In the 1500s, the Spaniards led by Juan Ponce de Leon tried to search for the Fountain of Youth but didn’t end up successful. The search for everlasting youth was just in vain. However, the search for the Fountain of Youth didn’t stop with that expedition. We continue to quest for the “forever young” potion. Even after more than 500 years, we still try to find ways to reset our body clocks. We vacuum all our fat out, drink various food supplements and vitamins and inject our faces with toxins just to erase any signs of aging.
In fact, at present day, people claim to have found the Fountain of Youth. They found a hormone that can lessen all the wrinkles, reduce your weight, add up muscle mass, decrease blood pressure, improve energy levels and alter the aging process. It might seem fantastical but that hormone is just naturally produced by the body. Hello human growth hormone or HGH!
Human growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland which is a pea-sized gland located at the base of the brain. HGH targets the bones and the muscles. The pituitary gland produces most of the HGH during the adolescence stage. HGH is vital for normal growth. Too little HGH will result in stunted growth of a child. Excess of HGH means exaggerated bone growth, thus a child may become “too tall” for his or her age. Medical problems can result with both the lack and excess of HGH.
As we grow up, our bodies continue to produce a specific amount of HGH. It helps in the regulation of our metabolism. We produce it during sleep, thus we need to get enough sleep as a child. HGH production starts to decrease strikingly by the age 30 and slows down as we get older.
HGH can give us vigor, youth and strength. Without HGH, we age. Aging is truly inevitable, but many individuals won’t just accept that fact without putting up a fight. Is HGH the answer to slowing down the aging process? Let’s discover.
Aging Effects on the Body
Our bodies are definitely changing since birth. A normal pituitary gland produces human growth hormone that contributes to these changes. As soon as we are born, we begin to develop our nervous system and muscle strength. As babies, one of the first things we do is focus our eyes. As we turn 2 years old, our vocabulary starts to take shape. As toddlers, we start to develop finer muscle control and motor skills. Puberty then causes growth spurt and hormonal changes. As we step into adulthood, we reach physical maturity. Thank you HGH for these developments!
As we reach 30s and the early 40s, HGH in our bodies starts to decrease. Metabolism then slows down. By the time we age 40 to 65, our muscle strength, hearing and vision goes down. When we get in the 50s to early 60s cognitive decay starts to happen. By our late 60s and beyond, the skin becomes less elastic as our joints and bone become weak. We become more prone to heart disease or cancer as our bodies are unable to repair themselves unlike when we were younger. HGH in our bodies by that age is only one-fifth or less compared to our younger years.
Proponents of HGH state that the hormone can help slow down or even turn around the aging process. They added that increasing the HGH levels in their bodies has helped them with weight loss to undoing congestive heart failure damages.
The Traditional Uses for HGH Therapy
Although HGH treatment is in controversies now, it still does have legal medical uses. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) is a disorder that may happen in children or adults. Children with GHD may grow less than 5 centimeters each year. This is a clear indication that there is something wrong with their HGH levels. The child’s blood sugar might be lesser than the normal levels. Sexual maturity may even be delayed. An endocrinologist is the one who typically makes the final diagnosis.
Some adults, on the other hand, may develop GHD after getting to physical maturity, or if their pituitary gland is injured by trauma or radiation. Symptoms may include decreased energy levels, poor sleep, increased body fat and diminished muscle and bone mass. It is truly imperative to note that the symptoms must come from a true hormone deficiency and not just the natural loss of HGH that is part of the aging process. An endocrinologist may run tests to know if a deficiency is the real problem.
HGH is an important treatment for GHD. Daily injections improve the symptoms in both children and adults with GHD. It is vital to note that HGH is only efficient if delivered via injection! Stomach acids will just break it down if ingested, thus an injection delivers it straight to the bloodstream. Injections also allow the most concentration of HGH to enter the body. Sprays, pills, or powders have little to no effect at all.
HGH is also efficient in treating muscle weakness that is associated to HIV or AIDS. Its success in healing muscle damage is one of the reasons many athletes try to take injections of HGH, even if it is banned in sports. Many trainers consider that it speeds up the healing process for torn muscles and surgery.
HGH and Aging Study
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study of HGH in 1990. The researchers injected HGH to 12 healthy men, age 61 to 81, for six months. The results included in an increase of lean body mass and elasticity of skin, enhanced mood, a decrease of body fat and encouraging results in blood sugar and blood pressure. Did you know that our vital organs tend to shrink with age? The organs like the heart and kidneys also started to return to normal size because of HGH according to the study. HGH was pointed out as a miracle drug in fighting the effects of aging.
Using these findings of the study, researchers conjectured all sorts of ways HGH could help the old people. Patients recuperating from broken hips or other bone-related surgeries may heal quicker. Bedridden patients who lost muscles may use HGH to aid in the rebuilding of what had wasted away. The possibilities were limitless!
But, editors of the journal said that further studies are always necessary. First of all, the study did not include women; thus, there was no way to know how the female body would respond to the injections. Additionally, the men were injected for only six months. There are no further studies on long-term effects or overuse on a person’s body. The researchers also confessed that just because the men’s organs and muscles grew bigger, there was no evidence that they were healthier.
Now, online retailers are selling HGH in different forms. Today, scams mentioning the 1990 study as their medical evidence are all over the place. In 2003, the Journal was forced to denounce different misleading advertisements.
HGH Hullabaloos
Ever since the last 10 years of the mass-production of human growth hormone, it is still not proven to slow the aging process. This is particularly true for those individuals less than 40 years old or 50 years old. At this age, our bodies continue to produce HGH. Adding extra HGH to our bodies probably won’t help much. Although it is true that some studies discussed how HGH promotes lessening of body fat in older people and lean muscle growth, the studies didn’t show a corresponding increase in strength or endurance.
Although there is no formal research that proves that HGH works as anti-aging therapy, you can search for informal testimonials everywhere. Hopeful individuals everywhere pay greater than $15,000 each year to get monthly injections of HGH. A lot of these patients claim that the injections bring back their youthful vitality, energy and health. The HGH injections also help reduce wrinkles and improve the skin. However, you have to take note that using HGH for anti-aging purposes is unlawful. In order to get a prescription for HGH therapy, you need to have evidence through a blood test that your HGH levels are truly lacking. A lot of physicians recommend HGH for anti-aging, anyway but are rarely indicted. It is also illegal to use HGH without a physician’s supervision. This only means that many online sales of HGH are illegal.
An online search for “buy HGH” gives greater than a quarter-million hits! But, the Federal Trade Commission or FTC continues to warn customers that there is no dependable proof to support any claims that HGH can make you forever young, help you to lose weight instantaneously or make your muscles bigger. Most of these marketers sell their HGH as sprays, pills or powders. Still, the only efficient way for the body to process HGH is through an injection. FTC also warns against companies that sell products claiming to increase your body’s HGH production.
HGH may be the fountain of youth, but HGH may cause grave side effects. Healthy adults who take in HGH might develop joint pains, swelling in the arms and legs, muscle pains, Diabetes, enlargement of the breast tissue of women, abnormal bone growth, edema, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis and high blood pressure. Worst case scenario is that overuse of HGH could ultimately lead to cancer.
So, does HGH slow down the aging process? There is no solid proof yet that it does slow down aging. What slows down aging? Healthy diet, stress reduction and regular exercise could only be the sure answer for now!
