There are many terms used to describe low levels of human growth hormone (called HGH or generically referred to as Somatotropin), but the one that seems to encompass an otherwise healthy person displaying symptoms of low hormone is Adult Onset Human Growth Hormone Deficiency Syndrome.
Input from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Medical Guidelines for Clinical Practice for Growth Hormone Use in Adults (2003) update stated that numerous tests are available for diagnosis of Growth hormone deficiency but none perfectly predicts it or has 100% sensitivity or specificity. Also lacking is universal agreement about cutoff points. They refer to use of stimulation tests and serum IGF-1 levels, as possible ways to verify the syndrome but also caution that serum IGF-1 levels that are normal in adults does not exclude the presence of Growth Hormone Deficiency.
So how does one know if replacing their body with injectable human growth hormone (the only reliable FDA approved route for administering HGH), a hormone that is normally produced in the anterior pituitary gland deep inside the brain, responsible for influencing the growth of cells, bones, muscles, and organs throughout the body, possibly linked to our aging process as its levels are depleted in the human body, will be worthwhile?
Like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, melatonin, and DHEA, human growth hormone also declines with age. For years doctors have been replenishing their patients with these hormones via various routes to treat anything from sexual dysfunction, to mood swings, to prevention of osteoporosis and coronary artery disease. By age 70-80 virtually everyone is deficient in growth hormone. But symptoms of aging begin far earlier then this. In fact, symptoms may begin as early as the third decade of life. The value of HGH is reviewed and emphasized throughout this site, so it is no real surprise what it could do for someone whose level has declined or for anyone who wants the function they have lost because of this hormone’s depletion in their body. It is proven that secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary gland decreases progressively with age. Starting after adolescence, secretion of growth hormone steadily declines until the amount present in older people is a small fraction of younger levels, often less than 10%. This may be one of the causes of the adverse effects of aging.
This syndrome is a clinical diagnosis. Defining symptoms in a questionnaire or by questioning a physician can be helpful. Stimulation tests can be ordered but are expensive, sometimes inappropriate considering the patient’s age or state of health and potentially dangerous. A simpler test is measurement of Somatomedin-C, referred to as Insulin Growth Factor-1. An early morning blood test specifically measuring this substance can assist in making the diagnosis of Adult Onset Human Growth Hormone Deficiency Syndrome. The cut-off value differs from literature to literature, varying from 150-250. But the consensus is coupling this blood level with the patient’s symptoms. Only by taking a full history and evaluating a few simple blood tests can the physician adequately determine this diagnosis. Only then can the physician recommend a program of possible replacement of HGH to the patient.
Once therapy is initiated, close follow-up to include repeat blood work and closely monitoring changes in symptomology, is mandated. Via findings in the blood and history from the patient, the doctor can continue to make recommendations of treatment.
Benefits are gradually achieved over four to six months by restoring growth hormone levels in the patient. Benefits may be perceived as early as 2 weeks depending on the dose prescribed and the level of deficiency the patient had initially.
Injectable Human Growth Hormone must be prescribed y a licensed physician. Use of testosterone for qualified patients may also add to the benefits from hormone replacement therapy. That hormone also declines with age. The goal of hormone replacement therapy is to restore levels to those normally present during early adulthood. Safe levels produced by the pituitary gland at age 30 will remain safe when replaced to that same level later in life.
Dosing of HGH to produce optimum benefit is usually between 1 and 2 units per day several days in a week usually with a specific number of days off (holiday periods) as determined by your doctor. Benefits do occur with as little as 4 units weekly. Side effects are mild and usually transient at these doses and diminish with continued therapy. Major side effects normally occur with abuse and misuse of this medication, taking it at levels far exceeding recommendations and doing so without monitoring blood levels and without the discretion of a physician.
A usual dose may be one unit of HGH taken daily for 4 to 5 consecutive days. The timing of the injections may not be important, however, HGH is normally produced by the pituitary gland during the early hours of sleep and therefore evening dosing may be preferable. A dosing schedule such as this has been found to be safe and most cost-effective. If cost was not a factor, doses twice as high could safely be taken with added benefit. Studies in which significant side effects were reported used more than 2 units per day and sometimes as much as 15 units daily which is a serious overdose.
Remember: Only injectable Human Growth Hormone that are FDA approved should be considered. A new generic form of HGH is also available as well as injectable products from compounding pharmacies who derive their product from legally approved sources. Products should be purchased from a US accredited distributor licnesed pharmacy. Ask our phyician’s what product might be right for you. But, first of all, one must believe there is not a natural progression of “getting old”. In other words, if there is a safe and reliable way to supplement a person with HGH, whose levels have subsided to below what a productive, “younger” person’s levels are and that person’s life is being affected because of this gland which is no longer being productive, that person would be interested in trying something to alleviate the symptoms associated with the deficiency. Meaning, the gland whose output has diminshed, is not normal and something to be tolerated. Living life without boundaries of chronolgical age is the goal.
