What is Human Growth Hormone and Other Questions Answered

Sep 21, 2009 @ 06:20 am by Guest Author
by Bethany Jordin

Human growth hormone is a term that most of are familiar with; but what actually is it? There is a lot of talk today about various hormones, especially their effects in things like the sports world where athletes us them to enhance their performances, and in particular there is much speculation about the possible anti-aging effects of HGH supplements. But just what HGH is and how it can affect the aging process are some of the questions that this article sets out to answer.

Scientifically speaking, the human growth hormone is a peptide hormone being produced by the pituitary gland in the brain. It is considered as the “master hormone” for the right reasons. This growth hormone is known to take part in many bodily functions. It is mainly responsible for cell and tissue growth and repair and stimulates protein and enzyme formation necessary to achieve them. It is thus linked to our energy levels, vitality and youth.

When we are children, our bodies manufacture human growth hormone at a phenomenal rate. This supports both the fast pace of the growth that children experience and also the boundless energy that they seem to have. But as we age, our body’s rate of production of HGH slows, and this begins to take place around the age of 30.

Once we reach the age of 50, production of this hormone will have halved. Of course this is also the point in our lives when we all begin to notice the signs and symptoms of growing older. As we continue to age, production of HGH continues to lessen and we continue to age even faster.

When produced, the human growth hormone is distributed to the various organs in the body such as the liver, bones, kidney, skin, muscles and cartilage. It is easy to see why deficiency of HGH can affect the proper functioning of these organs. When the levels of HGH decrease, this can lead to various symptoms such as increase in fat, decrease in energy levels, loss of muscle tissue, decrease in energy and sexual drive, greater risk to illnesses and diseases, poor memory and vision, wrinkled skin, among many others we associate with aging.

Tests carried out in 1990 by a certain Dr Rudman proved that by reintroducing extra amounts of human growth hormone into our bodies, that the signs of aging were slowed. On the back of this revelation, a whole industry of HGH based products were released onto the market claiming to be able to delay the aging process. This industry has grown and grown, and now the products are administered as pills, or drinks, aerosols, homeopathy and even injection.

Although the clinical test performed by Dr. Rudman only involved administration of synthetic HGH into the body, there is significant evidence that HGH supplements are also effective in fighting aging signs. The growing popularity of HGH stems from the fact that it is proven to be effective not just by clinical studies, but through testimonials of real people who have taken any of the HGH therapy methods available.

So you may ask: “What can HGH treatments do for me?” The answer lies in the fact that we know the slowdown of HGH production brings about aging, and that research has shown that its reintroduction can slow that process. So put two and two together, and start delaying that aging process.

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