HGH Human Growth Hormones are chemical messengers
that travels throughout the body coordinating complex processes like growth,
metabolism, and fertility. They can influence the function of the immune
system, and even alter behavior.
Hormones are the reason why you changed
from head to toe at puberty. It is thanks to these chemicals that distant
parts of the body communicate with one another during elaborate, and important,
events.
In response to a signal from the brain,
hormones are secreted directly into the blood by the glands that produce
and store them. These glands make up what is known as the endocrine system
(endocrine means "secreting internally").
What
is Human Growth Hormone?
Human growth hormone (hGH) is a long chain
amino acid molecule produced by the anterior pituitary gland, located at
the base the brain. While Human Growth Hormone (HGH) has an extraordinary
range of age-reversing effects seen with no other substance, replacing
hormones that decline with age is not new. The oldest continuing anti-aging
experiment is hormone replacement therapy with estrogen or a combination
estrogen and progesterone in post menopausal women.
HGH acts on many different tissues to promote
healthy metabolism. The bulk of the effect accomplished by hGH is performed
by a related hormone called Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1), which
is released predominantly by the liver and, to some extent, by other tissues
in response to the presence of hGH. It is one of the primary hormones of
importance for maintaining optimal cellular performance.
The Decline in
Growth Hormone
HGH, the medical term is somatotropin,
is the most abundant hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, a process
which peaks during adolescence. Gradually this hormone secretion diminishes
with age. By the time you reach the age of 60, you may only secrete 25%
as much as the average 20 year old. This greatly contributes to the acceleration
of the aging process.
What
is Recombinant Growth Hormone?
Recombinant Growth Hormone is the technical
term for a synthetic growth hormone that is manufactured in the laboratory.
Creating an exact replicate was not an easy task as human growth hormone
is composed of 191 amino acids.
While Genentech first claimed victory in
1985, it was a short lived success. The recombinant hGH they made was a
190 amino acid match which was one short of their goal. This left the door
open for Eli Lilly, who in 1986 created a 191 amino acid hormone that was
an identical match to the HGH produced by the pituitary gland. The drug
is called Humatrope and is the most widely used recombinant growth hormone
today. It requires a prescription and is administered by injection at
a cost of several thousand dollars per year.
What
are the potential benefits of raising Growth Hormone levels?
Natural levels of hGH and IGF-1 decline
progressively after young adulthood, leading to many of the bodily changes
associated with aging. Raising hGH and IGF-1 levels to those associated
with younger physiology slows down or delays the age related decline frequently
seen in many organs.
A number of studies reliably demonstrate
that the following are among the many beneficial effects of modulating
hGH/IGF-1:
Enhanced
skin thickness and elasticity
Improved
healing time and reduced infection rates after trauma or surgery
Diminished
sun damage-type wrinkling
Decreased
total body fat
Increased
lean muscle mass
Increased
bone mineral density
Improved
cholesterol profile
Decreased
LDL (bad) cholesterol
Increased
HDL (good) cholesterol
Improved
exercise capacity
Decreased
recovery time between workouts
Improved
blood flow to the kidney
Improved
mood, coping skills, and over-all well-being
Improved
general energy levels
These effects do not occur over night, the
first change that is typically noted is a feeling of enhanced well-being,
with most of the compositional changes, such as fat loss or muscle or bone
gain taking effect later.
The
Different Approaches to Increasing hGH
As mentioned above, HGH may only be administered
via injection by prescription under the supervision of a licensed physician
through a licensed clinic or pharmacy.
There are many companies that promote various
pills, elixirs, sprays, or creams that are claimed to contain useful amounts
of hGH; they claim that these products are actually taken up by the body
through topical, oral, sublingual or nasal administration. One should be
skeptical of such claims, as none of the published benefits of injected
hGH have been objectively measured with oral tablets, capsules, or sprays.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
licenses and oversees companies that manufacture hGH. They must register
and verify their methods and product regarding uniformity of quality, bioavailability,
safety, and demonstrated effectiveness. This large protein molecule is
unable to penetrate intact membranes to any significant degree, making
any spray or oral use of hGH almost completely a waste.
Given the above requirements, there are
several concerns that arise regarding the claims made by non-FDA approved
companies that offer hGH products in oral or spray forms. This leads to
another approach for increasing HGH...secretagogues, also known as growth
hormone releasers.
What
About hGH Growth Hormone Releasers?
In the realm of body hormones in general,
there are two ways to attempt to augment the amount of a hormone in circulation.
The first, as already mentioned, is to give it directly, through injection
which is very expensive.
The second method is to stimulate the body
in such a way as to increase the amount of hormone that is produced.
A secretagogue (se-krėt“ah-gog),
in laymen's terms a growth hormone releaser, is a substance that stimulates
the pituitary gland to produce hGH. This has been an intriguing avenue
of research. Over the last twenty years, several short-chain, orally absorbable
compounds have been investigated. Some compounds (commonly six to eight
amino acid molecules) have been shown to stimulate the production of significant
amounts of hGH.
There are several growth hormone releasers
available in the over-the-counter market; these products are generally
safe, but vary in their effectiveness to demonstrate a certain hGH response
in every individual.
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