Despite all the publicity and media coverage touting the anti-aging and libido-enhancing effects of human growth hormone HGH, there is no scientific evidence supporting the claims, researchers have said.
A review of published data on use of human growth hormone HGH 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. Further, people who took GH or HGH had increased rates of unhealthy side effects such as soft tissue swelling, joint pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and, in men, abnormal breast development and were also somewhat more likely to develop diabetes.
“There is certainly no data out there to suggest that giving growth hormone to an otherwise healthy person will make him or her live longer,” said doctor Hau Liu, lead author of a study to be published today in the annals of internal medicine.
In the United States, people seeking anti-aging benefits of growth hormone treatment grew tenfold from 1990 to between 20,000-30,000 in 2004, according to a 2005 study published in the journal of the American Medical Association.
The ballooning trend comes despite the exorbitant cost of the treatment, often more than 1,000 USD per month, and the fact that distributing anti-aging growth hormone therapy in the country is illegal.