Human Growth Hormone (HGH) – Does it Prevent Signs of Aging?

Human Growth Hormone, known as HGH, has been used, from the late 1950s onwards, to boost the growth of children or, until it was banned, to boost the fitness and muscle growth of athletes.

Over recent years, however, it has been used more and more widely as an anti-aging treatment. A groundbreaking study led by Daniel Rudman, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1990, suggested that injections of HGH could increase lean body mass, skin thickness and bone density in people over sixty. The study concluded that the decrease in production of HGH that occurs with age effectively causes these symptoms of aging and that it could therefore be used to reverse these effects. This does not mean that HGH prevents the human body from aging, but that it can keep it fitter and healthier and more youthful looking for longer.

Since then, some people have taken HGH via injection (because it is destroyed if it is taken orally by the body's digestive system) to try and maintain a healthier and stronger body. It is not available on prescription for this purpose, but is sometimes prescribed if a doctor believes a patient has a genuine deficiency of the hormone. People who do take injections of HGH for anti-aging purposes believe that it lessens the extent of wrinkles, because it thickens skin and helps it to keep moisture. They also believe that it increases general energy levels, enabling them to feel much younger as well as look younger. Some users of HGH also claim to have lost weight and regained muscle tissue. Some have even reported increased sexual desire and potency.

However, the medical community believe that the use of HGH for anti-aging can be dangerous. High levels of HGH in the body, due to taking it without a pre-existing deficiency, have been linked to diabetes and certain types of cancer. Clinicians also dispute that it has any substantial anti-aging effect and that Dr Rudman's study has been misinterpreted. Recently a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (16 January 2007), led by Dr Hau Liu, pointed out that its use as an anti-aging therapy is illegal in the US but that it is still widely used. The study also suggested that there were increased negative effects and minimal positive effects among those who inject HGH.