Stay Younger Longer

Posted Wednesday, September 12, 2007 to PROCEDURES > Anti-Aging

Posted by The Original Anti-Aging & Cosmetic Surgery Magazine

Human growth hormone has been approved for FDA review for use in normal aging adults. Jodi Theissen reports.

When we age the body goes through a number of changes that have always been thought inevitable. The skin sags and gets wrinkles, we lose lean muscle mass and gain abdominal fat, our cognitive ability changes, we are more prone to mood swings, we have decreased energy, diminished sex drive, weaker bones and often a weaker heart. These changes for the most part are brought about by hormonal deficiencies, and in recent years many studies have addressed this. There is hormonal replacement for menopausal women and more recently there has been an abundance of information on human growth hormone.

Human growth hormone (hGH) is already approved for use by the FDA(Food & Drug Administration) in children of short stature (dwarfism) and adults with pituitary disease. NOW, for the first time, a large study entitled Growth Hormone for Normal Aging Adults is being conducted over five years by doctors nationwide to collate information on hGH.

Medical director of Physicians Research and Pharmaceutical Alliance in Florida, C Randall Harrell, MD is heading up the study. "The majority of interest in hGH is from baby boomers and it's being used off label. It's important to collect data to show how it works, and the safety of it. While there are small studies that show it does work, there has never been a major study," said Dr Harrell.

The importance of such a study is explained by coinvestigator California plastic surgeon Charles Spenler, MD: "There is a black market in hGH. There are a lot of people using it and no one gathering any data - what dose to give and how to monitor it."

hGH is secreted by the pituitary gland found at the base of the brain which also secretes at least nine different hormones and chemicals such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, melatonin and DHEA that control body processes. hGH however, is the most abundant and is vital to growth by stimulating cell division and increasing blood glucose level through its conversion to Insulin Like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1). The decline in growth hormone with age is directly associated with many of the symptoms of aging, including wrinkling, gray hair, decreased energy and sexual function and increased body fat and cardiovascular disease.

The rate of release of hGH is highest in adolescence and decreases with age, so that by age 60 a person may secrete 25% of hGH secreted as a 20 year old.

A ground-breaking study done in 1990 by Daniel Rudman, MD showed that hGH trimmed fat, built muscle and improved skin tone in a dozen elderly men. Hawaii plastic surgeon Larry Schlesinger, MD another co-investigator explained: "The landmark study by Rudman showed that men between the ages of 60 and 80 with little exercise and dieting lost greater than 10% of body fat and gained greater than 10%muscle mass. Their cholesterol decreased, their skin tone improved, memory improved, breathing improved and basically they appeared younger and more vital."

For the Growth Hormone for Normal Aging Adults study, participating patients must be over 40 with no chronic diseases and be able to self-inject six times a week.

"We're looking at a variety of things," said Dr Harrell. "We're looking at chemical markers to show exactly how the patient is aging. We start with a stimulation test to find out how the pituitary is working. Then we check other problems, lipids, cholesterol, artherosclerosis and osteoporosis. We look at muscle mass, body fat, quality of life issues. It's a combination of factors because it's not a true disease state we are treating, it's a wellness problem."

It may take 6-12 months to see major changes, however patients report better sleep patterns soon after starting on the program, then increased energy levels. Over time Dr Spenler said: "It augments immune response, increases bone density, metabolic rate, health and strength."

All patients commence on the same level of dosage. "We start our patients out on a very low dosage and then increase it once we have the lab values to see where their levels are," explained Dr Schlesinger.

It is replacement therapy, replacing what the body once had - much like insulin is replaced for diabetics. Keeping it within the "normal" range of minimizes risks.

Most of the side-effects are dose related. Dr Harrell reported: "Fluid retention may occur until the body adjusts. The dose must be adjusted according to test results. Swelling of the wrists (carpal tunnel syndrome) may also occur but usually goes away."

Dr Schlesinger said: "If too much hGH is given it can feel like arthritis This feeling goes away when the dose is decreased." Some specialists fear high levels of hGH may stimulate tumor growth in people with cancer, however this has not been scientifically established. Dr Spenler explained his thoughts: "We believe there are no risks of cancer with hGH.We know in certain disease states where people have too much hGH (giants) they have an increased risk of cancer. We also know dwarfs who are given hGH at a level which a person normally has have a decreased risk of cancer. We are using it as a replacement, measuring it against the hGH levels the patient would have had at age 30." So it could in fact decrease the risk of cancer. More research is necessary in this area.

While treatment with hGH is relatively expensive (approximately $800-$1,000 a month) many baby boomers are showing an interest. How long we live can never be determined, but with hormonal replacement therapies such as these, retaining quality of life for longer may indeed become a reality.

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