HGH - Human Growth Hormone
Human Growth Hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland in the brain. Human Growth Hormone promotes tissue repair, cell regeneration in the bones, muscles and vital organs, and supports the immune system in combating infection and disease. As the body's cells die off, HGH acts as a “trigger” to ensure that replacement cells are healthy and readily available. As we age, our HGH levels decline, causing our cell replacement levels to reduce to a fraction of the levels of our youth. The exact reason why the pituitary gland’s production falls so rapidly remains a mystery. By the age of forty nearly everyone is deficient in HGH, and at eighty the body’s production has usually diminished by 90-95%. Many of the diseases and symptoms associated with aging can be traced to declining levels of HGH being produced by the body.
Your body’s natural HGH is a complex hormone composed of 191 amino acids. The first true synthetic human growth hormone, (called Somatotropin) was first produced in 1986 by the Eli Lily Corporation. In 1990 a ground-breaking (and oft-cited) study was published by Dr Rudman in the New England Journal of Medicine. Using a controlled double-blind six month study, Dr. Rudman discovered that, between two groups of men with identical diets and exercise program, the study group given injectable HGH had an 8.8% increase in lean muscle mass, and a 14.4% decrease in body fat over the other group! The test group also reported improvements in sleep, energy levels, and skin and muscle tone. While this was a truly amazing discovery under strict scientific scrutiny, the high cost, pain, and risk of injections prevented Human Growth Hormone from becoming widely accepted in the United States. Attempts to produce an oral form of Somatotropin did not work; it was incredibly costly to produce, the liver broke down Somatotropin ingested into the stomach, and the HGH molecule was too large to be absorbed through the lining of the mouth.
True synthetic injectable hormone remains available today by prescription, but its price ($1000-1500 per daily injection) puts it well outside the pocketbooks of most people. The HGH supplements more commonly available today without a prescription fall into one of two categories, releasers and secretagogues.
Releasers are the least expensive HGH products available today. Releasers provide the building blocks of the 191 amino acid human growth hormone, predominately L-group amino acids such as L-valine and L-arginine. While these are components of true HGH, they are several chemical conversion steps away from actually being HGH. Just as a pile of wood and nails is not the same as house, releasers are not the same as true human growth hormone.
The other main HGH supplements are secretagogues. Secretagogues contain minute amounts of human growth hormone substance (usually measured in nanograms, or hundredths of a gram). Secretagogues are a form of homeopathic medicine. Homeopathic medicine promotes the use of tiny amounts of a natural body chemical taken to stimulate the body to produce more. Absorbing small amounts of a synthetic hormone can cause the pituitary gland to secrete more of its own natural human growth hormone into the bloodstream. Secretagogues can contain actual human growth hormone and still be available without a prescription, but only if they do so in very small amounts. Any supplement that claims to have any significant amount of true human growth hormone and is available without a prescription is either misleading you about the true nature of their product, or is in direct violation of federal law.
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