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Growth Hormone: Diabetes & Cancer Risks

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Today's Question

I've recently heard a lot about " human growth hormones " and how

many things they can help you with like slowing the aging process

and keeping muscles strong. Do you think they really could work?

-- Anonymous

 

Today's Answer

(Published 03/18/1998)

 

I'm also hearing a lot about human growth hormone. It's usually

coupled with the phrase " fountain of youth. "

 

For the truth about this fountain of youth, I called on my neighbor

Seymour Reichlin, M.D., Ph.D., research professor of medicine at the

University of Arizona, an endocrinologist and an expert on the

subject.

According to Dr. Reichlin, human growth hormone is one of the

hormones made by the pituitary and is important in simulating and

regulating growth. In the absence of growth hormone, children fail

to grow normally and are dwarfed.

 

It is now possible to treat those children with synthetic growth

hormone

 

(made by genetic engineering methods)

 

and restore their normal development.

 

At the other end of the (age) spectrum, it is known that growth

hormone declines with age, so that individuals beyond the sixth

decade have progressively lower levels in their blood.

 

The best information we have now is that injections of growth

hormone in otherwise healthy older individuals do not improve

strength beyond what a well-designed exercise and muscle-

strengthening program could do.

Even though growth hormone can increase muscle mass, this increase

does not necessarily improve strength.

 

 

At present, it's not known whether growth hormone treatment in the

aged would have other desirable benefits, for instance, on mental

functioning or the quality and appearance of skin. I think it could,

but good studies are lacking.

 

 

On the other hand, there are many reasons not to take growth hormone

replacement:

 

Too much of it can bring on diabetes mellitus in people who

otherwise wouldn't have it.

 

Growth hormone can also stimulate overgrowth of connective tissue,

leading to arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

 

It can also cause edema (fluid retention) and hypertension. In the

studies that have been done, many patients, particularly women, have

requested that the treatment be stopped because they found the side

effects of fluid retention and joint pain too unpleasant.

 

 

Also, it's not known whether prolonged growth hormone treatment

might increase the risk of cancer.

 

 

This is a possibility because patients with pituitary tumors that

secrete excessive amounts of growth hormone have an increased

incidence of tumors of the stomach and colon.

 

You should also know that human growth hormone is

expensive.Currently available preparations require injections at

least once a day to get any possible benefit, which could cost from

$10,000 to $35,000 a year. Some endocrinologists believe that all of

the adverse side effects could be avoided by using much smaller

amounts of growth hormone and that adequate long-term studies to

test this have not been done.

 

I think anyone contemplating taking human growth hormone should be

very cautious until we learn more.

Decline in muscle strength with aging can be managed successfully

by muscle-strength-training programs.

 

http://www.drweil.com

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