
American
Academy
of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), in a statement issued Monday, ABC reported.
According to A4M, “thousand of published studies on hundreds of thousands of
patients have demonstrated the clear benefits of adult GH replacement therapy,
when utilized under proper clinical guidelines and at proper physiological
dosages."
"To deny the benefit of HGH and other essential hormonal regulators of
metabolism in deficient patients based on age may be considered a heinous act
of malpractice which will prove to be erroneous and shortsighted in the years
to come," the A4M states.
In August of 1996, the FDA approved recombinant human growth
hormone to treat adult onset growth hormone deficiency syndrome, according to
Quackwatch.org.
But according to news
reports, the FDA did not approve it for treatment of aging-related conditions.
In the
U.S.,
about 20,000 to 30,000 healthy adults pay a price between a few hundreds and a
few thousands of dollars a month to receive growth hormone shots.
Source:
Title: The Safety and Efficacy of Growth Hormone in the
Healthy Elderly
Authors: Hau Liu, MD, MBA, MPH; Dena M. Bravata, MD, MS;
Ingram Olkin, PhD; Smita Nayak, MD; Brian Roberts, MD; Alan M. Garber, MD, PhD;
and Andrew R. Hoffman, MD
Publication:
Annals of Internal Medicine 16 January
2007 | Volume 146 Issue 2 | Pages 104-115
