A review of published data on use of human growth hormone by healthy elderly people found that the synthetic hormone was associated with small changes in body composition but not in body weight or other clinically important outcomes.
People who took GH had increased rates of unhealthy side effects such as soft tissue swelling, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and, in men, development of abnormally large mammary glands and were also somewhat more likely to develop diabetes.
Authors say, “Although GH has been widely publicized as an anti-aging therapy ?scant clinical experience of GH in the healthy elderly suggests that although GH may minimally alter body composition, it does not improve other clinically relevant outcomes ? (and) is associated with high rates of adverse events. On the basis of available evidence, GH cannot be recommended for use among the healthy elderly.”