Human Growth Hormone (April 1, 2014)
A kind of loose sub-movement of the alternative health movement could be called “life extension”. This is essentially an anti-aging movement with interest as well in extending the individual lifespan. It includes the use of many different methods that at first blush seem to have little relation to each other – for example, all types of nutritional supplements, hormonal therapies, stem cells, organ replacement, and calorie restriction. The life extension movement generates about $50 billion a year in economic activity in the U.S., so it gets a lot of attention.
The levels of many hormones seem to naturally decline with age, so attempting to raise those levels is very commonly done in life extension. [Now, I did just say “naturally” decline, but frankly, exactly which changes are normal and which are the result of disease processes is not always clear. Increased blood pressure was once thought to be a natural consequence of aging.] Specifically in the case of human growth hormone (HGH), several studies seemed to show that raising levels of it in older people lowered the fat content of the body, increased bone density, increased muscle density and muscle strength, and lowered LDL cholesterol. Nice, huh? So HGH supplementation (orally or by injection) quickly became a big part of the life extension movement. However, now there is some evidence that high HGH levels actually aren’t so great in aging adults – it was found that a group of adults in their 90s with lower HGH levels had a markedly greater chance of making it past age 100 than those with higher levels. Why? We don't know. But it's a very strong correlation that right now cannot be dismissed.
Interestingly, HGH injections into short but otherwise healthy children with the intention of making them grow taller was a medical fad some time ago that ended in one of those familiar medical woopsy-daisies we have become so familiar with over the years. The dosages used produced early puberty and thus early cessation of growth in the children who were injected – meaning that they actually wound up shorter than they would otherwise have been. The crucial takeaway from all of this is to realize that what appears logical to a human mind is not necessarily the body’s logic. The advanced technology used in medicine these days often gives the impression that we know more about what we are doing than we actually do. One must be very careful when trying to outsmart the body.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014
A kind of loose sub-movement of the alternative health movement could be called “life extension”. This is essentially an anti-aging movement with interest as well in extending the individual lifespan. It includes the use of many different methods that at first blush seem to have little relation to each other – for example, all types of nutritional supplements, hormonal therapies, stem cells, organ replacement, and calorie restriction. The life extension movement generates about $50 billion a year in economic activity in the U.S., so it gets a lot of attention.
The levels of many hormones seem to naturally decline with age, so attempting to raise those levels is very commonly done in life extension. [Now, I did just say “naturally” decline, but frankly, exactly which changes are normal and which are the result of disease processes is not always clear. Increased blood pressure was once thought to be a natural consequence of aging.] Specifically in the case of human growth hormone (HGH), several studies seemed to show that raising levels of it in older people lowered the fat content of the body, increased bone density, increased muscle density and muscle strength, and lowered LDL cholesterol. Nice, huh? So HGH supplementation (orally or by injection) quickly became a big part of the life extension movement. However, now there is some evidence that high HGH levels actually aren’t so great in aging adults – it was found that a group of adults in their 90s with lower HGH levels had a markedly greater chance of making it past age 100 than those with higher levels. Why? We don't know. But it's a very strong correlation that right now cannot be dismissed.
Interestingly, HGH injections into short but otherwise healthy children with the intention of making them grow taller was a medical fad some time ago that ended in one of those familiar medical woopsy-daisies we have become so familiar with over the years. The dosages used produced early puberty and thus early cessation of growth in the children who were injected – meaning that they actually wound up shorter than they would otherwise have been. The crucial takeaway from all of this is to realize that what appears logical to a human mind is not necessarily the body’s logic. The advanced technology used in medicine these days often gives the impression that we know more about what we are doing than we actually do. One must be very careful when trying to outsmart the body.
--dr. diane holmes
Copyright © 2014