Human growth hormone and ageing

Supplements that claim to help one look and feel younger typically contain very little of the ingredients needed to achieve those effects. All of the products are meant to boost levels of human growth hormone (hGH) in the body. Levels of hGH decline with age, causing some to suspect that the hormone may slow the ageing process. Growth hormone, which is secreted by the pituitary gland, is thought to play a role in determining the rate of development of skeletal bones and many large organs. It is currently available by prescription only, as a growth aid in children. However, along with containing only trace amounts of the needed ingredients, hGH supplements are administered in a way that makes it impossible to absorb what little of the hormone is there, according to researchers at the Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Medical Center, USA. They explained that hGH is a complex molecule that is quickly broken down in the body, so taking a supplement in the form of a pill or spray in the nose or mouth means that any traces that eventually reaches the system are no longer hGH. However, hGH supplements are sold with the promise that the products will produce the same effects as hGH when it is injected directly into a vein. The team reviewed the ingredients and evidence in favour of around a dozen products that claim to boost hGH levels in the body. According to the report, hGH supplements typically fall into three categories: products that contain amino acids designed to temporarily boost hGH, hGH products made up of extreme dilutions of the hormone, and "nanogram-strength" hGH, which holds perhaps 1/1000th of the prescription-strength dose of the hormone.

Upon reviewing the doses listed in each product, researchers found that the products appeared to contain only a fraction of the amount of amino acids or hGH that evidence shows is needed to achieve the hormone's effects. The idea that hGH could slow the ageing process was also helped along considerably by the results of a small study published earlier in a journal, which suggested injections of hGH might boost lean body mass in older men. However, the journal has subsequently taken action against advertisers it says are improperly using its name to hawk human growth hormone as an anti-ageing remedy. There is no current "magic-bullet" medication that retards or reverses ageing. Anti-ageing therapy with growth hormone has not yet been proved effective.

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