HGH controversies

There are many controversies around the claims, products, and businesses related to the use of growth hormoneas an anti-aging therapy. Most of this controversy falls into two categories:

1. Claims of exaggerated, misleading, or unfounded assertions that real growth hormone treatmentslows or reverses the effects of aging
2. The sale of products that fraudulently or misleadingly purport to be growth hormone or to increase the buyer's own growth hormone to a beneficial degree.

Category: Health

Since the landmark study in 1991 by Dr. Rudman (Effects of Human Growth Hormone in Men over 60 Years Old (New England Journal of Medicine, 1990;323:1) which showed significant results of the administration of growth hormone in elderly men, there has been a burgeoning industry surrounding the sale and administration of GH and its possible anti-aging effects.

As a result of the increased business interest, finding reliable, clinically established knowledge of the administration, effects, risks, benefits, availability, and cost of GH, which is extremely inflated by the pharmaceutical companies, is now a daunting task. In order to find reliable medical information, one must separate the real knowledge from the profit-motivated hype (see pseudoscience).

Therapeutic administration of Human Growth Hormone and other supplements MAY provide health advantages, but there will always be money to be made in exaggerating such advantages. The incidence of HGH quackery will probably continue until such time that reliable knowledge of the use of GH becomes widespread in the consumer marketplace.

To aid the consumer in recognizing quackery from scientific and medical fact, consumers should look for publications on HGH to include mention of some of the following health risks healthy seniors may experience when taking HGH:

Edema (retention of fluids) Carpal tunnel syndrome Hypertension Diabetes and other glucose metabolism imbalances And in other users, increases in muscle mass have not been accompanied by increases in muscle strenghth.

Important Note Chronic use of hGH is not well studied, except in children who took it for growth deficiencies. A long term increase in colon cancer and Hodgkin's Disease has been observed.

Reliable, medical Internet sites can be an easy way to determine what is true from what is not.

Some reputable sites for more information include

WebMD (search for HGH) Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HGH_controversies"

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HGH+controversies Wikipedia article HGH controversies.