Is Growth Hormone anti-aging

After de famous publication in the 90’s by Rudman and colleagues whichreported that 6 months of growth hormone (GH) therapy in men over 65 years of age with low levels of IGF-1 with had: reduced adiposity, increased muscle mass, increased bone mineral density in some of the examined sites of the skeleton and improved general well-being.

These results generated a huge interest in the scientific community looking for the possibility of using hormonal replacement therapy to slow down, halt or perhaps even reverse aging, or at least some of its symptoms. [1, 2]

The so called “somatopause” (relating to decreased levels of somatostatin, another name for the GH) is seen in elder individuals and multiple studies have shown that replacing GH will help, but many other studies have shown several side effects including as cited by a review article “treatment of endocrinologically normal healthy elderly individuals with rhGH produces generally small improvements in body composition along with a number of undesirable side effects including arthralgias, edema, carpal tunnel syndrome, insulin resistance and possibly also diabetes”. [2]

Another controversy is generated because non one know the best dose to use in elder individuals in which reversing the aging effects is the only objective, a 2007 systematic review of randomized controlled trials concluded: “The literature published on randomized, controlled trials evaluating GH therapy in the healthy elderly is limited but suggests that it is associated with small changes in body composition and increased rates of adverse events. On the basis of this evidence, GH cannot be recommended as an anti-aging therapy.” [3]

Yet it is more than clear that the scientific community is still intrigued, as several trials in humans are running trying to clarify this topic.

So it appears that GH do have some anti-aging effect, but it is still highly controvert the use in elder patients, and more so in young ones (as no medical indication exists but the deficiency of GH).

Samaras and colleagues mention in the conclusion of their 2014 paper “We strongly believe that hormones should be a part of geriatric care. Nevertheless, “countering aging effects” is too general as an indication, is subject to confusion, and cannot be a basis for treatment.” [4]
The next table summarizes most of the studies about GH use in humans up to 2013.

So, GH seems relatively safe, but the question is still in the air… when do we use it? For how long? What is the most effective dose with the lesser side effects? Will GH use be embraced in the future? O will it be abandoned?

We hope to have the answers to this questions in a couple of years.

Bibliography

1-. N Engl J Med. 1990 Jul 5;323(1):1-6. Effects of human growth hormone in men over 60 years old. Rudman D, Feller AG, Nagraj HS, et al.
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2355952 )
2-. Clin Interv Aging. 2008 Dec; 3(4): 659–665. Growth hormone and aging: A challenging controversy. Andrzej Bartke
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2682398/ )
3-. Ann Intern Med. 2007 Jan 16;146(2):104-15. Systematic review: the safety and efficacy of growth hormone in the healthy elderly. Liu H, Bravata DM, Olkin I, et al.
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17227934 )
4-. Clin Interv Aging. 2014; 9: 1175–1186. Published online 2014 Jul 23. doi:  10.2147/CIA.S48918. Off-label use of hormones as an antiaging strategy: a review Nikolaos Samaras, Maria-Aikaterini Papadopoulou, Dimitrios Samaras, and Filippo Ongaro
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4116364/ )
5-. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Aug; 27(4): 541–555. Published online 2013 Jun 18. doi:  10.1016/j.beem.2013.05.003. Growth hormone in the aging male. Fred R. Sattler
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3940699/ )