List of Pros and Cons of HGH

We, as human beings, don’t want to grow old. On top of that, we love our shortcuts. Therefore, it is no surprise that there are a plethora of anti-aging and muscle building “elixirs” out there. If you turn on your TV late at night you can find many infomercials that will try to sell you on Human Growth Hormones (HGH) as the new fountain of youth, but does it work?

What Are The Pros of HGH?

1. HGH is a protein that is naturally produced by your pituitary gland. It rises as a child, spikes during your adolescence and tappers off as you get you older. It is the hormone that triggers growth and physical development. Also HGH levels rise and fall during your day around times of exercise, injury and rest.

2. We know that HGH has many effects on the body. In your young life it stimulates bone and cartilage development. In everyone though, it promotes protein production, raises your blood sugar, slows the activity of insulin, and stimulates the use of fat.

3. There are plenty of actual medicinal reasons to be prescribed HGH. It is used in rare cases of Prader-Willi syndrome, or more commonly for kidney insufficiency, Turner’s syndrome, children born small for gestational age, muscle disease associated with HIV/AIDS and HGH deficiency. Remember that these medical issues require a prescription and are controlled doses.

What Are The Cons of HGH?

1. In about 30% of those who use HGH report side effects of joint pain, swelling, carpal tunnel syndrome, fluid retention, high blood pressure and breast enlargement in men. Any of these side effects can severely affect your day to day activities and should be considered.

2. What these anti-aging and muscle building supplements are promising is larger muscle growth, more energy, and improved exercise performance, but do they really deliver? Researchers have conducted a study of 44 high-quality studies of HGH in athletes. The participants were an average age of 27 and physically fit; 85% were male. 303 volunteers received HGH injections and 137 received placebo.

3. In an average of 20 days of injections, the subjects who received HGH increased their lean body mass by an average of 4.6 pounds. Even though that sounds like a positive, it did not translate into better performance. In fact, the study shows HGH did not significantly increase either strength or exercise capacity. Participants also tired easier and retained more fluid over the volunteers who got the placebo.

4. One thing that these anti-aging claims get right is HGH does decrease into adulthood. As men get older HGH levels fall, but this is true with testosterone and (DHEA) dehydroepiandrosterone. Women see decreased levels in estrogen, but research shows that the risks don’t outweigh the reward when women use estrogen supplements.

5. Older men, of an average age of 65, who were given HGH saw a slight drop in total cholesterol levels, but no changes in bad cholesterol, aerobic capacity, or bone density. They did, however, experience a high rate of the side effects listed above. The studies did not look into cancer, but other research suggests an increase in risk of prostate cancer and cancer in general.