One of the most important hormones secreted by the pituitary gland is HGH or human growth hormone. HGH stimulates the growth of muscles and bones and helps regulate metabolism, and influences sexual enjoyment. Human growth hormone can sharply increase the flow of sugar into muscle and fat, stimulate protein production in liver and muscle, and slow the production of fatty tissue. More prolonged effects of HGH-- blocking the uptake and use of sugars, causing blood sugar levels to rise, and increasing the production of fat and fat levels in the blood-- seem to counteract its immediate effects. These two actions of human growth hormone are important because the body must adapt to the lack of food when fasting. Along with cortisol, human growth hormone helps maintain blood sugar levels for the brain and mobilizes fat, making it available to other body cells as an alternative fuel. In many cases, human growth hormone appears to work by activating a number of growth factors, the most important of which is insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). For more up to date information on human growth hormone or if you would like to receive a FREE supplement newsletter at Physician Formulas.

Does human growth hormone increase longevity?
Many symptoms being part of the human growth hormone deficiency syndrome in adults like decrease in muscle mass and bone mineral content, increase in fat mass, and skin atrophy are observed also with aging. Indeed, short term trials with HGH administration to persons over 60 years old revealed that many of these symptoms could be reversed by growth hormone. However, recent reports of an association of high insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)-concentrations and increased risk of prostate, lung, colon and breast cancer as well as a possible decrease of insulin sensitivity prohibit currently the use of human growth hormone in an attempt to reverse a normal ageing process. Prospective, randomized and placebo-controlled long-term trials are necessary to prove safety and efficacy of human growth hormone therapy in the aging population before it can be recommended. In addition, no data are available as to the right human growth hormone dose and the correct monitoring. Expectations of the society and the search for the fountain of youth should not motivate physicians to leave the firm ground of evidence based medicine and prescribe experimental therapies to healthy older persons, the least being the cost of such therapy which could run into thousands of dollars a year.
   Although pharmaceutically made human growth hormone (a complicated hormone made by joining about 190 amino acids) has been shown in certain studies to have short term anti-aging potential, long term consequences are unclear. Growth hormone excess can lead to a condition called acromegaly. There is no guarantee that real pharmaceutical growth hormone extends life span. In fact, in some animal studies, reducing the release of growth hormone extends life span.

Non-prescription human growth hormone supplements
Over the past few years, there have been untold number of over the counter products that claim to work in a way similar to the real pharmaceutical human growth hormone, or claim that their product stimulates growth hormone release. At this point none of the companies (as far as I know) have done any significant research to prove that their product has anti-aging benefits over the long term. In fact, almost none have done any research at all. There are supplements that enhance the release of growth hormone, but whether this leads to long term beneficial effects is not known at this time.

Summary
Having said all this, it is possible that medical researchers may someday find a low dose of human growth hormone given at the appropriate times to appropriate individuals may improve health and extend life span, but that day is not here yet. In the meantime, read some options on how to extend longevity.

What about supplements that enhance HGH release?
Research is gradually starting regarding the positive benefits of certain supplements in their ability to release human growth hormone. One such combination is glycine, glutamine and niacin. See the research article below.
   Two of the best ways to maintain healthy human growth hormone release are to exercise frequently, and to have deep sleep.

Anna Nicole Smith was using human growth hormone
April 2007 - When the Broward County, Fla., medical examiner performed an autopsy on Anna Nicole Smith's body, he zeroed in on her left buttock. There, he found evidence of repeated needle injections that had produced a "deep-seated" abscess filled with yellow-green pus. It was likely, he wrote in his report, that bacteria from that infection entered her bloodstream, sending her temperature soaring to 105 degrees and prompting her to respond with an overdose of medication. What was Smith injecting herself with? According to the medical examiner, it was a cocktail of anti-aging drugs including human growth hormone, or HGH. Smith's "repeated intramuscular injections," he wrote, were "self-treatment for longevity and weight control."

Human Growth Hormone Research Update
Effects of an oral mixture containing glycine, glutamine and niacin on memory, GH and IGF-I secretion in middle-aged and elderly subjects.
Arwert LI, Deijen JB, Drent ML. VU University Medical Center, de Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HVAmsterdam, The Netherlands.
Nutr Neurosci. 2003 Oct;6(5):269-75.
Aging is associated with declining activity of the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-I (GH-IGF-I) axis and with a decrease in cognitive function. The stimulatory effect of an orally administered nutritional supplement, mainly containing glycine, glutamine and niacin on the HGH-IGF-I axis and on mood and cognition was investigated. Forty-two healthy subjects (14 men and 28 women, aged 40-76 years) were enrolled in a randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial. They received 5 g of a nutritional supplement or placebo, twice daily orally for a period of 3 weeks. At baseline and after 3 weeks, blood was collected for measurement of serum GH and IGF-I levels and mood and cognitive function were tested. The nutritional supplement ingestion for 3 weeks was found to increase serum human growth hormone levels with 70% relatively to placebo, whereas circulating IGF-I levels did not change. Mean GH (+/- SD) increased in this group from 3.23 to 4.67 mU/l. HGH increase was not associated with improvement in mood or memory. Correlation analyses, however, revealed that individual increases in IGF-I, but not human growth hormone, were associated with improved memory and vigour. It is concluded that an oral mixture of glycine, glutamine and niacin can enhance human growth hormone secretion in healthy middle-aged and elderly subjects.

Journal takes aim at human growth hormone advertisers
The New England Journal of Medicine is taking action against advertisers it says are improperly using its name to hawk human growth hormone HGH as an anti-aging remedy. Besides posting cautionary information on its Web site about the anti-aging abilities of human growth hormone and supplements that claim to boost natural growth hormone, NEJM has contacted the attorneys general of two states to look into advertisers that cite the journal in marketing their products. The moves come in response to consumer complaints over advertisers' use of the journal's name. In 1990, NEJM published the findings of a small study that suggested injections of human growth hormone, or human growth hormone, might boost lean body mass in older men. According to the journal, this article has been cited in "potentially misleading" advertisements for human growth hormone or dietary supplements that purport to be "releasers" of the body's natural human growth hormone supply. The true usefulness and safety of giving human growth hormone to healthy older adults is unknown. In the 1990 study, six months of human growth hormone injections given to 12 men ages 61 to 81 appeared to boost lean body mass while decreasing fat mass. But whether human growth hormone made a difference in the men's strength, fitness or quality of life was not measured. What's more, Vance writes in the new article, anti-aging products sold on a number of Web sites--including oral or inhaled versions of human growth hormone and supplements touted as natural human growth hormone releasers--have no evidence to back them up.Ads for these supplements are apparently directing readers to the journal's Web site. He said that the 1990 article receives far more "hits" than any other article published that year.  Since January 31, an editor's note has warned readers that the article has been used in "potentially misleading" ads. HGH is naturally produced by the brain's pituitary gland. Because human growth hormone production declines with age, some have proposed that synthetic human growth hormone might serve as a potential fountain of youth. Synthetic human growth hormone injections are approved for some conditions, including human growth hormone deficiency. But whether healthy older adults can benefit remains in doubt. Some studies have backed up the 1990 research showing that human growth hormone treatment might alter older adults' body composition, but real changes in participants' strength and endurance have not emerged. On the other hand, researchers have found the potential for human growth hormone side effects, including swelling of the arms and legs, joint pain and diabetes. The New England Journal of Medicine 2003;348:777-778,779-780.

Human Growth hormone no fountain of youth
Human Growth Hormone, widely touted as a restorer of youth for aging Americans, offers limited benefits to seniors and carries potentially serious risks. Despite its growing popularity, human growth hormone HGH as an anti-aging strategy is "not yet ready for prime time," said study author Dr. S. Mitchell Harman, director of the Kronos Longevity Research Institute, an independent nonprofit group in Phoenix, Arizona.. Elderly men and women taking human growth hormone gained some muscle and shed some fat over 6 months. But only those men taking both humna growth hormone  and testosterone saw any functional gains in strength and cardiovascular endurance, and those gains were modest. And along with other human growth hormone side effects, the risk of diabetes and glucose intolerance, a precursor to diabetes, was heightened among men on human growth hormone. Hundreds of anti-aging clinics across the country already offer human growth hormone injections, and health-food stores sell supplements claiming to contain the hormone, but these are scams. While there are no statistics on how many Americans take human growth hormone , the number is probably in the tens of thousands. The injections contain a synthetic version of human growth hormone, which is naturally produced by the pituitary gland in the brain and declines with age. The synthetic drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for children with short stature resulting from very low human growth hormone levels. It also is used in adults with such conditions as severe growth hormone deficiency and muscle wasting associated with AIDS. But whether human growth hormone can help reverse the effects of normal aging is an ongoing debate. The latest study involved 74 men and 57 women, all healthy seniors between 65 and 88 years of age. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: growth hormone plus sex steroid (testosterone for men; hormone replacement therapy for women); growth hormone plus placebo (inactive) sex steroid; placebo growth hormone plus sex steroid; or placebo growth hormone plus placebo sex steroid. All participants were instructed to maintain their current diet and exercise regimens. By the end of the 26-week study, women on growth hormone had gained an average of 2 to 5 pounds of muscle and lost about 5 pounds of fat. Likewise, men on growth hormone had gained 7 to 10 pounds of muscle and shed about the same amount of fat. Yet only one study group experienced actual functional improvement. As with human growth hormone levels, testosterone levels also decline with age. In this group of men, cardiovascular endurance increased 8%. Muscle strength increased 7%, though this latter finding was on the borderline of statistical significance. Side effects from growth hormone were most common in men and included swelling of the arms and legs, carpal tunnel syndrome, joint pain and most worrisome, diabetes and glucose intolerance. Eighteen men taking growth hormone developed either diabetes or glucose intolerance during the study, compared with seven men not taking growth hormone. And there could be other, unknown side effects as well, seniors are far more likely than children to develop adverse reactions from HGH . The Journal of the American Medical Association 2002;288:2282-2292.
 

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