The importance of growth hormone deficiency in adult life has become more apparent over the last decade. As a part of this distinct clinical syndrome there are significant risk factors associated with cardiovascular decreases, lipid metabolism slow downs, bone density loss, dehydration, impaired physical performance, insomnia and poor sleep patterns, skin thinning, reduced healing, chronic lung disorders, decreased thymus gland function, vital organ shrinkage, and even depression. The ugly secret behind growth hormone supplementation however, is that it is not only used in the most severe cases of those ailments listed above but also in healthy individuals with normal hormone levels who are just getting a little older. .
Growth hormone has in recent years been touted as the fountain of youth and despite seemingly prohibitive costs and hurdles associated in its acquisition growth hormone companies have seen immense sales increases. According to SEC filings Serno S.A. , a biotechnology medical sales company with a new GH product, has seen steady sales increases topping 18% per quarter for the last 1.5 years. As more people cross the line from youth to the quasi-middle-age that has been shunned in America the popularity of this and other products will continue to potentially pose a greater risk to more and more people. The reason for this increased risk to health is that the fastest-growing use of human Growth Hormone (HGH) today is among healthy adults who take it as part of popular "anti-aging" programs. The body makes less and less growth hormone as a person ages. Anti-aging programs use HGH to give aging men and women the growth hormone levels of a much younger person. The problems surrounding this type of supplementation are not yet fully understood. The July 27 issue of The Lancet looks at nearly 2,000 British patients who, as children, were treated with human pituitary growth hormone.
